Metabolomic profiling of human semen in patients with oligospermia using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Male infertility is one of the most common reproductive dysfunctions. Despite oligospermia being a cause of infertility, few studies have been conducted on it. This study aimed to investigate differences in semen metabolic patterns in patients with oligospermia and to identify potential biomarkers associated with oligospermia. Semen samples from oligospermia patients (20 cases) and healthy controls (20 cases) were detected by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), and 72 and 89 metabolites were identified as potential markers in positive and negative ion modes, respectively. In addition, the results identified multiple metabolic pathways in patients with oligospermia, such as glycine serine and threonine metabolism, Synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies, Valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation. These results described unique metabolic characteristics of semen in patients with oligospermia and provided novel insights into the mechanism of the semen disorder.