Semen quality of young men from the general population in Baltic countries.

Study Question: What are the parameters of semen quality in Baltic men?

Summary Answer: Combined parameters of sperm concentration, motility and morphology revealed that 11-15% of men had low semen quality, 37-50% intermediate and 38-52% high semen quality.

What Is Known Already: Previous studies have revealed regional differences in semen parameters, and semen quality of Baltic men has been suggested to be better than that of other European men.

Study Design, Size, Duration: This was a cross-sectional study of 1165 men aged 16-29 years from Estonia (N = 573), Latvia (N = 278) and Lithuania (N = 314) conducted in 2003-2004.

Varicocele Is Associated with Impaired Semen Quality and Reproductive Hormone Levels: A Study of 7035 Healthy Young Men from Six European Countries.

Background: Present knowledge on the impact of varicoceles on testicular function is largely based on studies of subfertile and infertile men, making it difficult to extrapolate the impact of varicocele on the general population.

Objective: To describe associations between varicocele and testicular function assessed by semen analysis and reproductive hormones in men from the general population.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A cross-sectional multicentre study of 7035 young men, median age 19 yr, from the general population in six European countries (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) were investigated from 1996 to 2010.

Reproductive physiology in young men is cumulatively affected by FSH-action modulating genetic variants: FSHR -29G/A and c.2039 A/G, FSHB -211G/T.

Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Receptor (FSHR) -29G/A polymorphism (rs1394205) was reported to modulate gene expression and reproductive parameters in women, but data in men is limited. We aimed to bring evidence to the effect of FSHR -29G/A variants in men. In Baltic young male cohort (n = 982; Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians; aged 20.

Genetically determined dosage of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) affects male reproductive parameters.

Context: The detailed role of FSH in contributing to male testicular function and fertility has been debated. We have previously identified the association between the T-allele of the FSHB promoter polymorphism (rs10835638; G/T, -211 bp from the mRNA start) and significantly reduced male serum FSH.

Objective: In the current study, the T-allele carriers of the FSHB -211 G/T single nucleotide polymorphism represented a natural model for documenting downstream phenotypic consequences of insufficient FSH action.

Cigarette smoking and waiting time to pregnancy: results of a pilot study.

Waiting time to pregnancy is an important characteristic of human reproductive health, which has not been investigated in Lithuania until now. Data on waiting time to pregnancy have been collected from medical records of 111 women admitted to the Department of Obstetrics, Klaipeda Hospital. Seven women in whom pregnancy was the result of infertility treatment were excluded from the analysis, and the rest 104 cases were analyzed.

Association of in utero exposure to maternal smoking with reduced semen quality and testis size in adulthood: a cross-sectional study of 1,770 young men from the general population in five European countries.

Between 1996 and 1999, the authors invited all young men from five European countries who were undergoing compulsory medical examination for possible military service to participate in a study on male reproductive health. The participation rate was 19% in two cities in Denmark (n = 889), 17% in Oslo, Norway (n = 221), 13% in Turku, Finland (n = 313), 14% in Kaunas, Lithuania (n = 157), and 19% in Tartu, Estonia (n = 190). Each man provided a semen sample, was examined by a physician, and, in collaboration with his mother, completed a questionnaire about general and reproductive health, current smoking habits, and exposure to smoking in utero.

Regional differences in semen qualities in the Baltic region.

Recent prospective studies of male reproductive health have shown differences between several European countries. Our objective was to evaluate the current situation in the two Baltic States Estonia and Lithuania. In 1997-99 we investigated semen parameters, levels of reproductive hormones and general health factors of 196 men from the general population in Lithuania; from Estonia, 79 men from the general population and 118 soldiers were investigated.