Dr. Kristian Leisegang (School of Natural Medicine)

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https://hdl.handle.net/10566/2386

Dr. Kristian Leisegang

Position: Deputy HOD Clinical Sciences coordinator
Department: School of Natural Medicine
Faculty: Faculty of Community and Health Sciences
Qualifications: M.Tech. (Hom) (DUT); PhD (MBS) (UWC); PG Dip HE (T&L)
My publications in this repository
More about me: here,
Tel: 021 959 9515
Email: kleisegang@uwc.ac.za
PHD Thesis The effect of insulin, leptin and inflammatory cytokines on reproductive health and hypogonadism in males diagnosed with the metabolic syndrome

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Browsing by Subject "Cardiovascular disease (CVD)"

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    Effect of the metabolic syndrome on male reproductive function: a case-controlled pilot study
    (Wiley, 2014) Leisegang, Kristian; Bouic, Patrick J.D.; Henkel, Ralf
    The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a constellation of various risk factors. This study aimed to investigate the effect of MetS on testosterone and progesterone, and semen parameters, in a case-controlled pilot study. Male patients (n = 54) had body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and blood pressure recorded. Blood was analysed for HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose. Saliva was assayed for free testosterone and free progesterone. Ejaculates were analysed for volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, motility, vitality, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), DNA fragmentation and leucocyte concentration. Participants were divided into the control group (n = 28) and the MetS group (n = 26). Differences were found between the groups for body mass index, WHR, blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), triglycerides and glucose. The MetS group showed significant reductions in sperm concentration (P = 0.0026), total sperm count (P = 0.0034), total motility (P = 0.0291), sperm vitality (P = 0.002), MMP (P = 0.0039), free testosterone (P = 0.0093) and free progesterone (P = 0.0130), while values for DNA fragmentation increased (P = 0.0287). Results indicate that patients with MetS have compromised sperm parameters in the absence of leucocytospermia. A reduction in free progesterone suggests that steroidogenesis cascades may be compromised. It is hypothesised that a systemic pro-inflammatory state with oxidative stress associated with MetS may provide a novel explanation.