The University of São Paulo conducted a study that found COVID-19 to be highly damaging to male fertility. The study revealed that COVID-19 can remain in sperm for longer than three months, which may potentially reduce the quality of sperm.
Despite the lack of PCR testing, the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 under the microscope in male reproductive cells raises the awareness of potential effects on natural conception and assisted reproduction.
The COVID-19 virus can disrupt the reproductive system, leading to a quarantine period for pregnant women who are recovered by scientists from the University of São Paulo, as the virus can continue to infect infected individuals.
Researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, can remain in patient sperm for up to 90 days after hospital discharge and up to 110 days after the initial infection, leading them to recommend that men and women who want to have children experience a quarantine period after recovering from COVID-19.
Scientists have discovered that SARS-CoV-2 can invade and destroy various types of human cells and tissue, including the reproductive system, more quickly than other viruses. Although autopsies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 is more aggressive than other viruses towards the male genital tract, it has not been detected in semen by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, which targets viral DNA.
The study sought to bridge the knowledge gap by utilizing real-time PCR and TEM to fach through viral RNA in sperm and spermozoa donated by men afflicted with COVID-19.
The authors report that 13 patients admitted to Hospital das Clnicas (HC) - a medical school complex run by the university's medical school (FM-USP) - were tested for SARS-CoV-2 within 90 days of their discharge, and 110 days after diagnosis. However, despite the PCR test results being negative for SARS-CoV-2, the virus was detected in sperm from eight of the 11 moderate to severe COVID-19 patients (72.7%) within the same timeframe within 90 days of their admission.
One of the 13 patients with mild COVID-19 was found to have SARS-CoV-2, while the remaining two patients had similar symptoms to those with COVID-19. The authors found evidence that the virus was present in sperm from nine of the 13 patients (69.2%), and 11 patients had virus-infected sperm.
Jorge Hallak, a professor at FM-USP, reported that the sperm produced întrerupgs in radio transmission from the brain that resulted in the formation of extracellular traps based on nuclear DNA, where genetic material in the nucleus decondensed, cell membranes in the sperms ruptured, and DNA was expelled into the extracellular medium, forming networks similar to those described in the systemic inflammatory response to SARS-CoV-2.
Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are the networks in question, and they are responsible for immobilizing and killing pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and viruses. When they are hyperactive, NETs can cause harm to tissue elsewhere in the organism.
The pathogen was contained by sperm that sprang up with nuclear DNA in extracellular traps to "kill" themselves, as indicated by TEM results indicating a suicidal ETosis-like reaction.
The study's significance stems from the fact that spermatozoa are an integral part of the innate immune system and help defend against attack by pathogens, as stated by Hallak.
According to him, sperm had four functions before that: connecting the genetic makeup of male gametes to female gametes, fertilizing the gametes, promoting embryonic development until the twelfth week of pregnancy, and contributing to the development of chronic diseases in adulthood.
According to Hallak, the study's discovery offers an additional function to their role in reproduction.
Hallak proposes delaying natural conception and assisted reproduction for six months or more after being infected with SARS-CoV-2, even if mild COVID-19 occurs.
Hallak was among the pioneers to call for greater caution in reproduction protocols during the viral flu epidemic. He has researched the impact of COVID-19 on reproductive and sexual health since 2020.
The team he is working with in FM-USP's Department of Pathology has already established important research in the field, including the fact that men are more likely to suffer from severe COVID-19 infection and to die due to the presence of ACE2 receptors and TMPRSS2 in their testes, which may be due to the virus's use of ACE2 to infect cells; a protein that enables the virus to bind to ACE2 on the cell surface.
Health workers' libido and sexual satisfaction, as well as their consumption of pornography and frequency of masturbation, were found to be significantly decreased by the pandemic, according to a study conducted by HC-FM-USP's Clinical Urology Division.
The discovery made by the team indicated that the testes were susceptible to viral infections and that this may lead to epididymial inflammation.
The presence of SARS-CoV-2 in human sperm has been shown to be present in the Eur Respira, as demonstrated by transfer electron microscopy.
Professor Carlos Carvalho, a member of the HC-FM-USP team, and a group of doctors and scientists are studying the lagging effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in over 700 patients who were initially selected for a Thematic Project funded by FAPESP.