NEW DELHI: The recent rise in infertility among men has become a cause of serious concern, with lifestyle changes, relationship issues, environmental influences and a stressful work culture being cited as the main reasons.
However, recent studies have found that the common sexually transmitted virus, human papillomavirus (HPV), can reduce the quantity and quality of men's sperm, potentially leading to infertility.
Researchers from the National University of Cordoba in Argentina have found that men are highly susceptible to HPV infection, which can lead to serious problems such as genital warts and an increased risk of malignant tumors of the mouth, throat, genitals and anus.
But the biggest problem is infertility.
The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infectious Microbiology, showed that men infected with high-risk HPV genotypes showed evidence of sperm death due to oxidative stress and a weakened immune response.
“This study demonstrates that genital HPV infection is highly prevalent in men and that the impact on sperm quality and semen inflammation may differ depending on the genotype of the virus causing the infection,” said Dr Virginia Rivero, professor at the university.
“Men's fertility and the ability of their immune system to fight off infection appear to be more adversely affected by infection with high-risk HPV genotypes,” Rivero added. HPV infection is most common in women, and in 95% of cases it leads to cervical cancer risk.
However, a recent study in The Lancet found that one in three men over the age of 15 is at least partially infected with genital HPV, and one in five is infected with some form of high-risk or cancer-causing HPV strain.
The latest study focused on 205 adult men in Argentina who visited a urology clinic between 2018 and 2021 for evaluation related to reproductive health or urinary tract problems.
None of the participants had received the HPV vaccine. Nineteen percent of participants tested positive for HPV, of which 20 were found to be infected with high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) and 7 were found to be infected with low-risk HPV (LR-HPV).
Routine semen analysis showed no noticeable differences in semen quality between the two groups, but additional high-resolution testing showed that HR-HPV-positive men had significantly lower CD45+ white blood cell counts in their semen and higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can harm sperm.
“We conclude that men infected with HR-HPV, unlike those infected with LR-HPV, experience increased sperm death due to oxidative stress and a weakened local immune response in the urogenital tract,” Rivero said, suggesting that HR-HPV-positive men may have reduced fertility.
This study raises important questions about how HR-HPV affects sperm DNA quality and how that impacts reproduction and the health of offspring.
(With inputs from IANS)
