Effect of Follicular Fluid and Platelet-Activating Factor on Lactate Dehydrogenase C Expression in Human Asthenozoospermic Samples

Background: application of follicular fluid (ff) and platelet-activating factor (paf) in artificial insemination improves sperm motility. lactate dehydrogenase c (ldh-c) is a key enzyme for sperm motility. in this study, the effects of ff and paf on the sperm motility index and ldh-c expression were investigated. moreover, ldh-c expression was compared between asthenozoospermic and normozoospermic samples. methods: the expression of ldh-c was examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (q-rt pcr) and western blotting after it was treated with optimized concentrations of ff and paf in twenty asthenozoospermic samples. also, ldh-c expression was evaluated in five normozoospermic samples. results: samples with 75% ff and 100 nm of paf had an increase in their percentages of progressive and slowly motile sperms and a decrease in their percentages of non-progressive and non-motile sperms. moreover, ldh-c mrna transcripts were not changed following paf and ff treatment, and ldh-c protein was detected in highly progressive motile specimens treated with ff in the asthenozoospermic samples. furthermore, ldh-c expression was more detectable in the normal sperms. conclusion: our results indicated that paf had more beneficial effects than ff on sperm motility in the asthenozoospermic samples (p=0.0001), although the ldh-c expressions of the sperms were not changed significantly in both groups. we found no association between ldh-c expression and sperm motility after ff and paf actions. this finding, however, requires further investigation. the fact that ldh-c protein was detected in the normozoospermic, but not asthenozoospermic, samples could be cited as a reason for the infertility in these patients.