Parental Subfecundity And Risk Of Decreased Semen Quality In The Male Offspring: A Follow-up Study

Main Category: Urology / Nephrology
Also Included In: Fertility
Article Date: 19 Sep 2008 - 11:00 PDT

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UroToday.com - This study assessed the impact of parental subfertility, which did not require intervention, on the semen parameters of the male offspring utilizing a population-based, Danish follow-up study conducted in 2005-2006.

The authors examined whether sons of subfertile couples who had not received fertility treatment had poorer semen quality than sons of fertile couples. An inverse association between parental waiting time to pregnancy and both semen volume and total sperm count was observed (n=311). Semen volume, sperm concentration and percentage of morphologically normal sperm were lower in sons of subfertile parents.

Editorial Comment:
This is an interesting study that again raises the question of the "inheritablility" of infertility. Although there was a mild to moderate relationship between "prolonged" time to pregnancy and decreased semen quality of the male offspring, there was no attempt to define the cause of this delay and thus it would be difficult to develop a unified hypothesis.

Ramlau-Hansen CH, Thulstrup AM, Olsen J, Bonde
Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Jun 15;167(12):1458-64
doi:10.1093/aje/kwn076

Written by UroToday.com Contributing Editor Harris M. Nagler, MD

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