Glucose Content as a Parameter of Semen Quality

Abstract

There are minute and varying amounts of glucose in seminal plasma. Findings on vasectomized men suggest that it is derived from accessory sex glands. The glucose content was shown to correlate negatively to the number of spermatozoa and the time period elapsed from ejaculation, indicating that seminal glucose was utilized by spermatozoa even in the presence of a 50-fold concentration of fructose. Large interindividual variations in the glucose utilization as reflected in the ¹⁴CO₂ production from ¹⁴C-glucose by spermatozoa could not be explained by the parameters examined in routine semen analysis. Fructose and glucose maintained equally well the ATP content and motility of spermatozoa at the concentrations found normally in semen. Fructose may thus supplement and substitute for glucose as an energy source, and the addition of glucose into the semen or the measurement of its content would not give any advantage for the analysis of semen samples.