Journal of Andrology Cross-Journal Searching
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zinaman, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Clegg, E. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zinaman, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Clegg, E. D.

Journal of Andrology, Vol 21, Issue 1 145-153, Copyright © 2000 by The American Society of Andrology


JOURNAL ARTICLE

Semen quality and human fertility: a prospective study with healthy couples

M. J. Zinaman, C. C. Brown, S. G. Selevan and E. D. Clegg
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA.

Measures of semen quality are used as surrogate measures of male fertility in clinical andrology, reproductive toxicology, epidemiology, and risk assessment. However, only limited data are available to relate those measures to fertility. This prospective study with 210 reproductive-age couples was conducted to provide information on the value of semen quality measures for predicting human male fertility potential and for development of models to estimate the effects of changes in semen quality on fertility in a given population for risk assessment. Couples without known risk factors for infertility and who had discontinued contraception to have a child were accepted. The study followed each couple for up to 12 menstrual cycles while they attempted to conceive and evaluated semen quality measures from multiple ejaculates per man with known abstinence intervals. For each cycle, the day of ovulation was predicted, and the couple was advised to have intercourse multiple times on that day and on the days around it. Among the demographic variables assessed, parity, contraception status prior to entering the study, male education level, and male smoking were associated significantly with 12-cycle pregnancy rate. Several semen quality measures also were associated significantly with pregnancy rate, with percentage morphologically normal sperm by strict criteria and measures involving total number of sperm showing particularly strong associations. Localized regression-smoothing plots of semen quality data against proportion of couples pregnant suggested levels below which fertility declines for several semen quality measures. These results have applications in both clinical andrology and in assessment of risk to male fecundity from environmental or pharmaceutical exposures. In particular, they contribute information on behavior of fertility with varying semen quality and can allow development of models to predict effects on fertility in populations from decrements in semen quality.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
ReproductionHome page
S. E M Lewis
Is sperm evaluation useful in predicting human fertility?
Reproduction, July 1, 2007; 134(1): 31 - 40.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
C.H. Ramlau-Hansen, A.M. Thulstrup, E.A. Nohr, J.P. Bonde, T.I.A. Sorensen, and J. Olsen
Subfecundity in overweight and obese couples
Hum. Reprod., June 1, 2007; 22(6): 1634 - 1637.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
ReproductionHome page
L. Lefievre, K. Bedu-Addo, S. J Conner, G. S M Machado-Oliveira, Y. Chen, J. C Kirkman-Brown, M. A Afnan, S. J Publicover, W C. L Ford, and C. L R Barratt
Counting sperm does not add up any more: time for a new equation?
Reproduction, April 1, 2007; 133(4): 675 - 684.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
C.H. Ramlau-Hansen, A.M. Thulstrup, A.S. Aggerholm, M.S. Jensen, G. Toft, and J.P. Bonde
Is smoking a risk factor for decreased semen quality? A cross-sectional analysis
Hum. Reprod., January 1, 2007; 22(1): 188 - 196.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J AndrolHome page
A. A. Makhlouf and C. Niederberger
DNA Integrity Tests in Clinical Practice: It Is Not a Simple Matter of Black and White (or Red and Green)
J Androl, May 1, 2006; 27(3): 316 - 323.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
D. Evenson
Reply to: 'The predictive value of the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA)'--a response from the SCSA inventor.
Hum. Reprod., February 1, 2006; 21(2): 570 - 572.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J AndrolHome page
T. B. Haugen, T. Egeland, and O. Magnus
Semen Parameters in Norwegian Fertile Men
J Androl, January 1, 2006; 27(1): 66 - 71.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
L. Bjorndahl, J. Kirkman-Brown, G. Hart, S. Rattle, and C.L.R. Barratt
Development of a novel home sperm test
Hum. Reprod., January 1, 2006; 21(1): 145 - 149.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum Reprod UpdateHome page
E. Seli and D. Sakkas
Spermatozoal nuclear determinants of reproductive outcome: implications for ART
Hum. Reprod. Update, July 1, 2005; 11(4): 337 - 349.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
M. Sergerie, G. Laforest, K. Boulanger, F. Bissonnette, and G. Bleau
Longitudinal study of sperm DNA fragmentation as measured by terminal uridine nick end-labelling assay
Hum. Reprod., July 1, 2005; 20(7): 1921 - 1927.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
L. P. Ly, P. Y. Liu, and D. J. Handelsman
Rates of suppression and recovery of human sperm output in testosterone-based hormonal contraceptive regimens
Hum. Reprod., June 1, 2005; 20(6): 1733 - 1740.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
F. Eustache, J. Auger, D. Cabrol, and P. Jouannet
Are volunteers delivering semen samples in fertility studies a biased population?
Hum. Reprod., December 1, 2004; 19(12): 2831 - 2837.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
K.K. Ng, R. Donat, L. Chan, A. Lalak, I. Di Pierro, and D.J. Handelsman
Sperm output of older men
Hum. Reprod., August 1, 2004; 19(8): 1811 - 1815.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
M. Jensen, H. Leffers, J. H. Petersen, A. Nyboe Andersen, N. Jorgensen, E. Carlsen, T. K. Jensen, N. E. Skakkebaek, and E. Rajpert-De Meyts
Frequent polymorphism of the mitochondrial DNA polymerase gamma gene (POLG) in patients with normal spermiograms and unexplained subfertility
Hum. Reprod., January 1, 2004; 19(1): 65 - 70.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Toxicol SciHome page
R. Kizu, K. Okamura, A. Toriba, A. Mizokami, K. L. Burnstein, C. M. Klinge, and K. Hayakawa
Antiandrogenic Activities of Diesel Exhaust Particle Extracts in PC3/AR Human Prostate Carcinoma Cells
Toxicol. Sci., December 1, 2003; 76(2): 299 - 309.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
C. Garrett, D.Y. Liu, G.N. Clarke, D.D. Rushford, and H.W.G. Baker
Automated semen analysis: 'zona pellucida preferred' sperm morphometry and straight-line velocity are related to pregnancy rate in subfertile couples
Hum. Reprod., August 1, 2003; 18(8): 1643 - 1649.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J AndrolHome page
M. A. Bedaiwy, R. K. Sharma, T. K. Alhussaini, M. S. Mohamed, A. M. A. Aleem, D. R. Nelson, A. J. Thomas Jr, and A. Agarwal
The Use of Novel Semen Quality Scores to Predict Pregnancy in Couples With Male-Factor Infertility Undergoing Intrauterine Insemination
J Androl, May 1, 2003; 24(3): 353 - 360.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
W. H. James
Smoking, sperm quality and testosterone level
Hum. Reprod., December 1, 2002; 17(12): 3275 - 3276.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
H. Trummer, H. Habermann, J. Haas, and K. Pummer
The impact of cigarette smoking on human semen parameters and hormones
Hum. Reprod., June 1, 2002; 17(6): 1554 - 1559.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
R. Slama, F. Eustache, B. Ducot, T.K. Jensen, N. Jorgensen, A. Horte, S. Irvine, J. Suominen, A.G. Andersen, J. Auger, et al.
Time to pregnancy and semen parameters: a cross-sectional study among fertile couples from four European cities
Hum. Reprod., February 1, 2002; 17(2): 503 - 515.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
NEJMHome page
D. S. Guzick, J. W. Overstreet, P. Factor-Litvak, C. K. Brazil, S. T. Nakajima, C. Coutifaris, S. A. Carson, P. Cisneros, M. P. Steinkampf, J. A. Hill, et al.
Sperm Morphology, Motility, and Concentration in Fertile and Infertile Men
N. Engl. J. Med., November 8, 2001; 345(19): 1388 - 1393.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Hum ReprodHome page
P. Sutovsky, Y. Terada, and G. Schatten
Ubiquitin-based sperm assay for the diagnosis of male factor infertility
Hum. Reprod., February 1, 2001; 16(2): 250 - 258.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2000 by The American Society of Andrology.