Do SARS-CoV-2 Infection (COVID-19) and the Medications Administered for Its Treatment Impair Testicular Functions?

Gül, Abdullah; Zengin, Salim; Dündar, Gökçe; Öztürk, Murat

doi:10.1159/000517925

Cited by 26 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Further studies about the impact of postponed fertility treatment on sexual health with consideration of different hormone values of infertile patients could be done. A new study found that COVID-19 infection and treatment had no long-term effect on male reproductive health, such as spermatogenesis and serum androgen levels (41). These findings are meaningful for infertile patients, especially for patients who postponed fertility treatment in times of crisis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

The Impact of Postponed Fertility Treatment on the Sexual Health of Infertile Patients Owing to the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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Background: With the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic at the beginning of 2020, all non-essential medical treatments were suspended, including fertility treatments. As a unique group in society, patients with infertility may be more sensitive and vulnerable in the face of pressure and crisis. However, to the best of our knowledge, there have been no reports on the influence of postponed fertility treatment on the sexual health of infertile patients owing to COVID-19. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether postponed fertility treatment resulting from COVID-19 affects the sexual health of patients with infertility.Methods: A total of 1,442 participants were included for analysis in this large-scale study. Those with postponed fertility treatment were categorised as group A (n = 474), whereas those whose fertility treatment was not delayed were in group B (n = 968). The sexual health and psychological well-being were compared between the two groups.Results: The total Female Sexual Function Index score and five domains of female sexual function (arousal ability, vaginal lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and coital pain) were significantly lower in group A than those in group B (p < 0.05). The International Index of Erectile Dysfunction score and Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool score were significantly higher in group A than those in group B (p < 0.05).Conclusions: Delaying fertility treatment obviously affects patients' sexual and mental health. Through a structural equation model, we observed that postponed fertility treatment mediates sexual health by regulating psychological distress and couple relationship quality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

The Impact of Postponed Fertility Treatment on the Sexual Health of Infertile Patients Owing to the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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“…Of 2965 articles identified from the database search, 23 articles were selected for full-text reading. After excluding 2 studies for not providing applicable data on semen quality, 3 articles for no matched control group, and 4 articles for bad quality, we eventually included 14 studies for meta-analysis [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34], including 8 articles that compared the semen quality between the COVID-19 case group and age-matched control group, and 6 articles comparing patients' sperm parameters before and after COVID-19 infection. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols) flow diagram of the literature screening is presented in Figure 1.…”

Section: Study Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Almost all COVID-19 patients in the included studies were reported to have recovered from the disease during the semen analysis. The semen analysis in 11 studies was performed following WHO 2010 criteria [21][22][23][24][26][27][28][29], and another 2 studies also adopted the WHO standard, but its version was not informed [25,30]. One study did not explain the guideline on which semen analysis was based, but it is stated that all tests were performed in an EQUAS-certified laboratory [34].…”

Section: Study Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is reported that multiple sperm parameters, such as progressive motility, total sperm number, and semen volume, were decreased in COVID-19 male patients compared to the uninfected controls [22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Interestingly, a subset of COVID-19 patients recovered for more than 3 months, and their sperm quality was comparable to that of COVID-19 negative male control participants [30,[32][33][34].…”

Section: Study Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Concentration, Total Sperm Count, Total Motility, Progressive Motility, and Normal Sperm Morphology. In the six pre-to post-COVID-19 studies, semen data on 210 participants before and after COVID-19 were included [23,24,28,30,31,33]. All 6 studies provided data on semen volume, total sperm motility, sperm concentration, and progressive sperm motility, 5 studies reported data on total sperm number, and 3 studies provided information on normal sperm morphology.…”

Section: Sars-cov-2 Infection Significantly Impaired Spermmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis of the Effect of SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Sperm Parameters

et al. 2022

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Objective. Several studies examined the putative effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on sperm parameters. However, the results remain controversial. In this study, we conducted the most up-to-date systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection on sperm quality in COVID-19-positive and COVID-19-negative male participants. Method. Seven databases were searched for literature released through June 10, 2022, containing estimates for the outcomes of interest. Using a random-effects model (REM) or a fixed-effects model (FEM), we analyzed the pooled results. The quality of all included studies was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. In addition, we performed a quantitative and subgroup analysis of semen data across all included studies. Results. Fourteen studies were extracted from 10 publications, involving a total of 1174 participates for meta-analysis. Sperm parameters of 521 COVID-19 male patients and 653 controls were analyzed. In 8 case-control studies, the pooled mean difference (MD) of total sperm motility was -5.37% (95% confidence interval (CI): -8.47 to -2.28; p<0.05), suggesting that total motility was significantly impaired in male COVID-19 cases. Subgroup analysis showed a significant decrease in semen volume, sperm concentration, and total motility in 238 patients with a recovery time of less than 90 days. Moreover, in the other 6 included pre- to post-COVID-19 studies, the pooled MDs of sperm concentration, total sperm count, total motility, progressive motility, and normal morphology were −6.54×106/ml (95% CI: -10.27 to -2.81; p<0.05), −38.89×106 (95% CI: -59.20 to -18.58; p<0.05), -7.21% (95% CI: -14.36 to -0.07; p<0.05), -5.12% (95% CI: -8.71 to -1.53; p<0.05), and -1.52% (95% CI: -2.88 to -0.16; p<0.05), respectively, which indicate SARS-CoV-2 infection significantly affected these five sperm parameters. Conclusion. Our results revealed that SARS-CoV-2 infection was significantly correlated with decreased sperm quality. Of six sperm parameters, total motility and sperm concentration were the most significantly decreased parameters. These results suggest a possible negative influence of SARS-CoV-2 infection on testicular function and male fertility. Given the potential detrimental effect of SARS-CoV-2 on semen quality, male reproductive health should be monitored closely in patients with COVID-19. This trial is registered with CRD42021275823.

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Semen parameters after SARS‐CoV‐2 infection: A literature review

Tufvesson

Catalini

Fedder

2022

Health Science Reports

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Background and Aims The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is known to affect multiple organs by binding to angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 receptors and might therefore affect male fertility. This review aims to collect all original articles on the effects of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection on male fertility, including the duration of time after infection required for these effects to begin to manifest and recommend how clinicians should approach cases with a recent illness. Methods This review was developed according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta‐analyses guidelines. The search string was applied to four online databases—namely Pubmed, Embase, Medline, and the Cochrane COVID‐19 Register—and screened using the online tool Covidence.org . Articles were eligible for inclusion if they were cohort studies involving a healthy male population diagnosed with COVID‐19, each of whom had semen samples collected before and after the infection or two different semen samples collected after the diagnosis. Results Nine cohort studies were eventually included. Five articles had pre‐ and post‐COVID‐19 data while four had two sets of post‐COVID‐19 data. The three largest studies found a statistically significant decrease in all semen parameters when waiting less than 3 months from diagnosis before sample collection, and no significant differences in results when the ejaculate was analyzed more than 3 months after recovery. One study compared the COVID‐19 patients with a control group and found a significant decrease in semen parameters in the COVID‐19 group. Conclusion Spermatogenesis seems to be affected by SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, but the impact tends to reverse within 3–4 months. It is still unclear why male fertility is affected by SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, and it might be the result of several different components. Clinicians should consider recent SARS‐CoV‐2 infection as a possible reason for the low semen quality of patients' semen samples, and might therefore need to collect new samples after 4 months before further treatment.

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Do SARS-CoV-2 Infection (COVID-19) and the Medications Administered for Its Treatment Impair Testicular Functions?

Cited by 26 publications

References 23 publications

The Impact of Postponed Fertility Treatment on the Sexual Health of Infertile Patients Owing to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Impact of Postponed Fertility Treatment on the Sexual Health of Infertile Patients Owing to the COVID-19 Pandemic

A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis of the Effect of SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Sperm Parameters

Semen parameters after SARS‐CoV‐2 infection: A literature review

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