PD211 - TAKING SUPPLEMENTATION DID NOT AFFECT SERUM ZINC LEVELS AND SEMEN QUALITY IN MALE INFERTILITY PATIENTS.

PD211

TAKING SUPPLEMENTATION DID NOT AFFECT SERUM ZINC LEVELS AND SEMEN QUALITY IN MALE INFERTILITY PATIENTS.

H. Hibi^1,2,*, M. Tokoro^2,3, S. Takizawa^2,3, Y. Asada^2,3

¹Urology, Kyoritsu General Hospital, ²Asada Ladies Clinic, ³Asada Institute for Reproductive Medicine, Nagoya, Japan

Rationale: Many male infertility patients take empiric medications and/or zinc containing supplements. To evaluate their impact, zinc and copper concentrations were assessed and relationship to semen findings and pregnancy were examined.

Methods: Between 2020 to 2024, 4601 patients visited to our male infertility clinic. Of these, excluding those who were taking both medication and supplements, 4389 participants were included in this study. The number of subjects who showed normozoospermia was 2819, oligoasthenozoospermia 1411, cryptozoospermia 75, non-obstructive azoospermia 60, obstructive azoospermia 17, and ejaculatory dysfunction 7, respectively. A blood sample was taken for zinc concentration at the time of the patient examination, along with hormone and chromosome tests. Pregnancy was attempted following assisted reproductive technology (ART).

Results: 2732 (62.2%) patients took no medication, whereas 448 participants (10.2%) were not taking medication but smoking. 647 (14.7%) participants took zinc containing supplements and 562 (12.8%) patients were taking some kind of medication. Median serum zinc concentration (Zc) and copper concentration (Cc) were 84.0 (75, 94) and 91.0 (83, 100)μg/dL. Although no significant difference was found between Zc and sperm count or motility, there was a positive correlation between Zc and testosterone. Although clinical pregnancy achieved in 2471(56.3%) participants using assisted reproductive technology (ART), patients with high Zc and Cc tended to be associated with a lower pregnancy rate.

Conclusion: Whilst zinc plays an important role in hormone production and spermatogenesis, this large cross-sectional retrospective study did not find a positive correlation between Zc and sperm findings, despite increased testosterone levels. Smoking, oral medication, or supplementation did not impact Zc.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared