Although bacterial infections have been recognized as a possible cause of male infertility, the effect of bacterial infections on sperm quality and sperm DNA fragmentation remains controversial. The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence rate of bacterial infection in subfertile men and its effect on semen quality. Seminal fluid was collected from 172 male members of infertile couples attending the andrology infertility center and a group of 35 fertile subjects as a control. Sperm parameters and DNA fragmentation were evaluated based on the type of bacteria in all ejaculates. From the 172 patients investigated for infertility, 60 (34.88%) patients had a positive culture for pathogenic bacteria of different species. Leukocytospermia was significantly higher in infected samples in comparison with non-infected samples (p < 0.05). Sperm concentration and motility and morphology were significantly lower in infected than non-infected samples. Moreover, sperm DNA fragmentation was significantly higher in infected than non-infected samples. Besides, our results showed that sperm DNA fragmentation was correlated significantly with leukocytospermia (R: 0.22, p < 0.01). The present study suggested that bacterial infection significantly correlated with leukocytospermia could impair male fertility potential through decreasing sperm motility, morphology, and DNA integrity.

中文翻译：

---

细菌感染对白细胞精子症不育男性精子质量和 DNA 断裂的影响

尽管细菌感染已被认为是男性不育的可能原因，但细菌感染对精子质量和精子 DNA 断裂的影响仍存在争议。目前的研究旨在调查不育男性细菌感染的流行率及其对精液质量的影响。从参加男科不孕不育中心的不孕夫妇的 172 名男性成员和一组 35 名可生育受试者作为对照收集精液。根据所有射精中的细菌类型评估精子参数和 DNA 片段化。在接受调查的 172 名不孕症患者中，60 名 (34.88%) 患者的不同物种致病菌培养呈阳性。与未感染的样本相比，感染样本中的白细胞精子症显着更高（p < 0.05）。感染样本中的精子浓度、运动性和形态显着低于未感染样本。此外，感染样本中的精子 DNA 碎片明显高于未感染样本。此外，我们的结果表明精子 DNA 断裂与白细胞精子症显着相关（R：0.22，p < 0.01）。本研究表明，与白细胞精子症显着相关的细菌感染可能通过降低精子活力、形态和 DNA 完整性来损害男性生育潜力。0.22，p < 0.01）。本研究表明，与白细胞精子症显着相关的细菌感染可能通过降低精子活力、形态和 DNA 完整性来损害男性生育潜力。0.22，p < 0.01）。本研究表明，与白细胞精子症显着相关的细菌感染可能通过降低精子活力、形态和 DNA 完整性来损害男性生育潜力。