Circulating IL-6 and CRP Levels as Inflammatory Biomarkers in Obese Men with Hormonal Infertility

الملخص

Background: Hormonal infertility is closely linked to obesity in males and is most likely to result due to chronic low-grade inflammation mediated by adipose tissue-derived cytokines. The presence of circulating IL-6 and CRP as the main inflammatory biomarkers that disorganize the hypothalamic pituitary-gonadal axis and cause dysfunction of testosterone production and disturbed reproductive activity. Aims of the study; This study seeks to examine the levels of the inflammatory biomarkers of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the obese men with hormonal infertility and analyze their relations with the hormonal profiles and their body mass index (BMI) relative to the healthy control. Methodology: The case-control study was carried out between February and September 2025 in two hospitals in Nasiriyah, Iraq where 100 obese men with hormonal infertility and 50 healthy controls participated in the study. The eligible patients were aged between 25 and 45 years and had a BMI of 30kg/m 2 and the controls were normal in weight and had no infertility. Blood samples had been gathered, processed and stored to be analyzed. Hormonal evaluation was carried out by evaluating testosterone, LH, FSH and prolactin by ELISA, IL-6 and CRP was done by ELISA and immunoturbidimetric assays. Result: Of the 100 obese men in the study, the hormonal infertility of the men was compared to the control of 50 healthy men. There were notable differences in BMI of patients (32.4 vs. 24.1, p<0.001), but no difference was found in age, smoking, education and alcohol consumption. The levels of IL-6 and CRP were significantly higher in patients (8.6 pg/mL and 6.8 mg/L) compared to controls (2.1 pg/mL and 1.2mg/l, p<0.001). The analysis of hormones showed that patients had low testosterone and high LH, FSH and prolactin (p<0.01). Correlations revealed that there was inflammation that was attributed to obesity and hormonal imbalance, and that the categories of obesity that differed significantly across groups. Conclusions: This paper concludes that the obese men with hormonal infertility have high levels of IL-6 and CRP, low testosterone, and disturbed gonadotropins. These results indicate that obesity-induced chronic inflammation interferes with the hypothalamic–pituitary-gonadal axis, which is the reason why obesity leads to infertility by disrupting hormonal and immunological regulation. Download Full Text