Semen Quality as a Potential Susceptibility Indicator to SARS-CoV-2 Insults in Polluted Areas<strong> </strong>

Abstract

<jats:p>High levels of air pollution can contribute to high rate of the COVID-19 outbreaks. Air pollutants induce oxidative stress, inflammatory process, immune imbalance and coagulation at systemic level, making the organism susceptible to complications caused by various pathogens, including viruses, resulting in a possible important damage co-factor. Sperm cells are highly sensitive to the pro-oxidant effects of environmental pollutants, and represent an important alarm bell indicating how the burden of environmental pressure in a certain area is becoming increasingly unsustainable. We underline that overlapping among maps of case fatality rate of COVID-19, male infertility rate and air pollution can be a challenging idea to understand the dynamics of the virus impact, considering semen quality that is an early and sensitive environmental marker, and could be a potential susceptibility indicator to viral insults (including SARS-CoV-2 ) in heavily polluted areas. So that, assessing the burden of environmental exposure of a given population and its potential susceptibility to insults through early biological stress indicators able to predict the probability, nature and magnitude for the adverse effects is a major public health challenge.</jats:p>

Air Pollution and COVID-19: A Possible Dangerous Synergy for Male Fertility

“…Spermatozoa are the first to suffer from environmental insults and can be considered early and sensitive markers of environmental exposures [ 42 , 44 , 148 ] for human [ 97 , 132 , 152 ], and marine organisms in high environmental impact areas [ 153 , 154 , 155 , 156 ]. Since human semen is an early and sensitive health marker [ 112 ], spermatozoa may be more susceptible to the impact of SARS-CoV-2, which might further increase reproductive risk in the infected male population [ 157 , 158 ].…”

“…In addition to the assessment of virulence and severity of viral impact, reproductive biomarkers, particularly seminal biomarkers, could therefore represent good biological indicators for the assessment of environmental damage to human health, including male fertility [ 157 , 158 ].…”