Environmental pollution due to cadmium: measure of semen quality as a marker of exposure and correlation with reproductive potential

PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION: Aim of the study was to evaluate the possible involvement of zinc in the complex pathogenic process behind the onset and perpetuation of endometriotic lesions. To study the level of zinc serum between a group of patients affected by endometriosis and a group of healthy patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 86 women: 42 patients whose histodiagnosis had revealed pelvic endometriosis and 44 healthy patients. The authors measured the serum zinc concentration for all patients. RESULTS: The group of patients with endometriosis presented serum zinc concentration of 1010 +/- 59.24 microg/l. The observation group presented a serum zinc concentration of 1294 +/- 62.22 microg/l. CONCLUSION: The results showed that serum zinc levels in women with endometriosis are decreased and this seems to actually confirm that this microelement can possibly affect the multifactorial pathogenesis of the disease. As a matter of fact, zinc interferes with many biological processes, among which inflammation and immunity, which seem to be the base of the development of the lesions. Therefore, the authors believe that this hypothesis requires more attention and further investigation to determine its reasonableness. If the results are confirmed, this study opens up future prospects as for the treatment of endometriosis, taking into account also the role of zinc in the onset of male sterility and the development of testicles. Zinc could in fact be used as marker to detect women at high risk of endometriosis and for the elaboration of a new treatment for sterility, from which these women often suffer