Association between meteorological variables and semen quality: a retrospective study

VERÓN, GUSTAVO LUIS; TISSERA, ANDREA DANIELA; BELLO, RICARDO; ESTOFAN, GUSTAVO MARTÍN; HERNÁNDEZ, MARIANA; BELTRAMONE, FERNANDO; MOLINA, ROSA ISABEL; VAZQUEZ-LEVIN, MÓNICA HEBE

Jornada; XLII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Andrología 2022.; 2022

Spermatogenesis is a temperature-dependent process, and high summer temperatures have been linked to lower sperm concentrationand count. However, reports describing the association between other meteorological variables and semen quality arescarce. This study evaluated the association between semen quality and temperature, humidity, pressure, apparent temperature(AT), temperature-humidity index (THI), simplified wet-bulb global temperature (sWBGT), and sunshine duration. Semensamples were obtained at the Laboratorio de Andrología y Reproducción (LAR, Argentina), from men undergoing routineandrology examination (n=11657) and computer-assisted sperm analysis (n=4705) following WHO 2010 criteria.Meteorological variables readings were obtained from the Sistema Meteorológico Nacional. Sperm quality parameters werenegatively affected in summer when compared to winter. Additionally, there was a significant decrease in sperm kinematicsbetween winter and spring. Branch and bound variable selection followed by multiple regression analysis revealed a significantassociation between semen quality and meteorological variables. Specifically, changes in sunshine duration and humidityreinforced the prognosis of semen quality. Highest/lowest sunshine duration and humidity quantiles resulted in decreased spermconcentration, count, motility, vitality and membrane competence, nuclear maturity, and sperm kinematics associated to highestsunshine duration and lowest humidity. Findings from this report highlight the relevance of environmental studies for predictingalterations in male reproductive health associated to variations in meteorological variables, especially considering the currentclimate changes around the planet due to global warming and its consequences for human health.