The research that included 20 non-smoking men and 20 men who smoked found that that sperm of smokers has a greater extent of DNA damage than that of non-smokers. Researchers also assessed 422 proteins in participants’ sperm. One protein was absent, 27 proteins were underrepresented and 6 proteins were over-represented in smokers.
Analyses of these proteins suggest that cigarette smoking may promote an inflammatory response in the male reproductive tract.
“More and more studies are demonstrating a harmful effect of smoking on male fertility. Our results point in the direction of important semen alterations. Semen of smokers presents an inflammatory nature associated with decreased capacity of sperm to achieve fertilisation and generate a healthy pregnancy,” said senior author Dr Ricardo Pimenta Bertolla.