Unraveling the Impact of Thyroid Disease on Semen Quality: Links to Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Capacity in Infertile Male

Background and Aims: Around half of male partners experiencing infertility don't seek professional help, and 25% treated couples skip male factor evaluations. Thyroid disease significantly contributes to male infertility, due to low testosterone, imbalanced sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), and sperm and semen abnormalities. This study aims to evaluate thyroid disease's effect on semen properties, oxidative stress index (OSI) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of semen in infertile men. Materials and Methods: This prospective cohort study involved 100 male infertility patients from the OPD of the infertility clinic at JNMC, Aligarh. Semen samples were collected after 3-5 days of abstinence and analyzed according to WHO 2021 guidelines. OSI and TAC in seminal plasma were measured by colorimetric method. Results: Pearson correlation revealed a negative correlation between TSH and sperm count (P value: 0.009); including TSH and sperm motility (P value: 0.001). This study revealed a significant positive correlation between TAC and sperm count (P value: 0.001) and motility (P value: <0.001). There was a significant negative correlation between OSI and sperm count (P value: 0.001) and motility (P value: <0.001). Additionally, TSH demonstrated a noteworthy negative correlation with TAC (P value: <0.001) and a positive correlation with OSI (P value: <0.001). Conclusion: Thyroid hormones optimize testicular function, reduce oxidative stress in semen, thereby improving parameters. ROS supports sperm function, but in excess leads to sperm membrane damage, reduced motility, altered sperm DNA, and consequently infertility. Measuring OSI in semen and implementing appropriate treatment strategies may benefit the future fertility prospects and this study also suggests reconsidering thyroid screening for male infertility.