Affiliation:
1. Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences “Mario Serio” University of Florence Florence Italy
2. Andrology, Women's Endocrinology and Gender Incongruence Unit AOU Careggi Florence Italy
3. Clinical Trial Center AOU Careggi Florence Italy
4. Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine University of Florence Florence Italy
Abstract
AbstractIn March 2020, the Italian government imposed a national lockdown which was almost completely removed in June 2020. Due to the abrupt stop of human activities, emissions of air pollutants decreased. Air pollution is an environmental risk factor for noncommunicable disease and mortality. Emerging evidence also suggests a role in male infertility. In this study, we compared sperm DNA fragmentation (sDF) levels and conventional semen parameters between subjects undergoing sDF determination and routine semen analysis in a single Italian centre, during about 6 months before (N = 119) and after lockdown (N = 105). After lockdown, we found an improvement of sperm progressive motility (48.00[38.50–58.00]% vs. 42.00[33.00–53.00]%) and sDF levels (as total: 24.79[18.33–33.97]% vs. 35.02[25.04–45.73]%, p < .001; brighter: 14.02[10.69–17.93]% vs 18.54[13.58–25.82]%, p < .001 and dimmer sDF: 9.24[5.64–15.78]% vs. 12.24[8.08–19.10]%, p < .01), mirrored by a decrease of leukocyte semen concentration (p < .01). The improvement of sperm motility and DNA quality was maintained after adjusting for leukocyte concentration and several conditions known to affect sperm motility and/or sDF levels. With a significant decrease in air pollution observed in Tuscany during and after lockdown, associated improvement in sperm motility and DNA quality in patients referred to the infertility clinic is suggestive of the potential role of air pollution in male infertility.
Subject
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis,Genetics (clinical),Epidemiology
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