Abstract

The most common unhealthy lifestyle factors like cigarette smoking and drinking alcohol have controversial reports on how these impact male fertility. The present study assessed the potential effects of these habits on sperm quality, male reproductive hormones, and blood plasma oxidative profile in 133 infertile men with 124 fertile, healthy controls. Among the participants, 28 (10.8 %), 29 (11.2 %), 33 (12.8 %), 34 (13.2 %) fertile men were non-alcoholics and non-smokers (total abstainers), smokers, alcohol drinkers, and smokers plus alcohol drinkers, respectively. On the other hand, 32 (12.4 %), 30 (11.6 %), 34 (13.2 %), 37 (14.3 %) infertile men were total abstainers, smokers, alcohol drinkers, and smokers plus alcohol drinkers, respectively. The conventional sperm parameters and reproductive hormone levels were found to be significantly different in the subsets of infertile men than those of fertile men (p<0.001). In these subsets of infertile men, blood plasma malondialdehyde, nitric oxide concentrations were significantly higher and superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione activities were significantly lower when compared to fertile men and infertile men total abstainers group (p<0.001). In infertile subjects, particularly smoking-alcohol drinking group was more affected than only smoking or alcohol drinking groups. Furthermore, these oxidative markers were correlated with sperm concentration, motility, and morphology, except nitric oxide concentration, which was only associated with sperm motility. These findings highlighted that blood plasma antioxidants are as efficient as seminal plasma antioxidants in male fertility evaluation.