Seminal levels of inflammatory cytokines and sperm quality in patients recovered from COVID-19

FERREYRA, FERNANDO NICOLAS; MARTINEZ, MARIA SOL; PAIRA, DANIELA A.; TISSERA, ANDREA D.; MOLINA, ROSA I.; OLMEDO, JOSE J.; RIVERO, VIRGINIA E.; MOTRICH, RUBEN D.

Buenos Aires

Congreso; Reunión de Sociedades de Biociencias 2021; 2021

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is an emerging global health threat that can cause multiorgan damage and shows a higher risk for men than women. Despite the considerable knowledge gained about the underlying pathophysiology, little is known about the putative andrological consequences of COVID-19. Thus, we herein prospectively evaluated sperm quality parameters and levels of inflammatory cytokines in semen in a cohort of 293 reproductive-aged male patients who had recovered from COVID-19 and in 63 control individuals. Semen specimens were collected by masturbation, semen analysis performed according to the WHO guidelines, and inflammatory cytokines quantitated by ELISA.Significantly higher levels of IL-1β, TNFα and IFNγ were found in semen from patients recovered from mild and/or severe COVID-19 with respect to control individuals (p˂0.02, p˂0.02 and p˂0.001, respectively). Moreover, patients recovered from mild and/or severe COVID-19 showed significantly reduced semen volume (p˂0.001), lower total sperm counts (p˂0.03), and impaired sperm motility (p˂0.02) and viability (p˂0.01). Remarkably, no significant differences were found in semen leukocyte counts from patients and controls (p˃0.001).We provide experimental evidence indicating that COVID-19 associates with increased levels of inflammatory cytokines in semen and significant alterations in sperm quality. Although it should be interpreted carefully, these findings indicate an adverse but potentially reversible consequence of COVID-19 on sperm quality. Although beyond our current understanding of the disease, our data suggest that the reproductive function of patients recovering from COVID-19 should be precisely followed and evaluated to detect and avoid more serious reproductive problems in the future.