Combined effects of obesity, alcohol and smoking habit on semen quality of 2483 men attending an andrology clinic.

MARTINI AC; TISSERA A; VINCENTI LM; ESTOFÁN D; BELTRAMONE F; SAD J; RUIZ RD; FIOL DE CUNEO M; MOLINA R

Sevilla

Congreso; V Congreso Internacional de Medicina Reproductiva.; 2013

Sociedad Europea de Reproducción

Although several factors have been identified as detrimental for sperm physiology (i.e. tobacco, alcohol, obesity, endocrine disruptors, etc), none of them can justify by itself the presently semen decline.Therefore, the objective of our study was to retrospectively evaluate the joint effects of obesity and tobacco or alcohol consumption on the semen quality of men attending an andrology laboratory in Argentine. Patients included (n=2483) were not azoospermic or exposed to toxics (pesticides, radiations, etc), or have no history of genitourinary diseases or surgeries. Data were analyzed by MANCOVA , age and abstinence as co-variables,, with body mass index (normal, overweight or obese), tobacco (not smoker or smoker) and/or alcohol consumption (not drinker, moderate drinker -1 glass/day- and heavy drinker -2 to 5 glasses/day-) as factors.The joint effect of obesity and heavy drinking significantly (p= 0.0024) diminished semen volume (2.1±0.3ml, n=22) in contrast with the other groups (obese not drinker: 3.0±0.1, n=395; normal not drinker: 3.2±0.2, n=77); with the significantly higher values for the normal moderate drinker group (3.8±0.2, n=55). Similar results were observed for total sperm count (p=0.0088),, with the smaller values in obese drinker patients (obese heavy drinker: 92.2±29.5sperm/ejaculate, n=22) and the higher ones in the normal moderate and non drinkers (223.4±18.6, n=55 and 161.3±8.76, n=647 respectively). Smoking did not seriously affect semen quality; nevertheless obese smoker patients showed a longer (p=0.0262) history of sterility than other groups (obese smoker: 3.2±0.3 years, n=98; obese non smoker: 2.1±0.3, n=352; normal non smoker: 2.5±0.2, n=619).