Comparative analysis of proteomes between diabetic and normal human sperm: Insights into the effects of diabetes on male reproduction based on the regulation of mitochondria‐related proteins

This study sought to identify sources of the reduced fertility of men with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Significant reductions in semen volume, sperm concentration, and total sperm count were observed in diabetic individuals, while transmission electron microscopy revealed that the structure of mitochondria in the tail of sperm from diabetic patients was damaged. Proteins potentially associated with these sperm defects were identified using proteomics. Isobaric tagging for relative and absolute quantitation labeling and high‐performance liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry allowed us to identify 357 proteins significantly differentially expressed in diabetic versus control semen (>1.2 or