Male adiposity, sperm parameters and reproductive hormones: An updated systematic review and collaborative meta‐analysis

Abstract

Summary The present updated systematic review and meta‐analysis aims to summarize the evidence from published studies with low risk for any important bias (based on methodological quality assessment) investigating the potential associations of adiposity with sperm quality and reproductive hormones. We conducted a systematic search of the literature published in MEDLINE‐PubMed and EMBASE through June 2019. Based on the criteria in our review, 169 eligible publications were used for data abstraction. Finally, 60 articles were included in the qualitative analysis and 28 in the quantitative analysis. Our systematic review results indicated that overweight and/or obesity were associated with low semen quality parameters (i.e., semen volume, sperm count and concentration, sperm vitality and normal morphology) and some specific reproductive hormones (e.g., inhibin B, total testosterone and sex hormone‐binding globulin). Overweight and/or obesity were also positively associated with high estradiol concentrations. Meta‐analysis indicated that overweight and/or obesity categories were associated with lower sperm quality (i.e., semen volume, sperm count and concentration, sperm vitality, total motility and normal morphology), and underweight category was likewise associated with low sperm normal morphology. In conclusion, our results suggest that maintaining a healthy body weight is important for increasing sperm quality parameters and potentially male fertility.

Practical Clinical and Diagnostic Pathway for the Investigation of the Infertile Couple

“…Growing evidence is also focusing on genetic factors and it is indeed well established that genetic causes account for 10%-15% of infertility cases, including chromosomal abnormalities and single-gene mutations (37). In addition to these well-known factors, growing evidence suggests that obesity, unhealthy diet, cigarette smoking and pollution may seriously affect sperm parameters and reduce male fertility (38)(39)(40)(41). Again, besides bacterial semen infections, the presence of HPV on the male partner is now considered a risk factor both for natural and assisted reproduction outcome (42,43).…”

The effectiveness of weight‐loss lifestyle interventions for improving fertility in women and men with overweight or obesity and infertility: A systematic review update of evidence from randomized controlled trials

“…Unfortunately, there were no RCTs looking at the effects of weight loss on fertility outcomes in men. The previous review included two non‐randomized studies which suggested weight loss could help improve sperm concentration, motility and morphology 68,69 and recent systematic review evidence, from cohort and cross‐sectional studies, suggests maintaining a healthy weight is important for sperm quality 70 . All trials included in our review explored the effect of weight loss of the woman seeking pregnancy alone; the weight of their partner was not considered.…”

Search for Associations of FSHR, INHA, INHAB, PRL, TNP2 and SPEF2 Genes Polymorphisms with Semen Quality in Russian Holstein Bulls (Pilot Study)

“…Hormones have a decisive influence on the formation and functioning of the reproductive system of animals, both in females and males [6][7][8]. Hormone receptor gene polymorphisms may be good markers of aspects of spermatogenesis.…”