HPV infection can affect sperm

Men infected with high-risk HPV have higher amounts of sperm death and other altered sperm parameters compared to non-infected men.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is transmitted sexually and can cause genital warts, but is best known because of its association with cervical cancer. Because of this risk, HPV's effects have been studied far more in women than men, and vaccines to protect against the most high-risk strains are more often targeted at women and girls. However, new research from Argentina shows that HPV can affect men in different ways.

'Infections caused by high-risk HPV genotypes appear to have more negative effects on male fertility and the immune system's ability to clear the infection' said lead author Dr Virginia Rivero, an immunologist at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.

The study, published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology,  examined semen samples from 205 men who attended a urology and andrology clinic between 2018 and 2021. None had been vaccinated against HPV.

Among the patients, 39 were HPV positive (19 percent), among whom 20 tested positive for high-risk HPV (HR-HPV), and seven were confirmed to have low-risk HPV (LR-HPV). Men not infected with HPV from the same study were used as a control group, and sperm samples were compared with those from the LR-HPV and HR-HPV groups.

In the study, HP-HPV sperm samples had more necrosis – a form of cell death –  than the other two groups. Moreover, the HP-HPV group produced more reactive oxygen species in their sperm. High levels of reactive oxygen species can cause damage and cell death, leading to lower sperm count, and are associated with male infertility.

HP-HPV, but not LR-HPV, patients also had decreased total counts of white blood cells in their semen. The two HPV groups did not show significant changes in routine sperm quality parameters such as ejaculation volume, sperm concentration, motility and morphology compared to the control group.

'Our study raises important questions about how HR-HPV affects sperm DNA quality and what implications it has for reproduction and offspring health,' said Dr Rivero. 'It's important to understand the biological mechanisms underlying these effects.'

The study authors recommend that men affected by infertility get tested for HPV and other STIs to assess if these could be contributing. The authors intend to carry out more research in this area:

'Given that sexually transmitted co-infections are quite common, we plan to explore whether bearing HPV infection alongside other STIs influence these outcomes,' said Dr Rivera.