The study shows that coronavirus can reduce fertility in men

The viral disease – which has spread worldwide and claimed nearly 2.2 million lives – could cause increased sperm death, inflammation and so-called oxidative stress, researchers reported in the Reproduction Journal on Friday.

“These findings provide the first direct experimental evidence that the male reproductive system can be targeted and damaged by coronavirus,” the authors concluded.

However, experts commenting on the research said that the ability of the virus to compromise fertility in men remains unproven. Coronavirus causes respiratory diseases, especially in the elderly and people with underlying medical problems.

The world has seen more than 100 million confirmed cases since the disease surfaced in central China in late 2019.

The disease is transmitted by respiratory droplets and attacks the lungs, kidneys, intestines and heart.

It can also infect male reproductive organs, which impairs sperm cell development and disrupts reproductive hormones, previous studies have shown. The same receptors that the virus uses to access lung tissue are also found in the testicles.

But the effects of the virus on the ability of men to reproduce were unclear.

Behzad Hajizadeh Maleki and Bakhtyar Tartibian from Justus-Liebig University in Germany were looking for biological markers that could have a negative effect on fertility.

Analysis performed at intervals of 10 days for 60 days in 84 men with coronavirus was compared with data for 105 healthy men.

In the COVID-19 patients, sperm cells showed a significant increase in markers of inflammation and oxidative stress, a chemical imbalance that can damage DNA and proteins in the body.

“These effects on sperm cells are associated with lower sperm quality and reduced fertility potential,” Maleki said in a statement. “Although these effects tended to improve over time, they remained significantly and abnormally higher in coronavirus patients.”

The worse the disease, the greater the changes, he added.

The male reproductive system ‘should be considered as a vulnerable way of coronavirus infection and be declared a high-risk organ by the World Health Organization,’ ‘Maleki said.

Experts not involved in the study welcomed the research, but warned that more was needed before drawing quick and quick conclusions.

“Men should not worry unnecessarily,” said Alison Campbell, director of embryology at the CARE Fertility Group in the UK. “There is currently no definitive evidence of long-term damage caused by coronavirus, to sperm or male reproductive potential,” she told the London Science Media Center.

The results could have been skewed, she added by the fact that men recovering from Covid were treated with corticosteroids and antiviral treatments while the control group was not.

Allan Pacey, a specialist in male reproductive medicine at the University of Sheffield, issued a “strong warning” about the interpretation of the data.

Some indicators of decreased sperm quality may be due to factors other than COVID-19, and he noted that more men in the coronavirus group were overweight.

The simple fact that only one group was very ill – regardless of the cause – also had to be taken into account, he added.

“We already know that a feverish disease can affect sperm production, regardless of what caused it.”