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Is overweight a risk factor for reduced semen quality and altered serum sex hormone profile?
Anette S Aggerholm1, Ane Marie Thulstrup, Gunnar Toft
1Department of Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark. ansag@as.aaa.dk
Objective:
To evaluate whether overweight and obesity are related to changes in serum sex hormone concentrations and semen quality.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
Data from five previous population-based environmental studies of semen quality were combined into one database at a university hospital in Denmark.
Patient(S):
In total, 2,139 men provided data to the database.
Intervention(S):
Data on semen and blood samples and information on lifestyle and reproductive factors, including body mass index (BMI), were collected.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Semen quality (volume, concentration, total sperm count, and motility) and serum concentration of sex hormones.
Result(S):
The T and inhibin B serum concentrations were 25%-32% lower in obese men in comparison with normal-weight men, whereas the E(2) concentration was 6% higher in obese men. Overweight men (BMI, 25.1-30.0 kg/m(2)) had a slightly lower adjusted sperm concentration and total sperm count than did men with a normal BMI (20.0-25.0 kg/m(2)), but no reduction in sperm count was observed among the obese men.
Conclusion(S):
These results corroborate earlier findings that overweight and obese men have a markedly changed sex hormone profile in serum, whereas reduction of semen quality, if any, was marginal and below the detection limit of this large study.
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