Effect of aspirin on semen quality: A review

According to the PubMed data base, there are at least fifty published articles that link between aspirin and semen quality. However, such link has yet to be comprehensively discussed and summarised. This work reviews and summarises the effect of aspirin on semen quality and sperm fertility characteristics, and hence on semen fertilising ability. To achieve this contribution, an electronic search of PubMed and Scopus databases was conducted for original manuscripts, presented from January 1974 through September 2019, via the keywords "aspirin" and "acetylsalicylic acid" versus "sperm" and "semen." In summary, there is a scientific research consensus that reveals negative effects of aspirin on semen quality. Still, clinical studies that directly examine the effect of aspirin on the main semen quality parameters are needed to support this conclusion. Mechanistically, the negative documented effect of aspirin on semen quality parameters may be attributable to decreased synthesis of testosterone, reduced function of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells, decreased formation of testicular prostaglandins, reduced production of seminal nitric oxide and increased oxidative injury to sperm.