The Effect of SARS-Cov2 Infection on The Spermogram: A Prospective Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Men’s Health and Reproductive Health Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Infertility and IVF Center, Taleghani Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Laser Application in Medical Sciences Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

4 Department of Urology, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran

5 Urology and Nephrology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Shahid Labbafinejad Hospital, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background: During the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there was always concern about damage
to different organs of the body. In this study, we aimed to determine if coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) could influence
the sperm parameters in inpatient adult men with COVID-19.
Materials and Methods: In this prospective study during 2021, 22 patients with COVID-19 diagnosed with polymerase
chain reaction (PCR) test and clinical symptoms and history of admission and 19 volunteer healthy men
as the control group participated. They were asked to provide semen samples at 2 and 6 months after hospital discharge
and the same time for the control group. The following parameters were measured in all semen samples and
beside the demographic data, they compared between the two groups: volume (mL), sperm concentration (106/mL),
total motile sperm percentage, progressive percentage, normal morphology percentage, and DNA fragmentation
index (DFI).
Results: The mean ± SD age of the participants in the COVID and control groups was 46.36 ± 9.94 and 45.84 ±
10.21 years, respectively (P=0.869). The mean ± SD body mass index (BMIs) of the participants in the COVID and
control groups were 28.6 ± 5.460 and 29.6 ± 6.092, respectively (P=0.579). The mean ± SD number of children was
1.41 ± 1.054 in the COVID group and 1.47 ± 1.073 in the control group (P=0.847). All the sperm parameters were
significantly impaired after 2 months in the COVID group in comparison with the control group (P<0.05). After 4
months from first sampling, all the parameters were improved significantly (except normal morphology) but had not
yet reached the level of the control group.
Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 affected semen parameters in patients admitted because of COVID-19, in the short term. It
is expected that this will improve with time.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Cascella M, Rajnik M, Aleem A, Dulebohn SC, Di Napoli R. Features, evaluation, and treatment of coronavirus (COVID-19). 2022. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023.
  2. Gupta A, Madhavan MV, Sehgal K, Nair N, Mahajan S, Sehrawat TS, et al. Extrapulmonary manifestations of COVID-19. Nat Med. 2020; 26(7): 1017-1032.
  3. Vishvkarma R, Rajender S. Could SARS-CoV-2 affect male fertility? Andrologia. 2020; 52(9): e13712.
  4. Ruan Y, Hu B, Liu Z, Liu K, Jiang H, Li H, et al. No detection of SARS-CoV-2 from urine, expressed prostatic secretions, and semen in 74 recovered COVID-19 male patients: a perspective and urogenital evaluation. Andrology. 2021; 9(1): 99-106.
  5. Li D, Jin M, Bao P, Zhao W, Zhang S. Clinical characteristics and results of semen tests among men with coronavirus disease 2019. JAMA Netw Open. 2020; 3(5): e208292.
  6. Pan F, Xiao X, Guo J, Song Y, Li H, Patel DP, et al. No evidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 in semen of males recovering from coronavirus disease 2019. Fertil Steril. 2020; 113(6): 1135-1139.
  7. Paoli D, Pallotti F, Colangelo S, Basilico F, Mazzuti L, Turriziani O, et al. Study of SARS-CoV-2 in semen and urine samples of a volunteer with positive naso-pharyngeal swab. J Endocrinol Invest. 2020; 43(12): 1819-1822.
  8. Yang M, Chen S, Huang B, Zhong JM, Su H, Chen YJ, et al. Pathological findings in the testes of COVID-19 patients: clinical implications. Eur Urol Focus. 2020; 6(5): 1124-1129.
  9. Guo TH, Sang MY, Bai S, Ma H, Wan YY, Jiang XH, et al. Semen parameters in men recovered from COVID-19. Asian J Androl. 2021; 23(5): 479-483.
  10. Holtmann N, Edimiris P, Andree M, Doehmen C, Baston-Buest D, Adams O, et al. Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in human semen-a cohort study. Fertil Steril. 2020; 114(2): 233-238.
  11. Temiz MZ, Dincer MM, Hacibey I, Yazar RO, Celik C, Kucuk SH, et al. Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 in semen samples and the effects of COVID-19 on male sexual health by using semen analysis and serum male hormone profile: a cross-sectional, pilot study. Andrologia. 2021; 53(2): e13912.
  12. Ma L, Xie W, Li D, Shi L, Ye G, Mao Y, et al. Evaluation of sex-related hormones and semen characteristics in reproductive-aged male COVID-19 patients. J Med Virol. 2021; 93(1): 456- 462.
  13. He X, Cheng X, Feng X, Wan H, Chen S, Xiong M. Clinical symptom differences between mild and severe COVID-19 patients in china: a meta-analysis. Front Public Health. 2021; 8: 561264.
  14. Guler SA, Ebner L, Aubry-Beigelman C, Bridevaux PO, Brutsche M, Clarenbach C, et al. Pulmonary function and radiological features 4 months after COVID-19: first results from the national prospective observational Swiss COVID-19 lung study. Eur Respir J. 2021; 57(4): 2003690.
  15. Stasi C, Fallani S, Voller F, Silvestri C. Treatment for COVID-19: An overview. Eur J Pharmacol. 2020; 889: 173644.
  16. Khan I. Sperm quality parameters and oxidative stress: exploring correlation in fluoride-intoxicated rats. J Hum Reprod Sci. 2022; 15(3): 219-227.
  17. Menkveld R, Wong WY, Lombard CJ, Wetzels AM, Thomas CM, Merkus HM, et al. Semen parameters, including WHO and strict criteria morphology, in a fertile and subfertile population: an effort towards standardization of in-vivo thresholds. Hum Reprod. 2001; 16(6): 1165-1171.
  18. Ghahestani SM, Bonakdar Hashemi M, Yousefzadeh Kandevani N, Borumandnia N, Dadpour M, Sharifiaghdas F. Iranian urology association coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) taskforce pamphlet (IUA-CTP) recommended practice based on national epidemiologic analysis. Urol J. 2020; 17(5): 543-547.
  19. Abedi AR, Aliakbari F, Ghiasy S, Allameh F, Ghanbari MA. The impact of the first Covid 19 pandemic on urology residency training in Iran. Men's Health Journal. 2020; 4(1): e21.
  20. Jiang F, Deng L, Zhang L, Cai Y, Cheung CW, Xia Z. Review of the clinical characteristics of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). J Gen Intern Med. 2020; 35(5): 1545-1549.
  21. Fan C, Li K, Ding Y, Lu W, Wang J. ACE2 expression in kidney and testis may cause kidney and testis damage after 2019- nCoV infection. medRxiv. 2020: 2020.02.12.20022418.
  22. Tur-Kaspa I, Tur-Kaspa T, Hildebrand G, Cohen D. COVID-19 may affect male fertility but is not sexually transmitted: a systematic review. F S Rev. 2021; 2(2): 140-149.
  23. Pike JFW, Polley EL, Pritchett DY, Lal A, Wynia BA, Roudebush WE, et al. Comparative analysis of viral infection outcomes in human seminal fluid from prior viral epidemics and Sars-CoV-2 may offer trends for viral sexual transmissibility and long-term reproductive health implications. Reprod Health. 2021; 18(1): 123.
  24. He Y, Wang J, Ren J, Zhao Y, Chen J, Chen X. Effect of COVID-19 on male reproductive system - a systematic review. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021; 12: 677701.
  25. Tiwari S, Kc N, Thapa S, Ghimire A, Bijukchhe S, Sah GS, et al. Semen parameters in men recovered from COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Middle East Fertil Soc J. 2021; 26(1): 44.
  26. Erbay G, Sanli A, Turel H, Yavuz U, Erdogan A, Karabakan M, et al. Short-term effects of COVID-19 on semen parameters: a multicenter study of 69 cases. Andrology. 2021; 9(4): 1060- 1065.
  27. Gacci M, Coppi M, Baldi E, Sebastianelli A, Zaccaro C, Morselli S, et al. Semen impairment and occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in semen after recovery from COVID-19. Hum Reprod. 2021; 36(6): 1520-1529.
  28. Carlsen E, Andersson AM, Petersen JH, Skakkebaek NE. History of febrile illness and variation in semen quality. Hum Reprod. 2003; 18(10): 2089-2092.
International Journal of Fertility and Sterility
Volume 17, Issue 4
October 2023
Pages 259-263

Files

Cited by

Share

How to cite

Statistics