SEMINAL LEVELS OF INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES AND SPERM QUALITY IN PATIENTS RECOVERED FROM COVID-19

FERREYRA F; MARTINEZ MS; PAIRA DA; TISSERA A; MOLINA R; JOSE JAVIER OLMEDO; RIVERO VE; MOTRICH RD

Buenos Aires

Congreso; Reunión Anual de Sociedades de Biociencias 2021. SAIC-SAI-SAFIS; 2021

Sociedad Argentina de Inmunologia

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is an emergingglobal health threat that can cause multiorgan damage andshows a higher risk for men than women. Despite the considerableknowledge gained about the underlying pathophysiology, little isknown about the putative andrological consequences of COVID-19.Thus, we herein prospectively evaluated sperm quality parametersand levels of inflammatory cytokines in semen in a cohort of 293 reproductive-aged male patients who had recovered from COVID-19and in 63 control individuals. Semen specimens were collected bymasturbation, semen analysis performed according to the WHOguidelines, and inflammatory cytokines quantitated by ELISA.Significantly higher levels of IL-1β, TNFα and IFNγ were found insemen from patients recovered from mild and/or severe COVID-19with respect to control individuals (p˂0.02, p˂0.02 and p˂0.001, respectively).Moreover, patients recovered from mild and/or severeCOVID-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 differenceswere found in semen leukocyte counts from patients and controls(p˃0.001).We provide experimental evidence indicating that COVID-19 associateswith increased levels of inflammatory cytokines in semen andsignificant alterations in sperm quality. Although it should be interpretedcarefully, these findings indicate an adverse but potentiallyreversible consequence of COVID-19 on sperm quality. Althoughbeyond our current understanding of the disease, our data suggestthat the reproductive function of patients recovering from COVID-19should be precisely followed and evaluated to detect and avoid moreserious reproductive problems in the future.