The Effect of SARS-Cov2 Infection on Sperm Parameters in Patients Admitted to the Hospital due to COVID-19

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, Tehran, Iran

10.22074/ijfs.2023.556335.1322

Abstract

Introduction: In this study we wanted to evaluate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the sperm parameters in inpatient adult men with COVID-19.

Materials and methods: In this prospective study during 2021, the data of 22 patients with COVID-19 and history of admission was analyzed and compared to 19 volunteer healthy men as the control group. Men aged 20 to 60 years who had suffered a proven COVID-19 infection were asked to provide semen samples at 2 and 6 months after hospital discharge. The following parameters were measured in all semen samples and 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 ages of the participants in the COVID and control groups were 46.36±9.94 and 45.84±10.21 years, respectively (P=0.869). The mean±SD 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 impaired after 2 months in the COVID group compared to the control group. After 4 months, 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. Further studies with larger sample size and long-term follow-up is recommended.

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