Association of vitamin D status with semen quality and reproductive hormones in Iranian subfertile men

Abstract

SUMMARYAlthough vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common health problems throughout the world, including Iran, conflicting information exists on the potential association between serum vitamin D levels and semen quality. This study intended to evaluate the association between serum vitamin D [25(OH) D3] with semen quality and hormones in Iranian subfertile men. We also compared mean vitamin D and hormone levels in normospermic men with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) men. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 278 men who were referred to Royan Infertility Clinic (Tehran, Iran) from March to September 2014. The participants were categorized into two groups; of 186 normospermic and 92 OAT patients according to World Health Organization 2010 criteria. Each participant provided informed consent prior to launching research. Participants completed two general questionnaires of nutritional status. Blood and semen samples were obtained for assessment, and all data were adjusted for age, body mass index (BMI), and season. Vitamin D levels were classified according to Institute of Medicine guidelines. Vitamin D deficiency, insufficiency, and normal levels were observed in 8.6%, 43.6%, 47.8% of participants, respectively. No association was found between daily dietary intake of vitamin D and calcium with sperm parameters. Serum vitamin D was inversely correlated with PTH (p < 0.045). In normospermic men, serum vitamin D levels categorized were not correlated with semen parameters and reproductive hormones (FSH, LH, testosterone(T), and FT), whereas sperm motility showed a positive correlation with vitamin D categorized in OAT men (rs = 0.131, p = 0.028). In conclusion, there was a high incidence of deficiency and insufficiency 25(OH) D Levels (<20ng/ml) observed in Iranian men (52.2%). Moreover, our findings showed a correlation between vitamin D levels and sperm motility in OAT men, which requires further studies.

Vitamin D status is not associated with reproductive parameters in young Spanish men

“…Like our study, in both of these populations, few men had deficient or insufficient levels of vitamin D (<6% and 24%, respectively). No significant associations were found in a study from Iran (subfertile men), where over 50% of participants had insufficient levels of vitamin D (<50 nmol/L) (Abbasihormozi et al ., ). Likewise, in a pilot study on Italian couples, neither dietary intake nor serum vitamin D were associated with semen parameters or reproductive hormone levels (Tartagni et al ., ).…”

“…Poor semen quality is an important contributor to this problem and between 20 and 50% of infertile couples have been found to have one or more abnormal semen parameters (Agarwal et al ., ). Associations between vitamin D and semen quality have been examined in several studies (Blomberg Jensen et al ., , ; Ramlau‐Hansen et al ., ; Hammoud et al ., ; Tartagni et al ., ; Abbasihormozi et al ., ; Akhavizadegan & Karbakhsh, ). Some of them found a positive association between vitamin D concentration and sperm motility (Blomberg Jensen et al ., , ; Abbasihormozi et al ., ) and sperm concentration in fertile and infertile men (Akhavizadegan & Karbakhsh, ).…”

“…Associations between vitamin D and semen quality have been examined in several studies (Blomberg Jensen et al ., , ; Ramlau‐Hansen et al ., ; Hammoud et al ., ; Tartagni et al ., ; Abbasihormozi et al ., ; Akhavizadegan & Karbakhsh, ). Some of them found a positive association between vitamin D concentration and sperm motility (Blomberg Jensen et al ., , ; Abbasihormozi et al ., ) and sperm concentration in fertile and infertile men (Akhavizadegan & Karbakhsh, ). Yet others reported that not only insufficient, but also excessive levels of vitamin D (over 50 ng/mL = 125 nmol/L) were associated with poorer semen quality‐sperm concentrations, morphology, or progressive motility (Hammoud et al ., ).…”

“…While several studies have examined possible causes of low sperm count, including personal or maternal exposures to environmental toxins and lifestyle factors, such as smoking, diet, and physical activity, low sperm counts in Western men remain unexplained (Jensen et al, 2004;Lassen et al, 2014;Gaskins et al, 2015;Priskorn et al, 2016). Some studies reported that impaired semen parameters (sperm counts, motility, or morphology) may be associated with low serum vitamin D levels (Blomberg Jensen et al, 2011;Hammoud et al, 2012;Abbasihormozi et al, 2017). The US Institute of Medicine recommended daily dietary allowance is 600 IU (15 lg) (Ross et al, 2011), and the same recommendation is considered adequate for Spanish adults (Moreiras et al, 2015).…”

Do Insulin Replacement and Omega3 Protect the Male Reproductive Function of the Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Mice?

“…To withstand deleterious effects of long term exposure of male reproductive systems to DM, antioxidants including ascorbic acid and vitamin E and vitamin D have been proposed [4–6]. In addition, several experiments have revealed the benefits of n-3 fatty acids on male reproduction capacity [7].…”