Abstract
BackgroundFew epidemiological investigations have focused on the influence of environmental temperature on human sperm quality. Here, we evaluated the potential association between ambient temperature and human sperm quality in Wuhan, China, and examined the interactive effect of particulate matter (PM2.5) and temperature.Methods1780 males who had been living in Wuhan for no less than three months and received semen analysis at the Department of Reproductive Medicine in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University between April 8, 2013 and June 30, 2015 were recruited. Daily mean meteorological data and air pollution data (PM2.5, O3 and NO2) in Wuhan between 2013 and 2015 were collected. A generalized linear model was used to explore the associations between ambient temperature and sperm quality (including sperm concentration, percentage of normal sperm morphology, and progressive motility) at 0–9, 10–14, 15–69, 70–90, and 0–90 days before semen examination, and the interaction between temperature and PM2.5.ResultsThe associations between ambient temperature and sperm quality were an inverted U-shape at five exposure windows, except for a lag of 0–9 days for sperm concentration. A 1 °C increase in ambient temperature above the thresholds was associated with a 2.038 (1.292 ~ 2.783), 1.814 (1.217 ~ 2.411), 1.458 (1.138 ~ 1.777), 0.934(0.617 ~ 1.251) and 1.604 (1.258 ~ 1.951) decrease in the percentage of normal sperm morphology at lag 0–9, lag 10–14, lag 15–69, lag 70–90, and lag 0–90 days, respectively. The interaction p-values of PM2.5 and temperature were mostly less than 0.05 at five exposure windows. When ambient temperature exposure levels were above the thresholds, a 0.979 (0.659–1.299) and 3.559 (0.251 ~ 6.867) decrease in percentage of normal sperm morphology per 1 °C increase in temperature at lag 0–90 days was observed in the PM2.5 ≤ P50 group and PM2.5 > P50 group, respectively.ConclusionsOur results indicate that exposure to ambient temperature has a threshold effect on sperm quality, and PM2.5 enhances the effect of temperature on sperm quality when temperatures are above the threshold.
Highlights
Few epidemiological investigations have focused on the influence of environmental temperature on human sperm quality
Environmental exposure may have an important impact on human sperm quality [4, 5], and some studies have examined the effect of ambient air pollution on semen quality [6]
The descriptive analysis of socio-demographic characteristics of 1780 participants showed that the mean (±SD) age, body mass Index (BMI), sperm concentration, percentage of normal sperm morphology, and progressive motility of all participants were 33.5 ± 5.1 years old, 23.7 ± 3.3 kg/m2, 76.3 ± 50.2 mln/ml, 20.7 ± 19.9%, and 29.6 ± 16.4%, respectively (Table 1)
Summary
Few epidemiological investigations have focused on the influence of environmental temperature on human sperm quality. We evaluated the potential association between ambient temperature and human sperm quality in Wuhan, China, and examined the interactive effect of particulate matter (PM2.5) and temperature. Environmental exposure may have an important impact on human sperm quality [4, 5], and some studies have examined the effect of ambient air pollution on semen quality [6]. Ambient temperature as an important environmental factor has not drawn much public health attention for its impact on sperm development [7, 8]. The unique climate characteristics of Wuhan make this city a suitable area for studying the effect of environmental temperature on sperm quality
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