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Review
. 2024 May 17:15:1373426.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1373426. eCollection 2024.

Effects of long and short ejaculatory abstinence on sperm parameters: a meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials

Arturo Lo Giudice  1 , Maria Giovanna Asmundo  1 , Sebastiano Cimino  1 , Andrea Cocci  2 , Marco Falcone  3 , Marco Capece  4 , Ali Saber Abdelhameed  5 , Paolo Capogrosso  6 , Afonso Morgado  7 , Georgios Tsampoukas  8 , Celeste Manfredi  4 , Giorgio Ivan Russo  9
Affiliations
Review

Effects of long and short ejaculatory abstinence on sperm parameters: a meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials

Arturo Lo Giudice et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effects of ejaculatory abstinence on sperm parameters.

Methods: This analysis was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023472124). We performed a search on PubMed using the following text terms: (("sperm parameters" OR "sperm analysis" [Mesh]) AND ("sperm DNA fragmentation" OR "DNA fragmentation" [Mesh]) AND ("sexual abstinence" [Mesh] OR "abstinence")) and an advanced search in Scopus using the terms ("sperm parameters" OR "sperm parameters" OR "DNA fragmentation") AND ("abstinence"). The sperm parameters that were investigated were sperm volume, total sperm motility, progressive sperm motility, sperm concentration, sperm morphology, and sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF). A two-day cut-off as a "short" or "long" abstinence period has been defined.

Results: Thirteen studies published between 2013 and 2022 were included in this meta-analysis. A total of 2,315 patients, ranging from 6 to 836 from each cohort, were enrolled in the study. We showed that longer abstinence time was associated with greater sperm concentration (mean difference [MD]: 8.19; p <0.01), sperm volume (MD: 0.96; p <0.01), and higher SDF (MD: 3.46; p <0.01), but lower progressive sperm motility (MD: -1.83; p <0.01). Otherwise, no statistically significant difference was observed in patients with longer vs. shorter abstinence times regarding total sperm motility (MD: -1.83; p = 0.06). Meta-regression analysis showed that days of abstinence were positively and linearly related to sperm concentration (slope: 3.74; p <0.01) and SDF (slope: 0.65; p = 0.044).

Conclusions: According to our data, short ejaculatory abstinence is associated with better sperm quality. Indeed, a higher percentage of progressive sperm motility and lower levels of SDF have been reported in a short abstinence cohort. In contrast, the long abstinence group reported a higher sperm concentration.

Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42023472124.

Keywords: DNA fragmentation; ejaculatory abstinence; semen parameters; sexual abstinence; sperm parameters.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The forest plot of the sperm volume (A) and sperm concentration (B) changes according to long or short abstinence.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The forest plot shows of the sperm DNA fragmentation changes according to long or short abstinence.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The forest plot shows of the sperm progressive motility (A) and total sperm motility (B) changes according to long or short abstinence.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Meta regression analysis between days of abstinence and (A) sperm volume, (B) sperm concentration, (C) progressive motility, (D) SDF.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The impact of identified mechanisms influencing sperm quality in short abstinence time.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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