title: High incidence of oligozoospermia and teratozoospermia in human semen infected with the aerobic bacterium Streptococcus faecalis.
abstract: Bacterial culture of semen samples from 100 male partners in infertile couples revealed the presence of aerobic bacteria in 49 cases. Streptococcus faecalis (Enterococcus) was isolated from 53%, micrococci species from 20% and alpha-haemolytic streptococci from 16% of the infected samples. The incidence of oligozoospermia and teratozoospermia was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in men whose semen samples contained S. faecalis than those whose semen samples contained micrococci or alpha-haemolytic streptococci or those that did not contain bacteria. The mean sperm concentration, as well as the mean percentage of morphologically normal spermatozoa, was significantly (P < 0.03) lower in semen infected with S. faecalis compared with that containing micrococci or alpha-haemolytic streptococci and the uninfected samples. There is a high incidence of semen infection with S. faecalis, and it is associated with compromised semen quality in terms of sperm concentration and morphology. The presence of micrococci or alpha-haemolytic streptococci does not appear to have any detrimental effect on sperm quality.
authors.affiliation: Hope Infertility Clinic, 12 Aga Abbas Ali Road, Bangalore 560 042, India. mehtat@vsnl.com
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sridhar
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Vijay Kumar
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Anand Kumar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D009845:Oligospermia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D012661:Semen / Q000382:microbiology*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000002:abnormalities*; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000150:complications*