O-2: Food Group Intakes and Risk of Idiopathic Asthenozoospermia: A Case-Control Study

Background: Asthenozoospermia, a disorder of sperm motility, is a common cause of human male infertility and is found to play a role in approximately 19% of infertile patients. Epidemiological studies indicated a link between environmental pollutants, lifestyle changes, and dietary habits and infertility. In view of the fact that nutrition is coming to the fore as a major environmental factor, it may affect reproductive health. This study investigated the association of food group intakes and the risk of asthenozoospermia in a hospital-based case-control study in Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: In total, 72 asthenozoospermic men and 169 normozoospermic men underwent faceto- face private interviews in 2011. At the first visit, the primary infertility exams due to the 5th edition of World Health Organization laboratory manual for the examination and processing of human semen were done for couples; according to spermatogram results, cases and controls were selected. Controls were frequency-matched with cases by age. Semen quality was assessed by sperm volume, concentration, motility, morphology and total antioxidant capacity. Usual dietary intakes were assessed through the use of a 168-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). This FFQ has previously shown relative validity and reproducibility for food group intakes among Iranian adults. Odds ratios (OR), 95% confidence intervals (CI), and tests for trends were calculated using logistic regression. The first adjusted model included age, body mass index (BMI), total energy intake, smoking status and heavy traffic near home; the second adjusted model included the first model and other food groups. Results: By design, cases and controls had the same age distribution. Cases had significantly lower BMI (19.9 vs. 26.1) and total energy intake (1705.3 vs. 1935.8). After adjusting for potential confounders, the risk of asthenozoospermia increased significantly in the highest tertiles of meat processed foods (OR: 2.03, 95%CI: 1.70-2.44) and sweets (OR: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.09-2.26). In contrast, being in the highest tertile of total fruits and vegetables, dark green vegetables, skimmed milk, poultry intake, and sea food intake reduced the asthe-nozoospermia (p for trend = 0.04, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03 and 0.04 respectively). Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that intake of meat processed foods and sweets consumption may directly associate with risk of asthenozoospermia, whereas fruits, vegetables, poultry, skimmed milk and sea foods may have protective role.