The Chromoscience

Semen Microbiome, Sperm Impact, and Male Fertility

Benison P. Zerrudo
2–3 minutes

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  • Male factor is regarded as being the cause of up to 50 percent of cases of infertility.
  • Studies demonstrate that bacteria can affect sperm function negatively.
  • Utilizing the next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques have provided a better understanding of the human microbiome.
  • Dysbiosis has been reported to impact health.
  • Dysbiosis is a term for a microbial imbalance on or inside the body, such as an impaired microbiota.
  • Evidence regarding the impact of the semen microbiome on sperm function and fertility remains contradictory.
  • The databases MEDLINE, OVID and PubMed were searched to identify English language studies related to the identification of bacteria in the semen of infertile and fertile men between 1992-2019.
  • The research included 55 observational studies with 51299 subjects.
  • The research included studies identifying bacteria using NGS, culture or polymerase chain reaction.
  • The semen microbiome was rich and diverse in both fertile and infertile men.
  • Three NGS studies reported clustering of the seminal microbiome with a predominant species.
  • Lactobacillus and Prevotella were dominant in respective clusters.
  • Lactobacillus was associated with improvements in semen parameters.
  • Prevotella appeared to influence a negative effect on sperm quality.
  • Bacteriospermia negatively impacted sperm concentration and progressive motility, and DNA fragmentation index.
  • Progressive motility refers to sperm that are swimming in a mostly straight line or large circles.
  • Sperm DNA fragmentation index reflects the integrity of and the damage to the DNA, the genetic material of the sperm, thereby detecting potential sperm damage, and it is considered a crucial indicator in evaluating semen quality.
  • There was an increased prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum in infertile men.
  • Ureaplasma urealyticum negatively impacted concentration and morphology.
  • There was no difference in the prevalence of chlamydia trachomatis between fertile and infertile men and no significant impact on semen parameters.
  • Enterococcus faecalis negatively impacted total motility.
  • Mycoplasma hominis negatively impacted sperm concentration, progressive motility and morphology.

Sources:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32794312/

Tamboli CP, Neut C, Desreumaux P, Colombel JF (January 2004). “Dysbiosis in inflammatory bowel disease”. Gut. 53 (1): 1–4. doi:10.1136/gut.53.1.1. PMC 1773911. PMID 14684564.

Moos WH, Faller DV, Harpp DN, Kanara I, Pernokas J, Powers WR, Steliou K (2016). “Microbiota and Neurological Disorders: A Gut Feeling”. BioResearch Open Access. 5 (1): 137–145. doi:10.1089/biores.2016.0010. PMC 4892191. PMID 27274912. As reviewed in this report, synthetic biology shows potential in developing microorganisms for correcting pathogenic dysbiosis (gut microbiota-host maladaptation), although this has yet to be proven.“

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320160

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6732090

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The Chromoscience uses AI-assisted tools to support the preparation and editing of science articles. Content is reviewed by the editor for clarity and consistency with the cited research before publication. Readers are encouraged to consult the original scientific publications for complete findings, methods, and limitations.

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