Semen Parameters and COVID-19 in Infertile Men
Condition: Sperm Count, Low; Hormone Disturbance; Covid19
MeSH terms: COVID-19; Oligospermia; Endocrine System Diseases
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) is a global pandemics which affects many organs and systems
      with a range of morbidities and high mortality rates. There are a number of studies revealed
      that COVID-19 may affect the testes and male genital tract which may in turn disrupt the
      gonadal functions.The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on semen
      parameters and sex-related hormone levels.
    

Detailed description: 
      In this current study, the investigators aimed to elucidate the alteration in semen
      parameters of the infertile male patients who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2, through the
      comparison of the spermiogram results which were reported before and after the diagnosis of
      COVID-19. The investigators also aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the sex-related
      hormone levels as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and
      testosterone (T). The current study is conducted in Ankara City Hospital, the highest
      capacity tertiary health care center of the capital town of Turkey. The study included 21
      patients who applied to Ankara City Hospital, Andrology Clinic for male infertility up to 05
      October, 2020 and have had the semen analyses reported before and after the clinically
      confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 through reverse transcriptase PCR. Besides the semen
      analyses, 8 of these 21 patients have also the had the reported levels of T, FSH and LH which
      were also analyzed.
    

Intervention name(s): Clinical assessment
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Comparison of semen analysis results and sex-related hormone levels between the dependent groups which were defined as before COVID-19 and after COVID-19 (the data of the same patient group were compared as before and after the diagnosis of COVID-19).
Observational model: Cohort
Time perspective: Retrospective
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        The data of overall 25 patients who applied to our clinic for infertility evaluation and
        have had the semen analysis results reported before, and after the diagnosis of COVID-19
        were reviewed. The 4 of the patients were found to have azoospermia. Due to the difficulty
        to compare the change at semen parameters in case of azoospermia as before and after
        results, these 4 patients were excluded. The study included 21 patients in final analyses.
        The results were presented through the two dependent group analyses, based on the patients'
        data collected before and after the diagnosis of COVID-19.

        The diagnosis of COVID-19 had been established according to the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in
        the sample taken from nasopharynx with a cotton swap, which was examined through the
        RT-PCR. None of the patients were at active phase of the COVID-19 at time of the semen
        sampling.The serum samples for hormone analyses were obtained on the same days with the
        semen samplings.
      
Keywords: COVID-19; Male infertility; Semen parameters; Sex-related hormone levels