Iranian temporal changes in semen quality during the past 22 years: A report from an infertility center

Serajeddin Vahidi; Mohammad Reza Moein; Fatemeh Yazdinejad; Saeed Ghasemi-Esmailabad; Nima Narimani

doi:10.18502/ijrm.v18i12.8027

Iranian temporal changes in semen quality during the past 22 years: A report from an infertility center

Int J Reprod Biomed. 2020 Dec 21;18(12):1059-1064. doi: 10.18502/ijrm.v18i12.8027. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Authors

Serajeddin Vahidi¹, Mohammad Reza Moein¹, Fatemeh Yazdinejad¹, Saeed Ghasemi-Esmailabad^{1

2}, Nima Narimani^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Research and Clinical Center for Infertility, Yazd Reproductive Sciences Institute, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
² Abortion Research Center, Yazd Reproductive Sciences Institute, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
³ Hasheminejad Kidney Center, Iran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Despite numerous reports about temporal changes in semen quality from all over the world, the debates continue. The latest systemic review has shown an overtime decrease in semen quality worldwide.

Objective: To assess the temporal changes in the semen quality among Iranian population referred to an infertility center.

Materials and methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, semen parameters including concentration, motility, and morphology were compared between Iranian men reffered to Research and Clinical Center for Infertility, Yazd between 1990 to 1992 (group 1, n = 707) and 2010 to 2012 (group 2, n = 1108). Demographic characteristics and semen analysis were collected from the records. The effect of age on semen parameters was also investigated.

Results: Despite the increase in sperm concentration l in group 2, sperm with normal morphology decreased significantly (p $<$ 0.001). Grade-A motility decreased (p $<$ 0.001), grade B motility increased (p $<$ 0.001), and grade C and D motile sperm remained constant (p = 0.303 and p = 0.315, respectively). Also, no significant correlation between the age and semen parameters were observed.

Conclusion: This study showed inconsistent temporal changes in the participant semen quality. Significant temporal decline were obtained between various semen parameters, sperm morphology and grade A motility. These results should be further evaluated by larger studies in the future.

Keywords: Semen quality; Temporal changes.; Infertility.