Does cigarette smoking affect seminal fluid parameters? A comparative study.

OBJECTIVE To study the effect of cigarette smoking on seminal fluid parameters, namely; volume, sperm concentration, and motility, as well as morphology, leukocyte infiltration, among males complaining of infertility. METHODS Between August 2010 and July 2011, seminal fluid analysis was done for 1438 males who are partners of couples who visited the infertility clinic at Prince Rashid Ben Al Hassan Hospital (PRH) for infertility. The men who fit the inclusion criteria (n=960) were classified into two groups: group a (non-smokers; n=564) and group B (smokers; n=396), which represents 41.25% of the study group. Seminal fluid was collected using masturbation after 3-5 days of abstinence then analyzed for volume, sperm count, sperm concentration, motility and morphology. In order to analyze whether the number of cigarettes smoked per day has an effect on the spermatogram; the smoking men were divided into two subgroups: the heavy smokers (n=266) and non-heavy smokers (n=130). RESULTS A total of 960 adult males were enrolled. Their age ranged between 21 and 76 years, 564 were non-smokers with mean age of 36. 45±6.27 (Mean±SD). Three-hundred-and-ninety-six were smokers with a mean age of 34.35±4.25 (Mean±SD). There was a significant effect of smoking on the motility of sperms and the ratios of abnormality (p<0.005). Concentration appeared not to be affected by smoking. Furthermore, the group of heavy smokers were found to have lower sperm concentrations and a higher percentage of abnormal sperms compared to the non-heavy smokers. CONCLUSION Cigarette smoking has a deleterious effect on some of the seminal fluid parameters (motility, morphology and leukocyte count) which in turn may result in male subfertility.