Role of inflammatory cytokines in male infertility

Abstract Male infertility is a serious diagnostic problem and in many cases the exact cause of failure to reproduce remains unknown. New diagnostic methods are being evaluated in search of more precise diagnosis and possibility of casual treatment. Measuring the level of cytokines, both in seminal plasma and serum, does not only expand the diagnostic options, but also, through the growing knowledge of immune processes, can give rise to new therapeutic methods of improving the quality of semen and increasing the chance to reproduce. The article reviews the role of proinflammatory cytokines in its pathogenesis.