According to a new study based on experimental tests, coronavirus can damage sperm quality and reduce male fertility.
Viral disease, which has ravaged the world with nearly 2.2 million lives, can cause an increase in sperm cell death, inflammation and so-called oxidative stress, researchers reported Friday in the journal Reproduction.
A health worker in Jerusalem performs coronavirus tests
(Photo: AFP)
“These findings provide the first direct experimental evidence that the male reproductive system could be attacked and damaged by the coronavirus,” the authors concluded.
However, experts who commented on the research said the virus’s ability to compromise male fertility has not yet been demonstrated. Coronavirus causes respiratory diseases, especially in the elderly and with underlying medical problems.
The world has seen more than 100 million confirmed cases since the disease emerged in central China in late 2019.
The disease, transmitted by respiratory drops, attacks the lungs, kidneys, intestines and heart.
It can also infect male reproductive organs, altering the development of sperm cells and altering reproductive hormones, as previous studies have shown. The same receptors that the virus uses to access lung tissue are also found in the testicles.
A coronavirus room at Safed’s Ziv Medical Center
(Photo: Aviho Shapira)
But the effects of the virus on men’s ability to reproduce were unclear.
Behzad Hajizadeh Maleki and Bakhtyar Tartibian of Justus-Liebig University in Germany looked for biological markers that could indicate a negative impact on fertility.
The analysis performed at ten-day intervals for 60 days in 84 men with coronavirus was compared with data from 105 healthy men.
In patients with COVID-19, sperm showed a significant increase in markers of inflammation and oxidative stress, a chemical imbalance that can damage DNA and proteins in the body.
“Strong note of caution”
“These effects on sperm cells are associated with lower sperm quality and reduced fertility potential,” Maleki said in a statement. “Although these effects tend to improve over time, they remained significantly and abnormally superior in patients with coronavirus.”
The more serious the disease, the greater the changes, he added.
The male reproductive system “should be considered a vulnerable route of coronavirus infection and declared a high-risk organ by the World Health Organization,” Maleki said.
A coronavirus room at Sheba Medical Center
(Photo: AFP)
Experts who did not participate in the study welcomed the research, but warned that more was needed before drawing quick, hard conclusions.
“Men should not be overly alarmed,” noted Alison Campbell, director of embryology at the CARE Fertility Group in Britain. “There is currently no definitive evidence of long-term damage caused by coronavirus, to male or sperm reproductive potential,” he told the London-based Science Media Center.
The results could have been skewed, he added, because the men recovering from Covid were treated with corticosteroids and antiviral therapies, while the control group was not.
A health worker who performs a serological test to detect antibodies against the coronavirus
(Photo: Avigayil Uzi)
Allan Pacey, a specialist in male reproductive medicine at the University of Sheffield, raised a “strong note of caution” about how the data was interpreted.
Some of the indicators of decreased sperm quality could be due to other factors, in addition to COVID-19, which noted that there were more men in the group with coronavirus who were overweight.
The simple fact that only one group was very ill (regardless of the cause) was also necessary to take into account, he added.
“We already know that a febrile illness can affect sperm production, regardless of what causes it.”