Semen and sex-steroid parameters among inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis type according to rectal bleeding grade

Abstract

Introduction: Hypogonadism and inflammato-ry bowel disease (IBD) are often associated. This association may influence sexual and reproductive function in IBD, including sperm profile and sex steroid hormones. Patients and methods: This study included 59 IBD patients diag-nosed with ulcerative colitis type IBD. Anamnesis was carried out regarding the history of the disease, along with a history of rectal bleeding. Evaluation proceeded with sperm and hormone examination if the patient agreed. Results: Progressive motility sperm, immotile sperm, and normal sperm were found to be significantly different between the rectal bleeding groups. In grade 3 (more significant bleeding) progres-sive sperm (24.81 ± 5.85, p < 0.0001) and normal sperm (6.33 ± 12.56, p = 0.0003) rates tended to be lower, while immotile sperm tended to be higher (44.48 ± 11.21, p < 0.0001). Testosterone and free testosterone levels were also reported to be significantly different between groups, where grade 3 had lower levels 255.9 ± 30.08, p = 0.014 and 4.645 ± 0.5, p = 0.002 respectively. Conclusions: Our study shows that the degree of rectal bleeding influences sperm motility and morphology, as well as testos-terone and free testosterone levels. These results can concern managing IBD patients to fulfill reproductive health care.

Keywords

• Inflammatory bowel disease; Sperm analysis; Testosterone; Reproductive healthcare; Hypogonadism.