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Objective: To assess whether the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccine affects sperm morphokinetics using a computer-assisted semen analyzer and other semen parameters using a sperm chromatin structure assay. Method(s): Healthy male volunteers in two Japanese clinics between May 2021 and December 2021 were prospectively analyzed. Participants donated sperm twice, two days apart, in the following phases: before vaccination, 2 weeks after the first vaccine dose, and 2, 4, and 12 weeks after the second dose. Basic sperm parameters, sperm motility characteristics, and the percentage of DNA-damaged sperm were compared among the different phases. Result(s): Ninety-six semen samples from ten volunteers, who were vaccinated with the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine, were evaluated. There were no significant differences between any phases in basic semen findings and parameters of the sperm chromatin structure assays. Regarding sperm motion characteristics, the average linear velocity, beat-cross frequency, and sperm motility index significantly decreased after the second vaccine dose (P=0.018, P=0.003, and P=0.027, respectively), with no significant differences between any two phases by post-hoc pairwise comparisons. Conclusion(s): After COVID-19 mRNA vaccination, while sperm motion characteristics might fluctuate, no apparent deterioration of basic sperm parameters or sperm DNA integrity was observed. Given the adverse effects of COVID-19 on sperm, our findings suggest that there might be no reason to refrain from vaccination for healthy individuals.Copyright © 2023 Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction Produced by Wolters Kluwer- Medknow.
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Background: It is well knowledge that various viral illnesses may interfere with a man's ability to father children. Through the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor, which is highly concentrated in testicular tissue, the corona virus illness known as COVID-19 may cause harm to several organs. On the other hand, there is a paucity of data about the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in sperm, as well as the virus's influence on spermatogenesis and the capacity for fertility. We intended to look into whether or not COVID-19 guys' sperm contained SARS-CoV-2 as well as examine how COVID-19 affected the overall quality of the sperm and the degree to which it's DNA was fragmented. Material(s) and Method(s): The survey was conducted between May 2022 to October 2022, with the participation of 40 male COVID-19 patients who were between the ages of 19 and 45 and enrolled at the RSDKS, Government Medical College, Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh. We tested each sample of sperm with a real-time reverse transcriptase and found no abnormalities. At the time of the initial sample, which took place during COVID-19, a comprehensive examination of the sperm was carried out. This analysis included the calculation of the sperm DNA Fragmentation Index. After 74 days had passed since the first sample, we were able to get the second specimen and carried out the aforementioned tests once again. Result(s): All of the sperm samples that were examined using real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) came back negative for SARS-CoV-2. These samples were taken during the first and second sampling. The initial sample had considerably lower levels of fructose, semen volume, vitality, total motility, sperm concentration, total sperm count, percentage of normal morphology, and cytoplasmic droplet percentage than the subsequent samples. On the other hand, the agglutination of the semen, the percentage of head defects, the DNA Fragmentation Index, the liquefaction time, the viscosity of the semen, and the number of leukocytes all rose. At the second sample, these results were inverted, but not to the level that would be considered optimal. These results all had a p-value less than 0.05, meaning they were statistically significant. As a result, COVID-19 has a detrimental impact on the characteristics of the sperm, including the sperm DNA fragmentation index. Conclusion(s): The quality of the semen remained low up until the second time it was sampled, despite the fact that we were unable to discover SARS-CoV-2 in the sample. It is recommended that assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics and sperm banking facilities evaluate the quality of the sperm produced by males infected with COVID-19 and exclude men who have a history of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 until the men's sperm quality recovers to normal.Copyright © 2023 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.
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Background: Evidence reveals that COVID-19, in addition to impacting the respiratory system, affects other organs, including the male and female reproductive systems. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the human reproductive system. Method(s): Data were collected in SID, Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases. The Keywords including COVID- 19, reproductive system, fertility, and factors related to mesh term utilization and Boolean strategy were used. Papers from 2019 to 2022 were extracted. Finally, out of 58 searched articles, 20 articles related to the purpose of the study were reviewed. Result(s): The results were organized into two categories. The first category deals with the effect of COVID-19 on the female reproductive system including Sleep disorders following quarantine on gonadotropin release and its effect on the ovaries and menstrual cycle, preterm delivery, increased cesarean delivery, the possibility of intrauterine infection of the fetus and dysfunction of the reproductive glands. The second category concerns the effect of COVID-19 on the male reproductive system including abnormal semen quality, possible effect on gonocyte differentiation in the early stages of spermatogenesis, negative effect on spermatogenesis, testicular dysfunction, and changes in testosterone concentration by increasing serum LH, testicular inflammation, decreased sperm concentration in semen, impaired sperm motility, dysfunction of the reproductive glands, significant damage to the seminiferous tube, swelling of Sertoli cells, decreased Leydig cells, significant disorder on semen volume and impaired sperm morphology. Conclusion(s): The findings revealed that COVID-19 has an impact on various aspects of the human reproductive system. Midwives and gynecologists should alleviate couples' fears about infertility by recognizing these cases and offering suitable counseling to couples infected with COVID-19.
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OBJECTIVE: This project sought to uncover genetic explanations as to why certain men face increased susceptibility to developing COVID orchitis. Our goal was to identify genetic variants associated with COVID orchitis in a group of patients, aided by whole-exome sequencing and protein phenotyping of affected patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS:We identified and examined six COVID- 19 patients who all were confirmed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR), including three COVID-19 (+) men without orchitis (controls) and three COVID (+) men with orchitis (bilateral testicular pain for at least 5 days around the time of testing PCR positive). Of note, among the three men with COVID-19 who had orchitis, two of them were siblings.DNA extraction and whole exome sequencing were performed on blood using the QIAmp blood maxi kit on five of the six patients. Variants were prioritized by being shared between the three patients affected with orchitis, absent in controls, and introducing nonsense, frameshift, splicing or non-synonymous amino acid changes and less than 10% in population prevalence. Based on WES findings, DuoSet® Human ACE2 reagent kit 2 (catalog number: DY933- 05) was purchased from R&D Systems, USA, and used to measure the level of soluble ACE2 in the plasma samples. RESULTS: The average age of the men in the study was 25 years old. The average duration of COVID symptoms (fever, sore throat, cough, body aches) were 7 days. Among the men who developed bilateral testis pain, the symptoms lasted for an average of 22 days. The median sperm concentration and sperm motility was 19 million/cc and 60% around 3 months after original infection. A list of 16 variants was generated that found to be shared between the two siblings with COVID orchitis along with the unrelated subject with COVID orchitis, and not present in the two controls. Among the 16 variants, a nonsynonymous non-frameshit deletion in NACAD variant on chromosome 7 with a frequency of 3.9% prevalence in ExAC was prioritized based on known involvement in the ACE2 pathway, read depth, and genotype quality. Phenotypically, we found that circulating levels of solubleACE2 was 3.72 ng/ml among men who had COVID orchitis and was lower than men who developed COVID without orchitis. CONCLUSIONS: We observed a stop mutation in NACAD in 2 brothers and 1 unrelated man who developed COVID orchitis. Interestingly, we found lower circulating ACE2 serum levels in both brothers with orchitis and the one nonrelated orchitis subject but normal serum levels in all controls. NACAD when involved with cellular ability to shuttle out ACE2 becomes critical for COVID symptomatology. With decreased transcellular and extracellular transport of ACE2 being possible in subjects with the gene mutation, it can be postulated more ACE2 will be found intracellularly leading to increased cellular entry of SARS CoV-2 and possibility of orchitis sequelae. IMPACT STATEMENT: These findings provide an explanation as to why genetic variations can lead to some patients developing comorbidities such as orchitis from COVID-19.
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OBJECTIVE: It has been suggested that geographic variations in environmental toxins may impact sperm quality. Previously, we published findings that demonstrated a decline in sperm quality over an eleven year period across six regions of the United States (US).1 The current study investigates whether there was a decrease in sperm quality from a diverse set of US sperm donors across six regions in the US over a sixteen year period. Additionally, this study sought to evaluate changes between semen analysis (SA) parameters in an era of sperm collection during the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Semen analyses (SA) from sperm donors aged 19-38, with 2-5 days abstinence, from 9 different geographic regions from January 2005-April 2021 were examined. The sperm donors originated from one of the following regions: Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Westwood, International Nordic Cryo Bank Denmark, Indianapolis, Cambridge, New York, Houston, and Spokane, WA. Donation date, BMI, and geographic region were recorded. Data was analyzed as a whole as well as by individual region. Primary outcomes were ejaculate volume (mL), average concentration (M/mL), motility (%), and total motile count (M). Data was analyzed using a general estimate equation (GEE) model with an exchangeable working correlation structure to account for repeated measures. RESULTS: A total of 176,706 SA specimens (from 3,532 unique donors) were analyzed. Controlling for BMI, there was a significant decline in average concentration (M/mL) (β=-1.89, p<0.0001), sperm motility (%) (β=-0.2892, p<0.0001) and total motile sperm (M) (β=-4.53, p<0.0001) over the 16-year study period. There were significant decreases in SA parameters within all geographic regions (Spokane only had two unique donors and could not be examined). Indianapolis showed a significant decrease in sperm concentration and total motile sperm, but also displayed an increase in sperm motility over the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Time related decline in sperm quality continues to be evident at a national level in young, healthy sperm donors. There was a decline across all geographic regions in all parameters except for ejaculate volume. How this decline in sperm counts impacts fertility has yet to be determined. Our modern environment involves increased exposures to endocrine disruptors and changes to lifestyle (including smoking, diet, and stress) that are postulated to impair male fertility by interfering with spermatogenesis. While a causative link to these risk factors remains to be elucidated further studies are necessary to evaluate whether this temporal decline in sperm count correlates with decreased fecundity. IMPACT STATEMENT: Sperm concentration, motility, and total motile sperm continue to decline across young, healthy sperm donors across the continental United States.
ABSTRACT
Introduction & Objectives: In the era of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic infection, a special attention has been dedicated to largely observed viral infections. Of those, cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a higlhy prevalent infection in humans. The role of CMV infection in terms of male fertility outcomeshas been poorly investigated and it is still debated. We aimed to investigate the association between CMV infection and sperm parameters in acohort of infertile white-European men.Materials & Methods: Complete demographic and laboratory data from 1679 infertile men were analysed. Socio-demographic data, serumhormones levels and CMV serology (IgM and IgG) were investigated in all participants. Semen analyses were based on the 2010 WHO referencecriteria. Health-significant comorbidities were scored with the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Descriptive statistics were used to test theassociation between CMV infection and sperm parameters. Logistic regression analyses tested CMV infection as a potential predictor for abnormalsperm parameters.Results: Median (IQR) age was 37 (33-41) years and median BMI was 25.2 (23.4-27) kg/m2. Of 1679 infertile men, 149 (8.1%) had CCI≥1,488 (29.1%) were smokers. Median semen volume was 3 (2-4) ml, sperm concentration 11 (2.2-34.1) x106/ml, sperm progressive motility 24%(9-38%) and normal sperm morphology 3% (1-11%). Of 1679, 57 (3.4%) and 703 (41.9%) were positive to CMV IgM and IgG, respectively. Therewere no differences in clinical and sperm parameters between men with serological tests suggestive for either current or historical CMV infectioncompared with CMV negative men (Fig. 1). Adjusted and unadjusted logistic regression analyses revealed that both CMV IgG and IgM status wasnot significantly associated with altered sperm parameters.Conclusions: Findings from this cross-sectional real-life study showed that 4 out of 10 men presenting for couples’ infertility have had CMVinfection. Current or previous CMV infections were not associated with an increased risk of abnormal sperm parameters in infertile men. Aprospective case-control study is needed to further confirm these observations.(Figure Presented)(Figure Presented)(Figure Presented)(Figure Presented)