| 1. |
- Elenkov, Angel, et al.
(författare)
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Impact of SARS-CoV-2 and Other Upper Respiratory Tract Viral Infections on Reproductive Parameters in Young Healthy Men with Mild Symptoms of Disease
- 2023
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Ingår i: Andrologia. - 0303-4569. ; 2023
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Data regarding excretion of SARS-CoV-2 in semen are inconclusive and counseling regarding risk of sexual transmission is still challenging. Our knowledge on the effect of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) on male reproductive system is also scarce. Apart from negative effect of fever on spermatogenesis virtually no study has been able to compare reproductive parameters in men with COVID-19 or other URTI with predisease data. Eleven men who developed symptoms of URTI during the first and second wave of COVID-19 pandemic and who had preexistent fertility and hormonal data, participated in the study leaving sperm and blood samples. Three additional subjects were recruited among proven SARS-CoV-2 positive male hospital workers (without previous data). SARS-CoV-2 RNA was present in the ejaculate from 2 of 5 (40%) young men with mild COVID-19. In one of them viral particles could be detected in the semen sample 2 weeks after the first sampling. Men with any URTI showed higher LH (p=0.02), lower sperm concentration (p=0.047), and free testosterone (p=0.008) when compared to their samples delivered 10 years earlier. When SARS-CoV-2 positive subjects were compared to subjects with other URTIs, no difference in levels of reproductive parameters or inflammatory markers was seen. In conclusion, SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be present in the ejaculate but does not seem to affect reproductive parameters any more than other viruses. However, mild URTI was shown to affect the sperm concentration, LH, and free testosterone negatively.
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| 2. |
- Nenonen, Hannah, et al.
(författare)
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Recurrent implantation failure and inflammatory markers in serum and follicle fluid of women undergoing assisted reproduction
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Reproductive Immunology. - 0165-0378. ; 162
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has been shown previously that the immune system plays a role in implantation and embryo development. The objective was therefore to evaluate cytokine levels and Th1/Th2 ratio in women with recurrent implantation failure in this nested case-control study. Women with no implantation after ≥ 3 embryo transfers were included in the recurrent implantation failure group (n = 29) and were compared with women with successful pregnancy after the first embryo transfer, with an indication of male factor (n = 26). Cytokines analyzed with the Meso scale discovery (MSD) technology Proinflammatory Human Kit 1 and calculated Th1/Th2 ratios were the main outcome measures. In serum there was a difference between the recurrent implantation failure group and the control group in ratios for IFN-γ/IL-10 (p = 0.01), IL-1β/IL-10 (p = 0.04), IL-2/IL-10 (p = 0.00), TNF-α/IL-10 (p = 0.02), IFN-γ/IL-13 (p = 0.01), IL-12/IL-13 (p = 0.02), IL-2/IL-13 (p = 0.00), and TNF-α/IL-13 (p = 0.00), where the control group had higher ratios, i.e. a shift towards a Th1 pro-inflammatory profile before treatment start. In follicular fluid there were differences in ratios between IL-2/IL-10 (p = 0.02), IL-8/IL-10 (p = 0.02), TNF-α/IL-10 (p = 0.02), IFN-γ/IL-13 (p = 0.01), and TNF-α/IL-13 (p = 0.03). The recurrent implantation failure group had higher ratios except for IFN-γ/IL-13, indicating a shift towards a Th1 pro-inflammatory profile in their follicular fluid. Pro-inflammatory activity in both serum and follicle fluid differs in recurrent implantation failure patients and patients with successful assisted reproduction treatment. Women at risk of immune-related recurrent implantation failure could be identified proactively. Because it is taken at a timepoint closer to implantation, ratios in follicular fluid are specifically interesting as risk markers.
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