Investigation of the effect of COVID-19 infection on sperm DNA fragmentation

Aim. To compare sperm parameters and the DNA fragmentation in patients after the COVID-19 infection and in men without a history of infection. Materials and methods. Sperm parameters and DNA fragmentation index were evaluated in 172 patients examined in 2020–2022. Based on the data on COVID-19 infection in the anamnesis, the patient’s cohort was divided into three groups: group 1 ( n = 16) and group 2 ( n = 65) – patients who had an infectious disease less than 75 days and more than 75 days before the delivery of the ejaculate, respectively, and group 3 (control, n = 91) – men have no coronavirus infection. A standard semen examination was performed according by the WHO guidelines (2010) recommendation. Sperm DNA fragmentation was evaluated by fluorescent labeling of single- and double-strand DNA breaks (TUNEL method). Results. The percentage of spermatozoa with fragmented DNA in group 1 varies from 2 to 48 %, in group 2 – from 0.9 to 39 %, in group 3 (control group) – from 1.3 to 52.9 %. The average number of gametes with DNA breaks in group 1 (11.7 ± 3.3 %) is greater than in group 2 (10.6 ± 0.8 %) and in group 3 (10.7 ± 0.8%), but without a statistically significant differences. The proportions of patients whose DNA fragmentation index exceeds the reference value (≤15 %) in groups 1, 2 and 3 are 18.8; 13.8 and 18.7 %, respectively. The count of progressively motile (PR) and morphologically normal spermatozoa in group 2 is statistically significantly greater than in group 3 (22.5 ± 1.6 % vs 18.0 ± 1.2 % and 5.52 ± 0.47 % vs 4.03 ± 0.31 %, respectively). Conclusion. The content of sperm with fragmented DNA is higher in men examined less than 75 days after COVID-19 disease, than in patients, examined more than 75 days after COVID-19 and in men who have no history of this infection. In group 1 an increased DNA fragmentation index was noted mainly in patients who had suffered from the disease in a moderate form.