Poor sperm quality may result in repeat pregnancy loss

NEW ORLEANS — Men with lower rates of normal sperm morphology and weakened sperm motility, as well as higher levels of seminal reactive oxygen species and DNA fragmentation index, were more likely to have partners with three consecutive pregnancy losses before reaching 20 weeks of gestation, according to findings presented at the Endocrine Society Annual Meeting.

The findings are based on comparisons of the sperm of 49 men whose partners experienced multiple pregnancy losses vs. 34 men whose partners did not, according to researchers.

“This has important implications [that] may start to come through in the guidelines soon ... which is to actually argue that there should be some form of routine testing for men whose partners have had recurrent miscarriages that are at least unexplained," Channa Jayasena , MA, MB, MRCP, FRCPath , of the Imperial College London told attendees.

More on his findings can be found by clicking here. – by Janel Miller and Phil Neuffer

Reference: Jayasena C, et al. OR18-5. “Elevated semen oxidative stress in male partners as novel marker of recurrent pregnancy loss.” Presented at: The Endocrine Society Annual Meeting; March 23-26, 2019; New Orleans.

Disclosure: Jayasena reports no relevant financial disclosures.