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Review
. 2023 Jan;30(1):72-80.
doi: 10.1007/s43032-022-00889-z. Epub 2022 Feb 22.

An Assessment of Men Semen Alterations in SARS-CoV-2: Is Fever the Principal Concern?

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Review

An Assessment of Men Semen Alterations in SARS-CoV-2: Is Fever the Principal Concern?

Mohamed Hadi Mohamed Abdelhamid et al. Reprod Sci. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) was identified as a pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization. The virus spreads primarily through saliva droplets or nasal discharges, in addition to coughing or sneezing from an infected person. The most common symptom at the onset of illness is fever, which may appear within 2-14 days after exposure. The high fever (above 38 °C) can persist from one to 4 days. The febrile illness usually has a variable negative impact on sperm characteristics such as sperm output, motility, morphology, and DNA fragmentation. These defects proliferated due to an increase in testicular temperature, and disturbance in the thermoregulatory systems that are responsible for the testicular heat loss. Coronavirus studies suggest that fever from SARS-CoV-2 virus infection induces a reversible negative effect on the sperm parameters until one cycle (74 days) of spermatogenesis. We believe that SARS-CoV-2 can have long-term adverse effects on testicles via immune or inflammatory reactions after the patient has fully recovered. This evidence could be added to the list of the long-term post-COVID-19 syndromes. Long-term follow-up and evaluation of the sperm parameters are necessary for all recovered male patients, especially the young ones.

Keywords: COVID-19; Fever; Men; SARS-CoV-2; Sperm parameters; Testis temperature.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic overview of the mechanism of the increase in body temperature (fever)-induced SARS-CoV-2 infection. TNF-α and IFN-ϒ synergize to drive the cytokine storm and fever associated with COVID-19 to impair sperm quality. Created by BioRender.com

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