When trying for a baby, it is widely accepted that prospective mothers should quit smoking.
But, now a new study adds weight to the evidence in favor of advising fathers to stub out their habit as well.
A team of Brazilian researchers found smoking damages a man’s sperm, in such a way that can make fertilization of his partner’s egg impossible.
Past research has shown that tobacco is linked to a decrease in sperm concentration as well as high sperm DNA fragmentation or oxidative stress.
A team of Brazilian researchers found smoking damages a man’s sperm, in such a way that can make fertilization of his partner’s egg impossible
The new study, added to a body of evidence, that suggest a man’s fertility is sensitive to environmental factors, including obesity, smoking, alcoholism and pollution.
The scientists, based at São Paulo Federal University, performed sperm function tests on 20 non-smoking men with normal sperm quality, as defined by the World Health Organization.
And, the same tests were also performed on 20 smoking patients.
All those taking part were aged between 20 and 50, researchers noted.
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They assessed a number of factors, including semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility as well as sperm morphology.
The authors wrote: ‘In the present study, we showed that smoking has a detrimental effect on functional aspects of sperm.
‘Smokers had a lower percentage of sperm with high DNA integrity, as well as higher percentages of sperm with mid- to high sperm DNA fragmentation, when compared with non-smokers.’
Sperm fragmentation can occur for a number of reasons. The most important of those is due to oxidative stress.
The researchers said: ‘Cigarettes contain a complex mixture of components, of which many present oxidative activity, such as nicotine, generating increased levels of superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical, leading to oxidative stress, which in turn leads to several alterations, among which is sperm DNA fragmentation.’
Nicotine is an important oxidant and reacts with the sperm membrane, which, in turn, affects sperm integrity leading to a high incidence of DNA damage.
The authors added: ‘Cigarette smoking seems to promote an inflammatory response in the male reproductive tract, as a result of excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels caused by its pro-oxidative components.’
The new study, added to a body of evidence, that suggest a man’s fertility is sensitive to environmental factors, including obesity, smoking, alcoholism and pollution. The researchers found smoking has a detriemental effect on functional aspects of sperm
Furthermore, smokers were more likely to have partially or fully inactive mitochondria.
In men, mitochondria appear to be essential for fertilization to take place, scientists believe, acting as powerhouses of energy within cells.
Another finding centered on the protein within a man’s sperm.
Researchers identified a total of 422 different proteins, of which one was absent, six were over-represented and 27 were under-represented in smokers.
The result is inflammation in smokers, the researchers noted, affecting the accessory glands – responsible for secreting fluids – and in the testicles.
This acute inflammation, contributes to the damage caused to a smoker’s sperm, the researchers said.
And smokers were found to have flaws in the acrosomes, found in the tip of the sperm.
They are located in the sperm head and contains the enzymes needed to break down the egg’s membrane and allow for fertilization to take place.
In conclusion, the researchers said: ‘Cigarette smoking was associated with an inflammatory state in the accessory glands and in the testis, as shown by enriched proteomic pathways.
‘This state causes an alteration in sperm functional quality, which is characterized by decreased acrosome integrity and mitochondrial activity, as well as by increased nuclear DNA fragmentation.’