Relationship Between Heavy Metal levels in SeminalPlasma and Sperm Quality in Iranian Men

During the last decades, frequent reports on the poor semen quality in humans have raised manyresearchers’ concerns to study the possible impact of lifestyle or environmental factors on semen quality. Thedebate is continuously growing on the adverse reproductive effects of exposure to heavy and trace metals foundin the environment, even at their relatively low levels.

This study was carried outfrom July 2018 to February 2019. A total of 40 men were divided into two groups (idiopathic oligo– and/orasthenozoospermia and normozoospermic men) to determine the correlation between arsenic (As), cadmium(Cd), copper (Cu), and manganese (Mn) levels in the seminal plasma with sperm quality parameters includingconcentration, total motility, progressive motility, viability, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), spermplasma membrane integrity (SPMI), acrosome integrity (AI) and DNA fragmentation in Iranian men with idio-pathic oligo– and/or asthenozoospermia and normozoospermic individuals.

A significant positive orsuggestive correlation was found between as concentrations in the seminal plasma and sperm concentration,motility, progressive motility, viability, MMP, SPMI, and DNA fragmentation. Moreover, seminal plasma Cd con-centrations were also correlated negatively with sperm viability. We also found a positive correlation betweenthe seminal plasma Mn levels and sperm concentration, motility, progressive motility, morphology, viability,acrosome integrity, and DNA fragmentation.

We showed that the levels of As, Cd, and Mn levelsin the seminal plasma are associated with the sperm functional parameters. Considering the unpleasant effectsof the studied metals on semen quality, it is suggested that long-term contact with these metals be avoided,especially by people at their reproductive age