Prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in the semen of patients submitted to assisted reproductive technology treatment in a private clinic in Brazil

Abstract

Objective: The aim of our study was to identify the prevalence of HPV in the semen of men submitted to ART treatment and look into the possible impacts of the virus on sperm parameters.

Methods: Thirty-five patients treated for infertility from March to August 2016 were invited to join the study. Samples with a minimum concentration of 40x106 spermatozoa per milliliter were included in the study. After the evaluation of semen parameters, DNA extraction and PCR were performed to verify the presence of HPV by electrophoresis in 8% polyacrylamide gel.

Results: Patient age ranged from 27 to 68 years (mean 39.2 years). Semen analysis showed a mean volume of 2.5mL; mean concentration of 58.9x10⁶; and mean motility of 51.8%. HPV DNA was identified in seven semen samples from 25 patients (28%). Ten samples with DNA concentrations below 10ng/µL were excluded from the study due to poor amplification quality. There was no statistical difference in sperm concentration when HPV-negative and HPV-positive samples were compared (65.9x10⁶ vs. 62.3x10⁶; p=0.70). However, sperm motility was significantly higher in HPV-positive semen (65% vs. 46.6%; p=0.02).

Conclusions: HPV prevalence was 28% in the semen of patients submitted to ART treatment. HPV-positive samples had statistically increased motility compared to negative samples (65% vs. 46.6%; p=0.02).

Keywords: HPV; infertility; motility; semen.

Figure 1

Polyacrylamide gel (8%) stained with silver nitrate. HPV-L1 gene amplification result (~ 150 bp). M = 100 bp molecular weight marker, samples from 1 to 25 = tested semen samples. Arrows marks HPV-positive samples