Cyclooxygenase-2 in testes of infertile men: evidence for the induction of prostaglandin synthesis by interleukin-1beta.

MATZKIN ME; MAYERHOFER A; ROSSI SP; GONZALEZ B; GONZALEZ CR; GONZALEZ-CALVAR SI; TERRADAS C; PONZIO R; PUIGDOMENECH E; LEVALLE O; CALANDRA RS; FRUNGIERI MB

FERTILITY AND STERILITY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2010 vol. 94 p. 1933 - 1936

0015-0282

As we previously reported, testes of men suffering from hypospermatogenesis and germ cell arrest (GA) or Sertoli cell only syndrome (SCO), show a major increase in the number of macrophages (MACs) expressing interleukin-1b (IL-1b) and abundant expression of cyclooxgenase-2 (COX-2), the inducible isoform of the key enzyme in the biosynthesis of prostaglandins (PGs), in Leydig cells. In the present study we report (a) a positive correlation between IL-1b levels and COX-2 expression in testes of infertile patients, (b) the induction of COX-2 by IL-1b in mouse Leydig cells (TM3) and human MACs (THP-1), and therefore (c) evidence for an IL-1b-dependent induction of testicular inflammatory states.