title: Lead level in seminal plasma may affect semen quality for men without occupational exposure to lead.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Infertility affects approximately 10-15% of reproductive-age couples. Poor semen quality contributes to about 25% of infertile cases. Resulting from the direct effect on testicular function or hormonal alterations, heavy metals exposure has been related to impaired semen quality. The objective of this study was to assess the level of lead in the seminal plasma in men without occupational exposure to lead, and to determine the relationship between semen quality and lead concentration in the semen.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a prospective and nonrandomized clinical study conducted in University infertility clinic and academic research laboratory. Three hundred and forty-one male partners of infertile couples undergoing infertility evaluation and management were recruited to the study. Semen samples collected for the analyses of semen quality were also used for the measurement of lead concentrations. Semen samples were evaluated according to the WHO standards.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All subjects were married and from infertile couples without occupational exposure to lead. There is a significant inverse correlation between the lead concentration in seminal plasma and sperm count. A higher semen lead concentration was correlated with lower sperm count, but not with semen volume, sperm motility or sperm morphology as assessed by simple linear regression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that semen lead concentration was significantly higher among the patients with lower sperm count. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that a high level of lead accumulation in semen may reduce the sperm count contributing to infertility of men without occupational exposure to lead.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University School of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Hsien-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Dan-Tzu
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Lin-Tan
authors.forename: Mei-Li
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hong-Yuan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chyi-Long
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hsin-Shih
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yung-Kuei
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Soong
authors.forename: Ja-Liang
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology*; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012661:Semen / Q000737:chemistry*; D055101:Semen Analysis; D013076:Sperm Count; D013081:Sperm Motility
chemical_list: D007854:Lead