Urogenital Infection as a Risk Factor for Male Infertility

Abstract

Any suspicion of an infectious or inflammatory disease in the male genital tract should prompt a systematic diagnostic evaluation and appropriate treatment. For patients with obstructive azoospermia, the etiology and site of the obstruction determine the surgical approach to be taken. In the near future, the elucidation of underlying pathophysiological mechanisms and the identification of suitable biomarkers may enable new strategies for conservative treatment.

High prevalence of urogenital infection/inflammation in patients with azoospermia does not impede surgical sperm retrieval

“…Unlike males suffering from acute urogenital tract infections, most of the affected males counselled for sub/infertility are asymptomatic (Schuppe et al, ). Although the MAGI system is commonly used to characterise these patients by clinical and laboratory findings (Comhaire et al, ; Rowe et al, ; Schuppe et al, ), the diagnostics do not consider STI‐PCR testing (Eley & Pacey, ), lack soluble inflammatory parameters (e.g. cytokines; Pilatz et al, ) and sperm DNA fragmentation (Lotti et al, ), and assume a sterile urogenital tract under normal conditions.…”

“…From each native semen sample, 100 µl was used for the comprehensive microbiological workup. Relevant bacteriospermia was diagnosed for common urinary tract pathogens with ≥10 3 CFU/ml (Schuppe et al, ).…”

“…In this connection, impaired spermatogenesis and infertility after acute epididymo‐orchitis or mumps orchitis have been reported and histologically confirmed (Osegbe, ; Zhang et al, ). However, the majority of men seeking consultation for couple infertility and suffering from azoospermia are asymptomatic and never report an episode of acute genital tract infection/inflammation (Jungwirth et al, ; Schuppe et al, ). Consequently, it is more common to describe infectious and/or inflammatory conditions of the male genital tract as “male accessory gland infection” (MAGI) (Comhaire, Verschraegen, & Vermeulen, ; Rowe, Comhaire, Hargreave, & Mahmoud, ).…”

Experimental justification of laser therapy efficiency of men's infertility

“…Безусловно, влияние оказывает и то, в какой стране проводились исследования. Однако вполне уверенно можно говорить о том, что веду-щими факторами, которые оказывают наиболь-шее влияние на мужскую фертильность, являются последствия урогенитальных инфекций, в том чис-ле вирусных [12][13][14], и связанные с этим наруше-ния иммунной системы, патологии яичек и пред-стательной железы (варикоцеле, эпидидимоорхит, простатит) [15][16][17][18][19], а также эндокринные наруше-ния [20,21]. Хронический неспеци фический про-статит (ХНП), по разным данным, вызывает ин-фертильность в 52-76 % случаев [22][23][24][25].…”

Alterations in human sperm parameters as a corollary of incubation with various uropathogenic microorganisms

“…Infections of the urogenital tract are believed to be of considerable significance in determining fertility outcome in males. Globally, they account for about 15% of these male infertility cases [1]. These infections lead to perturbation in male genital tract, thereby, damaging important biological functions of the organs of reproductive system.…”