COVID-19 associates with semen inflammation and sperm quality impairment that reverses in the short term after disease recovery

MARTINEZ, MARIA SOL; FERREYRA, FERNANDO NICOLAS; PAIRA, DANIELA ANDREA; RIVERO, VIRGINIA ELENA; OLMEDO, JOSÉ JAVIER; TISSERA, ANDREA DANIELA; MOLINA, ROSA ISABEL; MOTRICH, RUBEN DARIO

Frontiers in Physiology

Frontiers Media

Año: 2023

1664-042X

bstractIntroduction: COVID-19 exerts deleterious effects on the respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems, causing more severe disease in men than in women. However, cumulative reported data about the putative consequences on the male reproductive tract and fertility are controversial. Furthermore, the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection are still uncertain. Methods: In this study, we prospectively evaluated levels of inflammatory cytokines and leukocytes in semen and sperm quality parameters in a cohort of 231 reproductive-aged male patients, unvaccinated, who had recovered from mild or severe COVID-19 and in 62 healthy control individuals. Sperm quality was assessed early (less than 3 months) and long (more than 3 and up to 6 months) after having COVID-19. Interestingly, and unlike most reported studies, available extensive background and baseline data on patients’ sperm quality allowed performing a more accurate analysis of COVID-19 effects on