Despite the association between tobacco use and the harmful effects on general health as well as male fertility parameters, smoking remains globally prevalent. The main content of tobacco smoke is nicotine and its metabolite cotinine. These compounds can pass the blood-testis barrier, which subsequently causes harm of diverse degree to the germ cells. Although controversial, smoking has been shown to cause not only a decrease in sperm motility, sperm concentration, and an increase in abnormal sperm morphology, but also genetic and epigenetic aberrations in spermatozoa. Both animal and human studies have highlighted the occurrence of sperm DNA-strand breaks (fragmentation), genome instability, genetic mutations, and the presence of aneuploids in the germline of animals and men exposed to tobacco smoke. The question to be asked at this point is, if smoking has the potential to cause all these genetic aberrations, what is the extent of damage? Hence, this review aimed to provide evidence that smoking has a mutagenic effect on sperm and how this subsequently affects male fertility. Additionally, the role of tobacco smoke as an aneugen will be explored. We furthermore aim to incorporate the epidemiological aspects of the aforementioned and provide a holistic approach to the topic.

中文翻译：

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烟草烟雾对男性生育能力的致突变作用。

尽管烟草使用与对一般健康的有害影响以及男性生育参数之间存在关联，但吸烟在全球范围内仍然普遍存在。烟草烟雾中的主要成分是尼古丁及其代谢产物可替宁。这些化合物可以通过血睾屏障，从而对生殖细胞造成不同程度的伤害。尽管存在争议，但事实证明，吸烟不仅会导致精子活力下降、精子浓度下降和异常精子形态增加，还会导致精子的遗传和表观遗传畸变。动物和人类研究都强调了精子 DNA 链断裂（片段化）、基因组不稳定、基因突变以及暴露于烟草烟雾的动物和男性种系中非整倍体的存在。此时要问的问题是，如果吸烟有可能导致所有这些遗传畸变，那么损害的程度有多大？因此，本综述旨在提供证据证明吸烟对精子有致突变作用，以及这随后如何影响男性生育能力。此外，还将探讨烟草烟雾作为 aneugen 的作用。此外，我们的目标是纳入上述流行病学方面，并为该主题提供整体方法。