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Sperm concentration and semen volume increase after smoking cessation in infertile men

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 34, pages 614–619 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Smoking has negative reproductive consequences. This study investigated the effect of smoking cessation on the main semen parameters. We included 90 participants who applied to our infertility clinic and smoked at least 20 cigarettes a day for at least 1 year. Of the 90 participants, 48 were in the study group and 42 were in the control group. Semen analysis was performed before and at least 3 months after quitting smoking in the study group. Semen analysis was repeated at baseline and at least 3 months later in the control group. Semen parameters such as volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, morphology, and motility were evaluated according to the World Health Organization criteria. Patient characteristics as well as the duration of the smoking period, the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the time elapsed since smoking cessation were recorded. The mean age of the participants was 34.69 ± 5.3 years, and the duration of infertility was 34.12 ± 12.1 months (n = 90). The number of cigarettes smoked per day was 30.14 ± 6.69, and the smoking time was 8.31 ± 3.53 years. The average time to quit smoking was 104.2 ± 11.51 days (n = 48). A significant increase in semen volume, sperm concentration and total sperm count was observed 3 months after smoking cessation (2.48 ± 0.79 ml vs. 2.90 ± 0.77 ml, p = 0.002; 18.45 × 106/ml ± 8.56 vs. 22.64 × 106/ml ± 11.69, p = 0.001; 45.04 ± 24.38 × 106 vs. 65.1 ± 34.9 × 106, p < 0.001, respectively). This study showed that smoking cessation had a positive effect on sperm concentration, semen volume, and total sperm count. Although smoking cessation contributed positively to sperm motility and morphology, the difference was not statistically significant.

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Fig. 1: Participant evaluation flowchart.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (TT) upon reasonable request.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Trabzon Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Trabzon, MD, Turkey

    Deniz Kulaksiz

  2. Department of Urology, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey

    Tuncay Toprak & Ayhan Verit

  3. Department of Urology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Ankara, MD, Turkey

    Eda Tokat

  4. Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg—Medical Centre, Freiburg, MD, Germany

    Mehmet Yilmaz

  5. Department of Urology, Trabzon Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, Trabzon, MD, Turkey

    Mehmet Akif Ramazanoglu

  6. Department of Urology, Istanbul Florence Nightingale Hospital, Istanbul, MD, Turkey

    Asgar Garayev

  7. Department of Urology, Malatya Training and Research Hospital, Malatya, MD, Turkey

    Muhammed Sulukaya

  8. Department of Urology, Karasu State Hospital, Sakarya, MD, Turkey

    Recep Burak Degirmentepe

  9. Department of Urology, Central Clinic Hospital, Baku, MD, Azerbaijan

    Elnur Allahverdiyev

  10. Department of Urology, Selcuk University Faculty of Medicine, Konya, Turkey

    Murat Gul

Authors
  1. Deniz Kulaksiz
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Contributions

Conceptualization, statistical analysis, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing: DK, TT, ET, MY, MAR. Conceptualization, investigation, data curation, resources: TT, MY, MAR, AG, MS Conceptualization, formal analysis, review: AG, MS. Paper editing, review: DK, EA, RBD, MG, AV Supervision: MG, AV. All authors read and approved the final paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tuncay Toprak.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Fatih Sultan Mehmet Training and Research Hospital Clinical Research Ethics Committee 2021/17 approval was obtained.

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Kulaksiz, D., Toprak, T., Tokat, E. et al. Sperm concentration and semen volume increase after smoking cessation in infertile men. Int J Impot Res 34, 614–619 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-022-00605-0

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