Elsevier

Fertility and Sterility

Volume 100, Issue 5, November 2013, Pages 1261-1269.e3
Fertility and Sterility

Original article
Microbiota of the seminal fluid from healthy and infertile men

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.07.1991Get rights and content
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Objective

To explore potential causes of male infertility by determining the composition and structure of commensal bacterial communities in seminal fluids.

Design

Microscopy of Gram-stained semen samples and classification of 16S rRNA gene sequences to determine the species composition of semen bacterial communities.

Setting

Clinical andrology laboratory and academic research laboratories.

Patient(s)

Nineteen sperm donors and 58 infertility patients.

Intervention(s)

None.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Classification of 16S rRNA gene sequences, clustering of seminal microbial communities, and multiple statistical tests.

Result(s)

High numbers of diverse kinds of bacteria were present in most samples of both sperm donors and infertility patients. The bacterial communities varied widely among subjects, but they could be clustered into six groups based on similarities in composition and the rank abundances of taxa. Overall, there were no significant differences between sperm donors and infertility patients. However, multiple statistical tests showed a significant negative association between sperm quality and the presence of Anaerococcus. The results also indicated that many of the bacterial taxa identified in semen also occur in the vaginal communities of some women, especially those with bacterial vaginosis, which suggests that heterosexual sex partners may share bacteria.

Conclusion(s)

Diverse kinds of bacteria were present in the human semen, but there were no significant differences between sperm donors and infertility patients. The presence of Anaerococcus might be a biomarker for low sperm quality.

Key Words

Semen
microbiome
bacterial communities
fertility
reproduction

Cited by (0)

D.H. has nothing to disclose. X. Zhou has nothing to disclose. X. Zhong has nothing to disclose. M.L.S. has nothing to disclose. J.H. has nothing to disclose. L.W. has nothing to disclose. Z.A. has nothing to disclose. L.J.F. reports a consultancy with and grants from Procter & Gamble. C.X. has nothing to disclose.

D.H. and X. Zhou should be considered similar in author order.

X. Zhong is currently at Vanderbilt Center for Quantitative Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.

Supported by the Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project (S30201), Shanghai Municipality Commission for Population and Family Planning (2009JG04), Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (10DZ2270600), and Shanghai Basic Research Project (09DJ1400400). Also supported by the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (U19 AI084044), and a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence grant (P20 RR016448) from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) of the National Institutes of Health (to L.J.F.).