Impact of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infection on sperm parameters of infertile men

Abstract

Background: Viral hepatitis is one of the health problems which have the effects on the health issues. It seems that hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have negative impacts on the semen quality and male infertility rate.
 Objective: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of HBV and HCV on sperm quality among Iranian infertile men referred to Royan Institute Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center between 2003 and 2014.
 Materials and Methods: This retrospective case-control study included 112 HBV positive infertile men and 47 HCV positive infertile men as case group and 112 HBV negative andHCVnegative matched infertile men as a control group. All semen analysis and viral parameters assessment was performed in the central laboratory with the same method and instruments.
 Results: Sperm count among infertile men with HBV and HCV infection was significantly lower than control group [the mean of the total sperm count 100.95 ± 118.59, 118.22 ± 141.18, 166.27 ± 151.25 (p < 0.001)]. Sperm motility was significantly decreased in HBV and HCV positive men in comparison to the control group [30.97 ± 25.88, 31.09 ± 28.72, 40.87 ± 23.37, respectively (p < 0.007)]. The percentage of normal sperm morphology was significantly higher in control group in comparison to HBV and HCV infected group [the mean of the normal semen morphology 3.23 ± 3.27, 3.70 ± 3.83, 4.51 ± 3.15 p < 0.015]. Although there is a significant decline in liquefaction time in the case group but the viscosity, semen volume, and PH of semen samples were similar in the both case and control groups.
 Conclusion: Our results suggest that HBV and HCV infection are associated with poor sperm quality.

The role of infections and leukocytes in male infertility

“…Among these viruses are the mumps virus (orchitis), human immunodeficiency virus-1 (orchitis and prostatitis), Coxsackie virus (epididymitis), cytomegalovirus (vesiculitis), human papillomavirus and herpes simplex virus (prostatitis) (Dejucq & Jegou, 2001). These infections lead to male infertility by increasing seminal leukocyte concentrations (Karamolahi et al, 2019;Umapathy, Simbini, Chipata, & Mbizvo, 2001;Weinberg, Sar-Shalom Nahshon, Feferkorn, & Bornstein, 2020;Wu et al, 2019). The latter virus can infect the testes and male sex accessory glands (Le Tortorec & Dejucq-Rainsford, 2010).…”

Impact of COVID‐19 and other viruses on reproductive health

“…Several studies reported the effect of HCV on semen parameters. Lower sperm counts, abnormal morphology, reduced motility and decreased sperm lifetime were observed in HCV‐seropositive men (Hofny et al., 2011; Karamolahi et al., 2019; Lorusso et al, n.d.). Poor sperm quality and decreased sperm liquefaction time were observed in HCV‐infected men compared with non‐infected group (Karamolahi et al., 2019).…”

Crosstalk between SARS-CoV-2 and Testicular Hemostasis: Perspective View

“…This damage may lead to hypogonadism [42] and decrease the number of Leydig cells [43]. In similar, male infertility might initiate by several viruses such as human papillomavirus (HPV) [44], herpes simplex viruses (HSVs) [45], human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) [46], hepatitis B virus (HBV) [47], hepatitis C virus (HCV) [48], Mumps orthorubulavirus virus (MuV) [49], and Bluetongue virus (BTV) (an arbovirus of ruminants) [50].…”