Several recent studies have shown that the fecundity of a man decreases progressively with sperm concentrations below 40 million spermatozoa per mL. Therefore, it is unfortunate that the new World Health Organization guidelines for semen analysis recommend lowering the lower cutoff value for normal sperm concentration from 20 to 15 million spermatozoa per mL. As a result large groups of subfert...

BACKGROUND The impact of overweight among men of reproductive-age may affect fertility. Abdominal fat, more than body mass index, is an indicator of higher metabolic risk, which seems to be involved in decreasing sperm quality. This study aims to assess the relationship between abdominal fat and sperm DNA fragmentation and the effect of abdominal fat loss, among 6 men in subfertile couples. M...

Background: Since cellular membranes play key role in the physiological pathways of the cell, such as fertilization through almost every cellular function to cell division, it is very important to assess the structural and functional activity of the sperm membrane. In this study, a new method for measurement of sperm membrane stability measured the amount of zinc which liberated after being exp...

In this study we extended earlier work to determine whether sperm respond to somatic cell apoptotic stimuli and whether apoptotic phenotypes are significant indicators of human sperm quality. We evaluated ejaculated sperm from fertile donors and subfertile patients following purification of fractions of high and low motility. In unstimulated conditions, caspase enzymatic activity was higher in ...

BACKGROUND The available evidence on the role of obesity and body mass index (BMI) on male infertility has been controversial or inconclusive to some extent. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the role of BMI on some male-fertility laboratory indicators both among infertile and fertile men in an Iranian population. METHODS AND MATERIALS A total of 159 male patients who had ...

Background: Are dietary patterns, substantiated by biomarkers, associated with semen quality? Materials and Methods: In 161 men of subfertile couples undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment in a tertiary referral clinic in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, we assessed nutrient intakes and performed principal component factor analysis to identify dietary patterns. Total homocysteine (tHcy), folate...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the associations between the results of the male partner's semen analysis (classified according to the World Health Organization [WHO] criteria) and fathering a child without any treatment. DESIGN Prospective multicenter cohort study. SETTING Twenty subfertility centers in The Netherlands. PATIENT(S) A total of 3,345 consecutive couples presenting for subfertility. ...