Elham zare,1,*
1. Dentistry Faculty, Islamic Azad University of Medical Sciences, Borujerd, Iran
Introduction: Male factor infertility (MFI) is defined as alterations in sperm morphology, concentration, and/or motility in one sample of at least two sperm analyses, collected between 1 and 4 weeks. The etiology of MFI is considered multifactorial, and several risk factors have been associated with this condition. A bidirectional linkage between oral disease (OD) and several systemic conditions such as infertility have been reported. The aim of this study is reviewing MFI and OD literatures.
Methods: This review has been conducted based on analysis of available literature indexed in PubMed database between 2015 and 2022. Specific keywords including “male factor infertility” and “oral disease” have been used. Experimental and review articles on the mentioned theme were included.
Results: A significant association between sperm motility, low sperm count and periodontal parameters, such as probing depth (PD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL) has been reported in previous studies. One study reported that an Escherichia coli filtrate obtained from 200 extracted teeth with open necrotic pulp resulted in a 25% reduction in sperm motility in vitro. Two mechanisms have been proposed; the increased bacterial load associated to chronic infections originated from OD can result in bacteriospermia impairing sperm mobility, and proinflammatory cytokines associated to OD, such as TNF- alpha could lead to a chronic systemic inflammation inducing sperm apoptosis and lower sperm count.
Conclusion: Within the limits of the current available evidence there seems to be a positive association between MFI and dental health status; however, further longitudinal studies and well-designed randomized control trials assessing confounders are needed.
Keywords: Male Factor Infertility, Oral Disease, Infertility.