Abstract

Background

Although bacterial infections have been recognized as a possible cause of male infertility, the effect of bacterial infections on sperm quality and sperm DNA fragmentation remains controversial. The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence rate of bacterial infection in subfertile men and its effect on semen quality. Seminal fluid was collected from 172 male members of infertile couples attending the andrology infertility center and a group of 35 fertile subjects as a control. Sperm parameters and DNA fragmentation were evaluated based on the type of bacteria in all ejaculates.

Results

From the 172 patients investigated for infertility, 60 (34.88%) patients had a positive culture for pathogenic bacteria of different species. Leukocytospermia was significantly higher in infected samples in comparison with non-infected samples (p < 0.05). Sperm concentration and motility and morphology were significantly lower in infected than non-infected samples. Moreover, sperm DNA fragmentation was significantly higher in infected than non-infected samples. Besides, our results showed that sperm DNA fragmentation was correlated significantly with leukocytospermia (R: 0.22, p < 0.01).

Conclusion

The present study suggested that bacterial infection significantly correlated with leukocytospermia could impair male fertility potential through decreasing sperm motility, morphology, and DNA integrity.

Details

Title
Effect of bacterial infection on sperm quality and DNA fragmentation in subfertile men with Leukocytospermia
Author
Eini, Fatemeh; Maryam Azizi Kutenaei; Fayegheh Zareei; Zeinolabedin Sharifian Dastjerdi; Maryam Hosseinzadeh Shirzeyli; Salehi, Ensieh
Pages
1-10
Section
Research
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
BioMed Central
e-ISSN
26618850
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2562530073
Copyright
© 2021. This work is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.