Strong adherence to a healthy dietary pattern is associated with better semen quality, especially in men with poor semen quality

Elsje C. Oostingh, Régine P.M. Steegers-Theunissen, Jeanne H.M. de Vries, Joop S.E. Laven, Maria P.H. Koster*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: To study associations between periconceptional dietary patterns and semen quality parameters. Design: Prospective periconception cohort study. Setting: Tertiary hospital. Patient(s): One hundred and twenty-nine male partners of pregnant women who participated in the Rotterdam Periconception Cohort (Predict study). Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Semen quality parameters-ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, progressive motility, immotile sperm, and total motile sperm count (TMSC). Result(s): Men included in our study were on average 35 (±6 standard deviation) years old and had a body mass index of 26.4 ± 4 kg/m2. Two dietary patterns were identified using principle component analysis, which were labeled as "healthy" and "unhealthy." An increase of one factor score (stated as β) represented an increase of 1 standard deviation. Sperm concentration (β = 0.278; 95% CI, 0.112-0.444), total sperm count (β = 1.369; 95% CI, 0.244-2.495), progressive motility (β = 4.305; 95% CI, 0.675-7.936), and TMSC (β = 0.319; 95% CI, 0.113-0.526) were all positively associated with a strong adherence to the healthy dietary pattern. Subgroup analysis showed that these associations were mainly present in men with a TMSC
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)916-923.e2
JournalFertility and Sterility
Volume107
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Keywords

  • Dietary pattern
  • Male subfertility
  • Semen analysis

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