According to a study, men with depression exhibit low semen quality characteristics such as volume, concentration, count, and motility. Furthermore, oxidative stress does not appear to play a role in the link between depression and sperm quality.
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Researchers examined at 1,000 potential sperm donors
who filled out the Beck Depression Inventory. They also looked for oxidative
stress biomarkers as 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine,
4-hydroxy-2-nonenal-mercapturic acid, and 8-iso-prostaglandin F2 (8-isoPGF2α) in
urine samples. The World Health Organization laboratory manual was used to
measure repeated semen quality parameters in 5,880 samples.
391 males (39.1%) had mild depression (BDI score of
0–4), 67 (6.7%) had moderate depression (BDI score of 5–13), and 19 (1.9%) had
severe depression (BDI score of 14–20).
Depression had an inverse dose–response relationship
with sperm quality measures. Men with severe depression had lower semen volume
(95 percent confidence interval [CI], 38.65 to 8.93), sperm count (95 percent
CI, 55.37 to 11.20), total motility (95 percent CI, 23.17 to 2.78), and
progressive motility (95 percent CI, 25.09 to 3.72) than men without depression
(n=523).
Men with mild depression had a lower total sperm count
of 23.56 percent (36.50 to 7.97) and a lower semen volume of 12.28 percent (95
percent CI, 21.16 to 2.40).
Furthermore, urine 8-isoPGF2α concentrations revealed
a favorable dose–response relationship with depression severity. There was no
evidence, however, that oxidative stress markers were involved in the link
between depression and sperm quality.
Source: Fertil Steril 2021;doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.09.013