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Semen Quality in Males Suffering From COVID-19: A Pilot Study
Background It is well known that some viral infections may affect male fertility. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can lead to multiorgan damage through the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor, abundant in testicular tissue. However, little information is available regarding the shedding of sever...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Cureus
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9773904/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36569699 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.31776 |
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author | Dipankar, Satish P Kumar, Tribhuwan Itagi, Afreen Begum H Naik, Bijaya N Kumar, Yogesh Sharma, Mona Sarfaraz, Asim Kumari, Amita |
author_facet | Dipankar, Satish P Kumar, Tribhuwan Itagi, Afreen Begum H Naik, Bijaya N Kumar, Yogesh Sharma, Mona Sarfaraz, Asim Kumari, Amita |
author_sort | Dipankar, Satish P |
collection | PubMed |
description | Background It is well known that some viral infections may affect male fertility. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can lead to multiorgan damage through the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor, abundant in testicular tissue. However, little information is available regarding the shedding of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in semen and its impact on spermatogenesis and fertility potential. We planned to investigate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the semen of COVID-19 males and to study the effect of COVID-19 on semen quality and sperm DNA fragmentation index. Material and method Thirty COVID-19 male patients aged 19-45 registered to AIIMS Patna hospital participated in the survey between October 2020 and April 2021. We conducted a real-time reverse transcriptase test on all the semen samples. Detailed semen analysis, including the sperm DNA Fragmentation Index, was done at first sampling that is during COVID-19. After 74 days of the first sampling, we obtained the second sampling and repeated all the above tests. Results All semen samples collected in the first and second sampling tested with real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were negative for SARS-CoV-2. In the first sampling, semen volume, vitality, total motility, sperm concentration, total sperm count, % normal morphology, % cytoplasmic droplet, and fructose were significantly lower. In contrast, semen agglutination, % head defect, DNA Fragmentation Index, liquefaction time, semen viscosity, and leukocytes were increased. These findings were reversed at the second sampling but not to the optimum level. All these findings were statistically significant (p < 0.05 for all). Thus, COVID-19 negatively affects semen parameters, including sperm DNA fragmentation index. Conclusion Although we could not find SARS-CoV-2 in the semen, the semen quality remained poor until the second sampling. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics and sperm banking facilities should consider assessing the semen of COVID-19 males and exclude men with a positive history of SARS-CoV-2 until their semen quality returns to normal. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9773904 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Cureus |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-97739042022-12-23 Semen Quality in Males Suffering From COVID-19: A Pilot Study Dipankar, Satish P Kumar, Tribhuwan Itagi, Afreen Begum H Naik, Bijaya N Kumar, Yogesh Sharma, Mona Sarfaraz, Asim Kumari, Amita Cureus Urology Background It is well known that some viral infections may affect male fertility. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can lead to multiorgan damage through the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor, abundant in testicular tissue. However, little information is available regarding the shedding of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in semen and its impact on spermatogenesis and fertility potential. We planned to investigate the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the semen of COVID-19 males and to study the effect of COVID-19 on semen quality and sperm DNA fragmentation index. Material and method Thirty COVID-19 male patients aged 19-45 registered to AIIMS Patna hospital participated in the survey between October 2020 and April 2021. We conducted a real-time reverse transcriptase test on all the semen samples. Detailed semen analysis, including the sperm DNA Fragmentation Index, was done at first sampling that is during COVID-19. After 74 days of the first sampling, we obtained the second sampling and repeated all the above tests. Results All semen samples collected in the first and second sampling tested with real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were negative for SARS-CoV-2. In the first sampling, semen volume, vitality, total motility, sperm concentration, total sperm count, % normal morphology, % cytoplasmic droplet, and fructose were significantly lower. In contrast, semen agglutination, % head defect, DNA Fragmentation Index, liquefaction time, semen viscosity, and leukocytes were increased. These findings were reversed at the second sampling but not to the optimum level. All these findings were statistically significant (p < 0.05 for all). Thus, COVID-19 negatively affects semen parameters, including sperm DNA fragmentation index. Conclusion Although we could not find SARS-CoV-2 in the semen, the semen quality remained poor until the second sampling. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics and sperm banking facilities should consider assessing the semen of COVID-19 males and exclude men with a positive history of SARS-CoV-2 until their semen quality returns to normal. Cureus 2022-11-22 /pmc/articles/PMC9773904/ /pubmed/36569699 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.31776 Text en Copyright © 2022, Dipankar et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Urology Dipankar, Satish P Kumar, Tribhuwan Itagi, Afreen Begum H Naik, Bijaya N Kumar, Yogesh Sharma, Mona Sarfaraz, Asim Kumari, Amita Semen Quality in Males Suffering From COVID-19: A Pilot Study |
title | Semen Quality in Males Suffering From COVID-19: A Pilot Study |
title_full | Semen Quality in Males Suffering From COVID-19: A Pilot Study |
title_fullStr | Semen Quality in Males Suffering From COVID-19: A Pilot Study |
title_full_unstemmed | Semen Quality in Males Suffering From COVID-19: A Pilot Study |
title_short | Semen Quality in Males Suffering From COVID-19: A Pilot Study |
title_sort | semen quality in males suffering from covid-19: a pilot study |
topic | Urology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9773904/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36569699 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.31776 |
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