OBJECTIVETo establish the method of seminal uric acid (UA) determination and investigate the correlation between the seminal UA level and semen parameters.

METHODSThe method of seminal UA determination was established by modifying the method of serum UA detection, and its intraassay coefficient of variation (CV) and the difference of the results between different technicians were also observed to evaluate the acceptability of the method. In the meanwhile, the correlations of the seminal UA level with the patients' age, abstinence time, semen volume, pH, sperm concentration, motility, the percentage of grade a and b sperm, and the percentage of morphologically normal sperm.

RESULTSThe intraassay CV was 9. 16% for the method of seminal UA detection, and there was no significant difference in the UA level detected by 2 technicians (P = 0.541). The seminal UA level was positively correlated with the percentage of morphologically normal sperm (r = 0.350, P = 0.025) , with a tendency of positive correlation with sperm motility (r = 0.147, P = 0.085) and the percentage of grade a and b sperm (r = 0.156, P = 0.068), but not with other parameters such as semen volume, pH, sperm concentration, abstinence time and the patients' age.

CONCLUSIONAn acceptable method of seminal UA determination could be established by modifying the method of serum UA detection. Sperm morphology, motility and the percentage of grade a and b sperm might be related to the level of seminal UA.