Potential benefits of the use of sympathomimetics for asthmatic disease, on semen quality in men of subfertile couples.

Elsje C Oostingh, Nicole A Huijgen, Rivka Koedooder, Gert R Dohle, Bruno Hc Stricker, Régine Pm Steegers-Theunissen

Reproductive biomedicine online 2020 Mar

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Is there an association between the use of sympathomimetics for asthmatic disease and semen quality in humans? Between 2007 and 2012 a prospective cohort study was conducted among couples visiting the preconception counselling clinic at a tertiary hospital in the Netherlands. The study included 882 men of subfertile couples and information on medication use was obtained from self-administered questionnaires. Moreover, data on semen parameters were retrieved from medical records. The study population of men revealed a mean (± SD) age of 34 ± 4 years with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 26.1 ± 2.3 kg/m2, and sympathomimetic use was reported by 3.6%. The use of sympathomimetics was positively associated with a 10% higher sperm motility (beta 10.265; 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.258-17.272) after adjustment for smoking, alcohol use, age, geographic background, BMI, folic acid supplement use, the four astronomical seasons and asthma/bronchitis. Subgroup analysis between men with total motile sperm count (TMSC) < or ≥10 million showed that this association remained (P ≤ 0.001) after adjustment for these confounders. After adjustment for confounders the sperm concentration was also positively associated with the use of sympathomimetics, but only in men with TMSC ≥10 million (beta 0.300; 95% CI 0.032-0.568). These preliminary data show the potential benefits of the use of sympathomimetics to improve sperm motility in men of subfertile couples, which needs further investigation. Copyright © 2020 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Elsje C Oostingh, Nicole A Huijgen, Rivka Koedooder, Gert R Dohle, Bruno Hc Stricker, Régine Pm Steegers-Theunissen. Potential benefits of the use of sympathomimetics for asthmatic disease, on semen quality in men of subfertile couples. Reproductive biomedicine online. 2020 Mar;40(3):423-428