Impact of Obesity, Visceral Adiposity and Metabolic Syndrome on Male Fertility

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to assess the association between the separate anthropometric indexes including visceral adiposity and metabolic syndrome on male fertility. STUDY DESIGN: In a cross-sectional study, the visceral and subcutaneous fat thickness of 162 participants were measured by ultrasonography. Participants' body mass index, waist circumference, and waist/hip ratio were determined. Participants' biochemical metabolic parameters and reproductive hormones were measured and semen parameters were recorded. Participants were divided into groups according to body mass index and different percentiles of the visceral fat thickness. Differences between groups were investigated by One-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis H, and Pearson Chi-Square test. The relationship between anthropometric measurements and sperm parameters was evaluated by Pearson and Spearman’s rank correlation test. The effect of anthropometric indexes on sperm parameters was evaluated using multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS: It was seen that only total testosterone of sex hormones decreased significantly in the obesity group (p=0.003). There was a significant and reverse association between visceral fat thickness with sperm morphology (rho=–0.2, p=0.01). There was no significant correlation between semen parameters and other anthropometric measurements. In multiple regression analysis, the effect of anthropometric measurements, including visceral fat thickness, on semen parameters was not found, but only smoking was found to be a factor affecting sperm concentration, progressive motility, and morphology (p=0.03, p=0.03, and p=0.01). CONCLUSION: In this study, it was shown that increased obesity was associated with low testosterone levels and increased visceral fat was associated with abnormal sperm morphology. More extensive studies are required on this subject.