Short‐term effects of COVID‐19 on semen parameters: A multicenter study of 69 cases

Abstract

Objective

COVID‐19, which is known to be caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), is a global health problem that can cause multiorgan damage because of its use of the angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor in its pathophysiology. We aimed to investigate whether SARS‐CoV‐2 had a short‐term effect on spermatogenesis, which plays an important role in male reproductive health as it has abundant ACE2 expression in testicular tissue.

Material and methods

This multicenter study included 69 patients aged 20–45 years, who admitted to our hospitals between April 2020 and October 2020 with a history of a positive test result for SARS‐CoV‐2 based on the nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab samples and had recovered from the disease at least three months earlier and who had undergone a spermiogram test in the hospital database within the last year before the onset of disease. The patients were divided into two groups according to their COVID‐19 symptoms being mild or moderate, depending on whether they had received home treatment or required hospitalization for oxygen therapy. Semen samples taken before and after COVID‐19 were compared within and between the groups in terms of sperm parameters.

Results

The mean age of the patients included in the study was 30.4±4.8 years in the mild symptomatic COVID‐19 group and 31.06±4.2 years in the moderate symptomatic group. When the spermiogram samples of the patients before and after COVID‐19 were evaluated, it was found that motility and vitality significantly decreased in the mild symptomatic group, while the decrease in all semen parameters was statistically significant in the moderate symptomatic group.

Conclusion

Although the mechanism by which COVID‐19 causes testicular involvement remains uncertain, its short‐term results on spermatogenesis reveals that COVID‐19 negatively affects sperm parameters.