ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Reproduction
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1583272
Correlation between semen quality and the seminal biochemical markers: alpha-glucosidase, fructose, and zinc in infertile men compared with a normal population of men
Provisionally accepted
Chaymae Rochdi1
Fahd A. Nasr2
Amal Elrherabi3*
Ibtissam Bellajdel4Hafsa Taheri1
Mohamed Bouhrim5Mohammed Al-zahrani2Ashraf Ahmed Qurtam2Hanane Saadi1Ahmed Mimouni1Mohammed Choukri1- 1Maternal-Child and Mental Health Research Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Mohammed First University, Oujda, Morocco, Oujda, Morocco
- 2Biology Department, College of Science, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), 11623,, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 3Laboratory of Bioresources, Biotechnology, Ethnopharmacology, and Health, Faculty of Sciences Mohammed First University, Oujda, Morocco,, Oujda, Morocco
- 4Medically assisted procreation unit, Central Laboratory, Mohammed VI University Hospital center, Oujda, Morocco;, Oujda, Morocco
- 5Laboratory of Biological Engineering, Team of Functional and Pathological Biology; Faculty of Sciences and Techniques Beni Mellal, University Sultan Moulay Slimane, Morocco, Beni Mellal, Morocco
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The male reproductive tract's accessory glands produce seminal biochemical markers that can help diagnose reproductive disorders and assess male fertility. This study evaluated the relationship between seminal biochemical components and sperm parameters in 150 men, including 20 normospermic individuals and 130 infertile patients classified into oligozoospermia, azoospermia, asthenozoospermia, teratozoospermia, and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) groups. Semen analysis measured fructose, neutral alpha-glucosidase (NAG), and zinc levels. While fructose levels varied among the groups, no statistically significant differences were observed compared to normospermic men. NAG and zinc levels were markedly lower in azoospermic and OAT groups. Notably, zinc levels showed a significant positive correlation with sperm concentration (r = 0.041, p < 0.001), indicating a modest association with sperm count and overall semen quality. These findings suggest that seminal biochemical markers reflect the secretory activity of male reproductive organs, providing valuable insights into infertility diagnostics, potential therapeutic targets, and the underlying mechanisms influencing semen quality and reproductive health.
Keywords: Zinc, Fructose, male infertility, neutral alpha-glucosidase, Seminal plasma, sperm parameters
Received: 26 Mar 2025; Accepted: 10 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Rochdi, Nasr, Elrherabi, Bellajdel, Taheri, Bouhrim, Al-zahrani, Qurtam, Saadi, Mimouni and Choukri. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Amal Elrherabi, Laboratory of Bioresources, Biotechnology, Ethnopharmacology, and Health, Faculty of Sciences Mohammed First University, Oujda, Morocco,, Oujda, Morocco
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