Objective: To investigate the correlation of serum and seminal plasma homocysteine (Hcy) levels with semen parameters in men and its effect on recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) in their spouses.
Methods: The study included 103 males subjects undergoing preconception examination in the reproduction center from March 2022 to June 2023. According to whether their spouses had a history of RSA or not, we divided their subjects into an RSA (n = 43) and a non-RSA group (NRSA, n = 60), obtained their serum and seminal plasma Hcy levels and semen parameters, and analyzed their correlation.
Results: The serum Hcy level was significantly correlated with the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) (r = 0.316, P = 0.005), but not with the seminal plasma Hcy level (r = －0.041, P = 0.723) and other semen parameters of the subjects (P > 0.05). There was no significant correlation between seminal plasma Hcy and semen parameters (P > 0.05). The median serum Hcy was significantly higher in the RSA than in the NRSA group (18.39 ［13.02, 42.84］ vs 14.65 ［12.00, 18.20］ μmol/L), with statistically significant difference in the overall distribution of serum Hcy between the two groups (Ｚ=－2.20, P = 0.028), so was the median sperm DFI in the former than in the latter group (25.00% ［12.50%, 37.25%］ vs 13.00% ［11.00%, 18.50%］), with statistically significant difference in the overall sperm DFI distribution between the two groups (Ｚ=－2.74, P = 0.006).
Conclusion: The serum Hcy level was positively correlated with sperm DFI, and both serum Hcy and sperm DFI were significantly elevated in men with spousal RSA, which is expected to be used as a clinical screening indicator for males with spousal RSA.
Keywords: homocysteine; semen parameters; sperm DNA fragmentation index; recurrent spontaneous abortion.