Investigation of the relationship between COVID-19 disease and semen parameters in idiopathic male infertility patients.

Objective: Recent studies have shown that there may be a deterioration in sperm parameters in patients who had recovered from COVID-19 disease. We aimed to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 disease and semen parameters in idiopathic male infertility patients.

Patients And Methods: The study was conducted among male patients who applied with infertility between June 2021 and February 2022 following the approval of the Ethics Committee. Idiopathic infertility patients who could give semen analysis were included in the study. Detailed medical history of all patients was obtained. The presence of detectable causes of infertility was defined as exclusion criteria. The patients who had COVID-19 disease history (Reverse Transcriptase-PCR or Computed Tomography findings) in the last year were divided into two groups COVID-19 (+) and COVID-19 (-). The semen samples obtained from patients after a 3 day sexual abstinence in accordance with the WHO 2021 criteria were recorded.

Results: A total of 42 male idiopathic infertility patients who met the criteria were included in the study. It was analyzed that both groups were similar in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, and habits (p>0.05). It was determined that 40.4% (n=17) had COVID-19 disease. The mean duration time after COVID-19 was 9.6 (4-17) months. Mean sperm concentration was found to be statistically significantly lower than the COVID-19 (-) group (41.59±17.4 vs. 58.8±21.9; p=0.021). Semen volume (3.05±0.7 vs. 3.32±0.6 mL; p>0.05), progressive sperm motility (34.05±20.96 vs. 43.00±16.94; p=0.12) and normal sperm morphology (3.47±1.42 vs. 3.08±1.41; p=0.41) were similar in both groups.The mean sperm concentration of the patients who recovered in the last 6 months (25.37±9.07 vs. 56.03±29.67 million/ml; p=0.013) compared to patients with >6 months after recovery (n=9) was found to be significantly lower.

Conclusions: The COVID-19 disease can cause a significant decrease in sperm concentration in idiopathic infertility patients, especially in the first 6 months, and the rates of oligospermia and asthenospermia are higher.