Dataset Information

Paternal physical and sedentary activities in relation to semen quality and reproductive outcomes among couples from a fertility center.

ABSTRACT:

Study question

Is paternal physical activity associated with semen quality parameters and with outcomes of infertility treatment?

Summary answer

Among men presenting for infertility treatment, weightlifting and outdoor activities were associated with higher sperm concentrations but not with greater reproductive success.

What is already known

Higher physical activity is related to better semen quality but no studies to date have investigated whether it predicts greater reproductive success.

Study design, size, duration

The Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study is an on-going prospective cohort study which enrolls subfertile couples presenting at Massachusetts General Hospital (2005-2013). In total, 231 men provided 433 semen samples and 163 couples underwent 421 IVF or intrauterine insemination cycles.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

Leisure time spent in physical and sedentary activities over the past year was self-reported using a validated questionnaire. We used mixed models to analyze the association of physical and sedentary activities with semen quality and with clinical pregnancy and live birth rates.

Main results and the role of chance

Men in this cohort engaged in a median of 3.2 h/week of moderate-to-vigorous activities. Men in the highest quartile of moderate-to-vigorous activity had 43% (95% confidence interval (CI) 9, 87%) higher sperm concentrations than men in the lowest quartile (P-trend = 0.04). Men in the highest category of outdoor activity (?1.5 h/week) and weightlifting (?2 h/week) had 42% (95% CI 10, 84%) and 25% (95% CI -10, 74%) higher sperm concentrations, respectively, compared with men in the lowest category (0 h/week) (P-trend = 0.04 and 0.02). Conversely, men who reported bicycling ?1.5 h/week had 34% (95% CI 4, 55%) lower sperm concentrations compared with men who reported no bicycling (P-trend = 0.05). Paternal physical and sedentary activities were not related to clinical pregnancy or live birth rates following infertility treatment.

Limitations, reasons for caution

The generalizability of the findings on live birth rates to populations not undergoing infertility treatment is limited.

Wider implications of the findings

Certain types of physical activity, specifically weightlifting and outdoor activities, may improve semen quality but may not lead to improved success of infertility treatments. Further research is needed in other non-clinical populations.

Study funding/competing interests

The authors are supported by NIH grants R01-ES009718, ES000002, P30-DK046200, T32-DK007703-16 and ES022955 T32-HD060454. None of the authors has any conflicts of interest to declare.

SUBMITTER: Gaskins AJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4191451 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Paternal physical and sedentary activities in relation to semen quality and reproductive outcomes among couples from a fertility center.

Gaskins A J AJ Afeiche M C MC Hauser R R Williams P L PL Gillman M W MW Tanrikut C C Petrozza J C JC Chavarro J E JE

Human reproduction (Oxford, England) 20140827 11

<h4>Study question</h4>Is paternal physical activity associated with semen quality parameters and with outcomes of infertility treatment?<h4>Summary answer</h4>Among men presenting for infertility treatment, weightlifting and outdoor activities were associated with higher sperm concentrations but not with greater reproductive success.<h4>What is already known</h4>Higher physical activity is related to better semen quality but no studies to date have investigated whether it predicts greater repro ...[more]

PMID: 25164027

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Project description:BackgroundFew epidemiologic studies have evaluated the impact of paternal environmental exposures, particularly as mixtures, on couples' pregnancy outcomes.ObjectiveWe investigated whether mixtures of paternal urinary bisphenol A (BPA), paraben, and phthalates were associated with pregnancy outcomes among couples attending a fertility center.MethodsWe included 210 couples undergoing 300 in vitro fertilization (IVF) between 2004 and 2017 in this prospective analysis. We quantified paternal urinary biomarker concentrations in one sample per cycle using isotope-dilution tandem mass spectrometry. We used principal component analysis (PCA) to identify correlations of biomarker concentrations and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models for discrete survival time to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs for the associations between PCA-derived factor scores and probability of failing to achieve a live birth. Interactions were also included in the models to examine strength of associations over three vulnerable periods [embryo transfer to implantation, implantation to clinical pregnancy, and clinical pregnancy to live birth]. Models were adjusted for paternal and maternal ages and body mass indexes, urinary dilution (specific gravity) and year of collection, infertility diagnosis, and other PCA factor scores. Sensitivity analyses with further adjustment for maternal PCA factor scores were performed.ResultsWe identified three factors, representing di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) metabolites, BPA and non-DEHP metabolites, and parabens, accounting for 56%, 15% and 10%, respectively, of the total variance explained. An interquartile range (25th and 75th percentiles) increase in the DEHP-related factor score was associated with elevated probability of failing prior to live birth (HR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.81) and the association was stronger between implantation and clinical pregnancy as well as between clinical pregnancy and live birth compared to before implantation. The overall HRs of failure for the BPA/non-DEHP-related and paraben-related factor scores were HR = 1.24 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.59) and HR = 0.99 (95% CI: 0.80, 1.24). We found similar HRs when additionally adjusting for maternal PCA factor scores.ConclusionPaternal mixtures of urinary concentrations of DEHP metabolites were related to higher infertility treatment failure.

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Dataset Information

Paternal physical and sedentary activities in relation to semen quality and reproductive outcomes among couples from a fertility center.

Study question

Summary answer

What is already known

Study design, size, duration

Participants/materials, setting, methods

Main results and the role of chance

Limitations, reasons for caution

Wider implications of the findings

Study funding/competing interests

Publications

Paternal physical and sedentary activities in relation to semen quality and reproductive outcomes among couples from a fertility center.

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