Abstract Objective: The objective of this study is to determine whether IMA (Ischemic Modified Albumin), a new oxidative stress marker, can be used to predict the degree of oligozoospermia in infertile men. Materials and Methods: Oligozoospermic male patients (n=113) who remained infertile despite regular, unprotected sexual intercourse for more than 12 months were included in the study. Those with sperm counts of 10–16 × 10⁶/ml were classified as having mild oligozoospermia (group 1, n=32), those with counts of 5–9. 9 × 10⁶/ml were classified as moderate oligozoospermia (group 2, n=42), and those with 16 × 10⁶/ml) fertile men with at least one child (group 4, n=47) were included as the control group. Results: When IMA levels were compared between the infertile group and the control group, they were found to be statistically significantly higher in the infertile group (p=0.002). When the oligozoospermia groups were compared with the control group, the difference between the groups was found to be statistically significant (p=0.017). The IMA level of the severe oligozoospermia group was found to be significantly higher than the IMA levels of the control, moderate, and mild oligozoospermia groups (p0.05). The IMA levels of the general study group were found to show a statistically significant difference according to sperm motility (p=0.001). In addition, the IMA levels of patients with varicocele were found to be significantly higher (p=0.035). IMA showed a positive correlation with estradiol (p = 0.004) and triiodothyronine (p = 0.022) levels. Conclusion: This study suggests that IMA may be used as a potential biomarker for predicting severe oligozoospermia in infertile men.
Ataman et al. (2025) studied this question.