Pharmacological action and therapeutic effects of glutathione on hypokinetic spermatozoa for enzymatic-dependent pathologies and correlated genetic aspects.

In this study, the pharmacologic substance reduced glutathione (GSH) was used in men with hypofertility problems linked to varicocele, in bulls with spermatozoa hypomobility due to varicocele, and in rabbits with dispermy caused by cryptorchidism. An efficacious therapeutic effect of increased motility of the spermatozoa was seen in subjects who were submitted to appropriate doses of glutathione I.M. GSH also showed some neutralizing effect on the catabolytes produced during spontaneous or induced peroxidation processes of the unsaturated lipids contained in the membranes of male germinal cells. The genetic aspects of the involved enzymes were also evaluated and the research was extended in vitro by incubating samples of spermatozoa with arachidonic acid homogenates, L-tryptophan, hematein, and with an addition of glutathione. The results showed that polynsaturated fatty acid metabolic substances (PUFA) play an important role in the acrosomal reaction of spermatozoa and that GSH has a determining role in increasing the motility of spermatozoa with consequent improved fertilization. The spermatozoa of bulls provided us with a valid model to study for the morphostructural, biochemical and pharmacological analyses of human spermatozoa.