Semen quality as a potential susceptibility indicator to SARS-CoV-2 insults in polluted areas

Abstract

The epidemic of the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has impacted worldwide with its infectious spread and mortality rate. Thousands of articles have been published to tackle this crisis and many of these have indicated that high air pollution levels may be a contributing factor to high outbreak rates of COVID-19. Atmospheric pollutants, indeed, producing oxidative stress, inflammation, immuno-unbalance, and systemic coagulation, may be a possible significant co-factor of further damage, rendering the body prone to infections by a variety of pathogens, including viruses. Spermatozoa are extremely responsive to prooxidative effects produced by environmental pollutants and may serve as a powerful alert that signals the extent that environmental pressure, in a specific area, is doing damage to humans. In order to improve our current knowledge on this topic, this review article summarizes the relevant current observations emphasizing the weight that environmental pollution has on the sensitivity of a given population to several diseases and how semen quality, may be a potential indicator of sensitivity for virus insults (including SARS-CoV-2) in high polluted areas, and help to predict the risk for harmful effects of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic. In addition, this review focused on the potential routes of virus transmission that may represent a population health risk and also identified the areas of critical importance that require urgent research to assess and manage the COVID-19 outbreak.

Positive association between outdoor air pollution and the incidence and severity of COVID-19. A review of the recent scientific evidences

“…However, it has been reported, for example, that PM could aggravate neurological symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 ( Borisova and Komisarenko, 2020 ), as well as respiratory and cardiovascular effects of COVID-19 ( Espejo et al, 2020 ; Tanwar et al, 2021 ). Air pollution could also mean a possible dangerous synergy with COVID-19 for semen quality and male fertility ( Montano et al, 2021a , b ). Positive results on the influence of PM on SARS-CoV-2 transmission have been reported by Setti et al (2020a , b) and Tung et al (2021) for PM 2.5 and PM 10 , and by Kayalar et al (2021) and Nor et al (2021) for PM 2.5 .…”

Could Kallikrein-Related Serine Peptidase 3 Be an Early Biomarker of Environmental Exposure in Young Women?

“…It is well known that environmental pollution has negative consequences on the health of various organisms including humans, and also on their reproduction [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. Very few studies have been conducted on the impact of pollution on the female reproductive system versus the male one.…”

The Effects of Sperm and Seminal Fluid of Immunized Male Mice on In Vitro Fertilization and Surrogate Mother–Embryo Interaction

“…Although these results did not reveal the paternal immune signal per se, they point to possible scenarios for the realization of the effects of antigenic challenge on the reproductive function of men, which includes viral infections. For example, COVID-19 interferes with spermatogenesis, reduces sperm quality in moderately infected patients, and poses health risks to their offspring [43][44][45]. Thus, the IVF model can be effective for studying the effects of antigens of different natures on male reproduction and the development of their offspring.…”