Transient Decrease in Sperm Motility after Plateletpheresis

Abstract

Although people are constantly exposed to phthalates little is known about the extent to which PAEs affect sperm. Most studies do not address changes at the single-cell level. Our study concentrated on the examination of donors who were assumed to have been exposed to high levels of phthalate under plateletpheresis. We used Computer-Assisted-Sperm-Analysis to study the association between the most potent phthalate, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate, and a decrease in sperm motility. In an exploratory in vivo study, we investigated whether plateletpheresis of donors led to an increase in the concentration of active metabolites of DEHP in seminal plasma and whether this had an effect on sperm motility. PAE metabolites and sperm motility parameters of ejaculate donors were analyzed at a single-cell level before and after plateletpheresis. We found an increase in PAE metabolite concentration in the seminal plasma, associated with a decrease in flagellar beat frequency after plateletpheresis. Follow-up analysis showed that this was a transient effect of plateletpheresis in terms of a PAE concentration increase in seminal plasma and a decrease in sperm motility. This study shows that plateletpheresis results in high levels of phthalate exposure and that these are associated with a transient and reversible decrease in sperm motility.