What is the relationship between sperm and repeated abortion?

Scientists at the Royal College of London studied the sperm quality of 50 men whose women had three or more consecutive abortions.

The study, published in the January issue of the Journal of Clinical Chemistry, found that, compared to men whose husbands did not treat abortions, men whose husbands had had an abortion had sperm lesions.

The research team hopes that these findings will open new avenues for finding treatments to reduce the risk of miscarriage.

The repeated abortion affects one in 50 couples in the UK and is defined as the consequent loss of three additional pregnancies before the 20th week of pregnancy.

Until recently, it was thought that repeated abortion was due to maternal health problems, such as an infection or immunological problems, but doctors now know that sperm health can also play a role.

"Doctors have always drawn attention to women when they look for the causes of repeated miscarriages," said Dr. Chana Jayasina, a professor at the Royal College of Medicine in the UK.

However, this research adds to a growing body of evidence that sperm health is important for a complete and safe pregnancy. "He said.

The badysis revealed that male sperm with female recurrent miscarriage victims were weak and had suffered DNA damage compared to the control group.

The research team points out that damage to DNA can be caused by so-called reactive oxygen species. There are molecules made up of cells in sperm to protect sperm from bacteria and infections.

"Although none of the men participating in the trial had a persistent infection such as chlamydia – which, we know, could affect the health of the sperm – there could be d & # 39; other bacteria from an earlier infection of the prostate, "said Dr. Jayasina. Sperm can permanently lead to high levels of reactive oxygen species.

"There is growing evidence that obesity can reduce sperm health – perhaps because high levels of body fat can lead to an increase in reactive oxygen species," he said. she declared. And cholesterol.

Men whose partners had a miscarriage were slightly older than the control group – an average age of 37 versus 30 and slightly overweight.