Seminal levels of angiotensin II and angiotensin II type 2 receptor expression on spermatozoa in varicocele patients: Relation to fertility status

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Angiotensin II, published as an observational study.

Their aim was to study the levels of angiotensin II in semen and angiotensin II type 2 receptor expression on spermatozoa in varicocele patients in relation to their fertility status and to evaluate the influence of varicocelectomy on their levels in infertile varicocele patients.

Why It Was Studied

Several theories were proposed to explain the pathophysiology of varicocele-related infertility seen in some patients.

Thirty fertile and 30 infertile varicocele patients and 30 healthy controls were subjected to measurement of reproductive hormones, semen analysis, measurement of seminal angiotensin II and evaluation of angiotensin II type 2 receptor expression on spermatozoa.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 30 patients taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, men only.

What Was Measured

Thirty fertile and 30 infertile varicocele patients and 30 healthy controls were subjected to measurement of reproductive hormones, semen analysis, measurement of seminal angiotensin II and evaluation of angiotensin II type 2 receptor expression on spermatozoa.

Infertile varicocele patients underwent varicocelectomy and were re-evaluated for the same parameters after the operation.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Angiotensin II, Case-Control Studies, Infertility, Male, Receptor, Angiotensin, Type 2, Semen, Sperm Motility and Spermatozoa.

Author keywords: AT2R and varicocele.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is an observational study of Angiotensin II in 30 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2020 (Andrologia), a journal based in Germany.

More context: the Angiotensin II compound page, all human trials.