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. 2021 Jan;93(1):456-462.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.26259. Epub 2020 Jul 19.

Evaluation of sex-related hormones and semen characteristics in reproductive-aged male COVID-19 patients

Ling Ma  1 , Wen Xie  2   3 , Danyang Li  1 , Lei Shi  1 , Guangming Ye  2 , Yanhong Mao  1 , Yao Xiong  1 , Hui Sun  2 , Fang Zheng  2 , Zhimin Chen  4 , Jyuling Qin  1 , Jing Lyu  1 , Yuanzhen Zhang  1   5   6 , Ming Zhang  1   5
Affiliations

Evaluation of sex-related hormones and semen characteristics in reproductive-aged male COVID-19 patients

Ling Ma et al. J Med Virol. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

In the past several months, the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-associated infection (coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) developed rapidly and has turned into a global pandemic. Although SARS-CoV-2 mainly attacks respiratory systems, manifestations of multiple organs have been observed. A great concern was raised about whether COVID-19 may affect male reproductive functions. In this study, we collected semen specimens from 12 male COVID-19 patients for virus detection and semen characteristics analysis. No SARS-CoV-2 was found in semen specimens. Eight out of 12 patients had normal semen quality. We also compared the sex-related hormone levels between 119 reproductive-aged men with SARS-CoV-2 infection and 273 age-matched control men. A higher serum luteinizing hormone (LH) and a lower ratio of testosterone (T) to LH were observed in the COVID-19 group. Multiple regression analysis indicated that serum T: LH ratio was negatively associated with white blood cell counts and C-reactive protein levels in COVID-19 patients. It's the first report about semen assessment and sex-hormone evaluation in reproductive-aged male COVID-19 patients. Although further study is needed to clarify the reasons and underlying mechanisms, our study presents an abnormal sex hormone secretion among COVID-19 patients, suggesting that attention should be paid to reproductive function evaluation in the follow-up.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; male gonadal function; semen analysis; sex-related hormones.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.

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