Semen Quality in Chinese College Students: Associations With Depression and Physical Activity in a Cross-Sectional Study

et al. 2019

IJMS

Self Cite

The negative association between psychological stress and male fertility has been known for many years. This study was aimed at (i) identifying spermatogenesis impairment induced by psychological stress in rats and (ii) exploring the role of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) signaling in these adverse effects (if they exist). Male Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to a six-week period of unpredictable chronic mild stress (uCMS) along with cotreatment of GR antagonist RU486 (1 mg/kg/day). Testicular damage was assessed by testicular pathological evaluation, epididymal sperm concentration, serum testosterone levels, testicular apoptotic cell measurements, and cell cycle progression analyses. Rats in the uCMS group had decreased levels of serum testosterone and decreased epididymal sperm concentration. The uCMS-treated rats also had decreased numbers of spermatids and increased levels of apoptotic seminiferous tubules; additionally, cell cycle progression of spermatogonia was arrested at the G0/G1 phase. Furthermore, uCMS exposure caused an increase in serum corticosterone level and activated GR signaling in the testes including upregulated GR expression. RU486 treatment suppressed GR signaling and alleviated the damaging effects of stress, resulting in an increased epididymal sperm concentration. Overall, this work demonstrated for the first time that the activation of GR signaling mediates stress-induced spermatogenesis impairment and that this outcome is related to cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in germ cells.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Mechanisms of Stress-Induced Spermatogenesis Impairment in Male Rats Following Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress (uCMS)

Zou

et al. 2019

IJMS

Self Cite

“…To analyze the relationship between depression grade and semen quality, logistic regression model was used after converting the sperm concentration, semen volume, total sperm count, and progressive motility from continuous variable data to binary variables. The "WHO Human Semen Inspection and Processing Laboratory Manual" ( fth edition) was used to determine whether the indicators are quali ed or not [7]. The values of semen quality indicators were directly incorporated into the linear regression model as continuous variable data, and depression symptoms were incorporated into the model as dichotomous variable data [30].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At present, few studies have investigated the association between depressive symptoms and semen quality in the general Chinese population. A recent single center study on Chinese college students showed that, depressive symptoms may be associated with decreased semen concentration and total sperm count [7]. However, the conclusion of this study cannot represent the majority of Chinese men, because the study population is limited to college students and belongs to a single-center study design.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Association of Depression with Sperm Quality: a Multicentre Cross-Sectional Study in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Zhang

Yang

et al. 2021

Preprint

Background: Depression is a potential factor affecting semen quality. However, the relationship between depression and semen quality remains to be fully elucidated. We investigated the association between depression and semen quality in men during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Cross‐sectional, participants completed a questionnaire assessing lifestyle factors the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to evaluate the psychological depression status of subjects. Semen quality assessment implements the requirements of the fifth edition of the World Health Organization (WHO )manual ,multivariable logistic regression analysis and linear regression analysis were conducted to assess the associations between depression and semen quality.Results: Of the 896 participants, 173 were depressed (19.30%). A Linear regression model was fitted to assess the strength and significant level of the association between depressive symptoms and semen quality. After adjusting for potential confounders, depression was significantly associated with 9.27 (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.39, 15.15), 0.57(95% CI 0.27, 0.87), 62.20 (95% CI 32.93, 91.48), and 12.96 (95% CI 10.55, 15.37) reduction in sperm concentration, sperm volume, total sperm count, and progressive motility, respectively. Which are consistent with the logistic regression analysis results. The semen concentration and total sperm count were linearly correlated with depression scores, whereas the semen volume and progressive motility of sperm were nonlinearly correlated with depression scores.Conclusions: Depression were associated with lower levels of semen concentration, semen volume, total sperm count, and progressive motility, which could affect male reproductive health.

“…Linear regression and logistic regression analyses were used for the association analysis between anxiety and semen parameters. When using the logistic regression analysis model, four semen parameters (sperm concentration, semen volume, total sperm count and progressive motility) were all divided into two categories: quali ed and unquali ed, according to the "WHO Human Semen Inspection and Processing Laboratory Manual" (2015 fth edition) [35] . The linear regression model directly incorporated the values of semen quality indicators into the regression model according to continuous variable data and anxiety symptoms into the model according to dichotomous variable data [36] .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of Anxiety With Sperm Quality: a Multicentre Cross-sectional Study in China During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Yang

et al. 2021

Preprint

Objectives: There is no report about association of anxiety on sperm quality during the COVID-19 epidemic. Purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between anxiety and sperm quality during the COVID-19 outbreak in China.Methods: 896 sperm donors from 7 sperm banks in China were investigated, and passed the screening for sperm donation between 23 January 2020 and 8 June 2020. Semen quality analysis follows the standards of the WHO Fifth Edition Human Semen Examination and Processing Manual. Anxiety symptoms were assessed by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scal-7(GAD-7). Logistic regression and linear regression were used to identify the association between anxiety level and sperm quality.Results: Participants with anxiety status (N = 155; 17.3%) had lower sperm concentration (56.81 ± 32.70 vs. 47.21 ± 30.76 [106/mL]), sperm volume (3.58 ± 1.65 vs. 3.04 ± 1.69 [mL], P < 0.001), total sperm count (7.29 ± 1.23 vs. 6.56 ± 1.63 [106], P < 0.001), and progressive motility (50.86 ± 12.45 vs. 38.50 ± 17.00 [%], P < 0.001) than those without anxiety. Linear regression showed that anxiety symptoms was significantly associated with 8.13 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.51, 13.75), 0.49 (0.20, 0.79) ,51.05 (23.43, 78.68) and 12.15 (95% CI: 23.43, 78.68), reduction in sperm concentration, semen volume, and total sperm count and progressive motility respectively.Conclusions: This study revealed that anxiety symptoms were negatively associated with semen quality, and interaction was discovered between debt stress and anxiety.