High-risk HPV infections in men could be tied to sperm death, according to a small new study. Men with high-risk HPV infections appear to be more likely to experience sperm death, which could affect their fertility, according to a small study in Argentina. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is among the world’s most common sexually transmitted infections.
Most people have , but some get genital warts and others go on to develop more serious conditions, such as cervical cancer, which affects in the European Union every year. The new study, published in the journal , adds to a about how HPV affects men – and specifically, their fertility. Researchers from the National University of Córdoba in Argentina took semen samples from 205 men who went to a urology and andrology clinic from 2018 to 2021 and had not been vaccinated against HPV.
They found HPV in 19 per cent of the samples, with high-risk infections more common. They compared semen quality among men with high-risk, low-risk, and no infections, parsed out by cancer risk level. Those with high-risk HPV were more likely to have sperm death, lower white blood cell counts, and higher levels of reactive oxygen species, which are a leading in men.
Notably, there was no connection between HPV infection and other routine markers of semen quality, such as sperm count and motility. And overall, levels of sperm death were still relatively low, meaning men should temper their concerns. “It is important to note that our study conducted .