The Effect of SARS-Cov2 Infection on The Spermogram: A Prospective Study.

Abstract

Background: During the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there was always concern about damage to different organs of the body. In this study, we aimed to determine if coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) could influence the sperm parameters in inpatient adult men with COVID-19.

Materials and methods: In this prospective study during 2021, 22 patients with COVID-19 diagnosed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and clinical symptoms and history of admission and 19 volunteer healthy men as the control group participated. They were asked to provide semen samples at 2 and 6 months after hospital discharge and the same time for the control group. The following parameters were measured in all semen samples and beside the demographic data, they compared between the two groups: volume (mL), sperm concentration (10⁶/mL), total motile sperm percentage, progressive percentage, normal morphology percentage, and DNA fragmentation index (DFI).

Results: The mean ± SD age of the participants in the COVID and control groups was 46.36 ± 9.94 and 45.84 ± 10.21 years, respectively (P=0.869). The mean ± SD body mass index (BMIs) of the participants in the COVID and control groups were 28.6 ± 5.460 and 29.6 ± 6.092, respectively (P=0.579). The mean ± SD number of children was 1.41 ± 1.054 in the COVID group and 1.47 ± 1.073 in the control group (P=0.847). All the sperm parameters were significantly impaired after 2 months in the COVID group in comparison with the control group (P<0.05). After 4 months from first sampling, all the parameters were improved significantly (except normal morphology) but had not yet reached the level of the control group.

Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 affected semen parameters in patients admitted because of COVID-19, in the short term. It is expected that this will improve with time.