The effect of male aging on fertility potential is controversial and difficult to predict. The aim of our study was to determine the associations between age, basic semen parameters, and sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF). Comparison of four age-dependent groups (men ≤29 years, 30-35 years, 36-40 years, and >40 years) revealed a significant fall in the basic semen characteristics and sperm genomic integrity with age. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis confirmed that men >29 years had lower semen quality. In the group of men >29 years, the prevalence of men with abnormal semen parameters was higher, and these men had over a threefold higher odds ratio (OR) for abnormal semen parameters. Next, ROC analysis revealed that a threshold of 18% SDF was optimal for discriminating between men with normal and abnormal standard semen parameters. The prevalence of men with >18% SDF was higher in the group of men >29 years than in men ≤29 years. Older men had an almost twofold higher risk for >18% SDF than younger men. Our results suggest that age >29 years may be a causative factor of detrimental changes in semen quality, which may raise the risk for disorders of male fertility potential.

中文翻译：

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男性衰老是人类常规精液参数和精子 DNA 完整性有害变化的一个致病因素。

男性衰老对生育潜力的影响存在争议且难以预测。我们研究的目的是确定年龄、基本精液参数和精子 DNA 碎片 (SDF) 之间的关联。四个年龄相关组（男性≤29 岁、30-35 岁、36-40 岁和>40 岁）的比较显示，基本精液特征和精子基因组完整性随着年龄的增长而显着下降。接受者操作特征 (ROC) 分析证实，> 29 岁的男性精液质量较低。在 > 29 岁的男性组中，精液参数异常的男性患病率更高，这些男性的精液参数异常的比值比 (OR) 高出三倍以上。下一个，ROC 分析显示，18% SDF 的阈值是区分标准精液参数正常和异常男性的最佳选择。SDF > 18% 的男性在 > 29 岁的男性组中的患病率高于≤ 29 岁的男性。与年轻男性相比，老年男性患 SDF 的风险几乎高出 18%。我们的研究结果表明，年龄 > 29 岁可能是精液质量有害变化的一个致病因素，这可能会增加男性生育能力障碍的风险。