Abstract
Background: Male obesity is associated with physiological changes that can negatively affect male fertility. Obese men have demonstrated a 3-fold increase in the prevalence of oligozoospermia when compared with men with normal Body Mass Index (BMI). Objective: To find the correlation between Aromatase enzyme with the following hormones (follicle stimulating hormone(FSH), Luteinizing hormone(LH), Estradiol(E2), and testosterone) in the obese infertile male. Subjects, Materials and Methods: Seventy obese infertile male (patients) and twenty obese fertile male (control) are enrolled in this study. Aromatase enzyme, FSH, LH, E2 and testosterone hormones were measured in their serum. All serum samples were measured by ELISA method. Results: Median human cytochrome enzyme level was significantly higher in patients than in control group, 87.55+ 12.48 pg./ml versus 56.95+9.88 pg./ml, P= 0.014. In patients group, a significant positive correlation was found between human cytochrome enzyme, FSH, and LH. Conclusions: The present study showed clearly that male obesity negatively affects fertility through changes in hormone levels. The results suggest that increased estrogen because of aromatization in the fatty tissue, reflected through the increase in human cytochrome enzyme (aromatase), may be an important mechanism for the hypoandrogenemia and altered sperm parameters.