Semen and sex-steroid parameters among inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis type according to rectal bleeding grade

Abstract

Hypogonadism and inflammato-ry bowel disease (IBD) are often associated. This association may influence sexual and reproductive function in IBD, including sperm profile and sex steroid hormones. This study included 59 IBD patients diagnosed with ulcerative colitis type IBD. Anamnesis was carried out regarding the history of the disease, along with a history of rectal bleeding. Evaluation proceeded with sperm and hormone examination if the patient agreed. Progressive motility sperm, immotile sperm, and normal sperm were found to be significantly different between the rectal bleeding groups. In grade 3 (more significant bleeding) progressive sperm (24.81 ± 5.85, p < 0.0001) and normal sperm (6.33 ± 12.56, p = 0.0003) rates tended to be lower, while immotile sperm tended to be higher (44.48 ± 11.21, p < 0.0001). Testosterone and free testosterone levels were also reported to be significantly different between groups, where grade 3 had lower levels 255.9 ± 30.08, p = 0.014 and 4.645 ± 0.5, p = 0.002 respectively. Our study shows that the degree of rectal bleeding influences sperm motility and morphology, as well as testosterone and free testosterone levels. These results can concern managing IBD patients to fulfill reproductive health care.