American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on March 16, 2007
American Journal of Epidemiology 2007 165(12):1372-1379; doi:10.1093/aje/kwm032
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
Is Prenatal Exposure to Tobacco Smoking a Cause of Poor Semen Quality? A Follow-up Study
1 Department of Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
2 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
3 Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Correspondence to Cecilia Høst Ramlau-Hansen, Department of Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus Sygehus, Norrebrogade 44, Building 2C, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark (e-mail: craha{at}as.aaa.dk).
Received for publication September 20, 2006. Accepted for publication December 6, 2006.
A few studies indicate that exposure to maternal smoking during fetal life decreases semen quality in adult life, but the results are inconsistent and retrospectively collected smoking data were used in most studies. From a Danish pregnancy cohort established in 1984–1987, 347 of 5,109 sons were selected according to their exposure to tobacco smoke in fetal life. From February 2005 to January 2006, a semen sample from the 347 men was analyzed for conventional semen characteristics according to standardized criteria by using a mobile laboratory. The authors found an inverse association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and total sperm count (p = 0.002). Men exposed to more than 19 cigarettes daily during pregnancy had approximately 19% lower semen volume (p = 0.04), 38% lower total sperm count (p = 0.11), and 17% lower sperm concentration (p = 0.47) compared with unexposed men. The odds ratio for oligospermia was 2.16 (95% confidence interval: 0.68, 6.87) among exposed men compared with the unexposed. No associations were found for sperm motility or morphology. These results indicate that prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke may have an adverse effect on semen quality and, if these associations are causal, they could explain some of the reported differences between populations and secular changes in semen quality.
oligospermia; prenatal exposure delayed effects; semen; smoking; spermatozoa; sperm count; sperm motility
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; HH42, Healthy Habits for Two
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  M. Joffe What has happened to human fertility? Hum. Reprod., November 19, 2009; (2009) dep390v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. F. Kerkhof, R. W. J. Leunissen, R. H. Willemsen, F. H. de Jong, T. Stijnen, and A. C. S. Hokken-Koelega Influence of Preterm Birth and Birth Size on Gonadal Function in Young Men J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., November 1, 2009; 94(11): 4243 - 4250. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T.M. Stewart, D.Y. Liu, C. Garrett, E.H. Brown, and H.W.G. Baker Recruitment bias in studies of semen and other factors affecting pregnancy rates in fertile men Hum. Reprod., October 1, 2009; 24(10): 2401 - 2408. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C.H. Ramlau-Hansen, A.M. Thulstrup, J.P. Bonde, J. Olsen, and B.H. Bech Semen quality according to prenatal coffee and present caffeine exposure: two decades of follow-up of a pregnancy cohort Hum. Reprod., December 1, 2008; 23(12): 2799 - 2805. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. H. Ramlau-Hansen, A. M. Thulstrup, J. Olsen, and J. P. Bonde Parental Subfecundity and Risk of Decreased Semen Quality in the Male Offspring: A Follow-up Study Am. J. Epidemiol., June 15, 2008; 167(12): 1458 - 1464. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. P. E. Bonde and J. Olsen Interpreting trends in fecundity over time BMJ, February 16, 2008; 336(7640): 339 - 340. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. A. Fowler, S. Cassie, S. M. Rhind, M. J. Brewer, J. M. Collinson, R. G. Lea, P. J. Baker, S. Bhattacharya, and P. J. O'Shaughnessy Maternal Smoking during Pregnancy Specifically Reduces Human Fetal Desert Hedgehog Gene Expression during Testis Development J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., February 1, 2008; 93(2): 619 - 626. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C.H. Ramlau-Hansen, E.A. Nohr, A.M. Thulstrup, J.P. Bonde, L. Storgaard, and J. Olsen Is maternal obesity related to semen quality in the male offspring? A pilot study Hum. Reprod., October 1, 2007; 22(10): 2758 - 2762. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|