Vitamin D not linked to semen quality
Vitamin D deficiency is taking blame for a growing list of health problems. Weak sperm, however, may not be one of them, hints new research.
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Vitamin D deficiency is taking blame for a growing list of health problems. Weak sperm, however, may not be one of them, hints new research.
There has been increasing interest in the importance of optimal vitamin D concentrations in recent years, and low vitamin D has been associated with a higher risk of several negative health outcomes. Too little vitamin D has been linked to osteoporosis, autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and some common cancers. But no one has yet looked for a link between vitamin D and the quality of a man's semen. Blood levels of vitamin D, which is manufactured in the skin in response to sunlight and can be consumed in some foods, can vary widely around the world.
Prior studies have suggested vitamin-D deficiency lowered the fertility of male rodents. Further, human testes and sperm cells are known to carry vitamin D receptors, along with enzymes that metabolise the vitamin, suggesting that vitamin D might play a role in the production and maturation of sperm.
In the new study, the researchers compared blood levels of vitamin D and semen quality from more than 300 Danish men between the ages of 18 and 21 years. It was found that about half of the men had healthy blood levels of vitamin D above 80 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L). Ninety-two men (30 percent) had levels below 50 nmol/L, which is considered suboptimal, and of those, just 19 men had levels of 25 nmol/L or less, which is considered deficient.
When the researchers matched these numbers up with measures of semen quality and quantity, including the sperm cells' ability to swim, they were surprised to find that the sperm-filled fluid of men with low blood levels of vitamin D was of no less quality than the semen from men with normal or high vitamin D levels. In fact, high levels of vitamin D appeared to slightly lower sperm counts, although the effect disappeared after the researchers took into account other factors that may affect semen such as season and smoking status.
Still, a relationship between vitamin D and semen quality can't yet be ruled out as the researchers don't know how vitamin D supplementation might affect semen quality.
There has been increasing interest in the importance of optimal vitamin D concentrations in recent years, and low vitamin D has been associated with a higher risk of several negative health outcomes. Too little vitamin D has been linked to osteoporosis, autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and some common cancers. But no one has yet looked for a link between vitamin D and the quality of a man's semen. Blood levels of vitamin D, which is manufactured in the skin in response to sunlight and can be consumed in some foods, can vary widely around the world.
Prior studies have suggested vitamin-D deficiency lowered the fertility of male rodents. Further, human testes and sperm cells are known to carry vitamin D receptors, along with enzymes that metabolise the vitamin, suggesting that vitamin D might play a role in the production and maturation of sperm.
In the new study, the researchers compared blood levels of vitamin D and semen quality from more than 300 Danish men between the ages of 18 and 21 years. It was found that about half of the men had healthy blood levels of vitamin D above 80 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L). Ninety-two men (30 percent) had levels below 50 nmol/L, which is considered suboptimal, and of those, just 19 men had levels of 25 nmol/L or less, which is considered deficient.
When the researchers matched these numbers up with measures of semen quality and quantity, including the sperm cells' ability to swim, they were surprised to find that the sperm-filled fluid of men with low blood levels of vitamin D was of no less quality than the semen from men with normal or high vitamin D levels. In fact, high levels of vitamin D appeared to slightly lower sperm counts, although the effect disappeared after the researchers took into account other factors that may affect semen such as season and smoking status.
Still, a relationship between vitamin D and semen quality can't yet be ruled out as the researchers don't know how vitamin D supplementation might affect semen quality.
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