Semen quality and reproductive health of young Czech men exposed to seasonal air pollution.

Abstract

This study of male reproductive health in the Czech Republic resulted from community concern about potential adverse effects of air pollution. We compared young men (18 years of age) living in Teplice, a highly industrialized district with seasonally elevated levels of air pollution, to those from Prachatice, a rural district with relatively clean air. Surveys were scheduled for either late winter, after the season of higher air pollution, or at the end of summer, when pollution was low. Participation included a physical examination, donation of a semen sample, and completion of a questionnaire on health, personal habits, and exposure to solvents and metals through work or hobby. Analysis of data from 408 volunteers showed that the men from Teplice and Prachatice were similar in physical characteristics, personal habits, and work- or hobby-related exposures. Sixty-six percent (272) of these men donated a single semen sample for routine semen analysis, computer-aided sperm motion analysis, and sperm chromatin structure assay. The mean (median) sperm concentration and sperm count were 61. 2 (44.0) million/mL semen and 113.3 (81.5) million, respectively, and were not associated with district of residence or period of elevated air pollution. However, periods of elevated air pollution in Teplice were significantly associated with decrements in other semen measures including proportionately fewer motile sperm, proportionately fewer sperm with normal morphology or normal head shape, and proportionately more sperm with abnormal chromatin. These results suggest that young men may experience alterations in sperm quality after exposure to periods of elevated air pollution, without changes in sperm numbers.

Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay: Its Clinical Use for Detecting Sperm DNA Fragmentation in Male Infertility and Comparisons With Other Techniques

“…SCSA values varied significantly by sexual abstinence time (88.8% of men less than 6 days; Spano et al, 1998), donor age, smoking history (18-55 years; Spano et al, 1998;Potts et al, 1999), and exposure to high levels of air pollution (Selevan et al, 2000;Evenson et al, 2001;Perreault et al, 2001). Cigarette smoke and air pollution share common genotoxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which may form protein or DNA adducts resulting in spermatozoa with increased amounts of fragmented DNA.…”

“…This increase can result in DNA mutations that predispose offspring to greater risk of malformations, cancer, and genetic diseases (Potts et al, 1999). Specifically, the increase in chromatin abnormalities may also explain the reported effect of air pollution on the incidence of conception and congenital abnormalities in the Czech Republic (Selevan et al, 2000).…”

Spermatozoa as biomarkers for the assessment of human male infertility and genotoxicity

“…Accordingly, further study is required to resolve the extent of the effect. Among the current suite of genetic sperm biomarkers available, DNA integrity as assessed by SCSA appears to be the most consistently affected parameter when assessing the effect of air pollution [Selevan et al 2000;Rubes et al 2005]. But again this remains to be clarified as others [Hansen et al 2010] were not able to establish a relationship between levels of DNA damage and the air pollutants analyzed.…”

“…Their effect on fertility still remains contentious. An increased frequency of sperm with abnormal morphology in men from environmentally compromised regions has been described [Selevan et al 2000]. A significant negative correlation between ozone levels and sperm concentration has been observed [Sokol et al 2006].…”

“…These studies were of two general experimental designs. They either compared different individuals living in areas with high and low levels of air contaminants [Selevan et al 2000;Hansen et al 2010] or different semen samples from the same population as a function of air quality [Rubes et al 2005;Sokol et al 2006;Hammoud et al 2010a]. The various pollutants and sources examined are summarized in Table 2.…”