Background and aims: It has been reported that Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection was more prevalent in infertile populations. HP infection could lead to decreased sperm parameters, and treating the HP infection could improve the quality of sperm. However, studies investigating the relationship between infertility and HP infection are still limited, and more evidence is required. Therefore, we performed the present study to investigate the impact of HP infection on sperm quality in males and on ovarian reserve in females.
Methods: A total of 16,522 patients who visited the Second Hospital of Zhejiang University from January 2016 to June 2019 due to abdominal discomfort and underwent a 13/14C-urea breath HP test were included in this retrospective cross-sectional study. Among them, 565 had performed sperm analysis or ovarian reserve tests in the past three months and were involved for further analyses. Sperm parameters were examined with a computer-assisted sperm analysis system, and serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and sex hormones were tested with an electrochemiluminescence method.
Results: Among 363 patients who underwent the sperm test, 136 (37.47%) had HP infection. Among 202 patients who underwent the AMH test, 55 (27.23%) had HP infection. There was no difference in sperm concentration and motility between the HP+ and HP- groups (P > 0.05). Further subgroup analyses stratified into 5-year age groups confirmed that there was no significant difference in sperm parameters (P > 0.05). When pooled with previously published data, no significant difference in sperm concentration or motility was found (P > 0.05). Meanwhile, this study found that the serum AMH level was similar between the HP+ and HP- groups (P > 0.05). Further subgroup analyses confirmed that there was no significant difference in serum AMH level (P > 0.05).
Conclusions: There were no differences in sperm parameters and AMH levels based on history of HP infection among Chinese patients.
Keywords: Anti-müllerian hormone (AMH); Helicobacter pylori (HP); Progressive motility; Sperm parameters.