Covid-19 viral DNA was detected in the sperm of most patients who had contracted the virus, several months after their recovery.
- A study reveals that SARS-CoV-2, “more aggressive than other viruses towards the male genital tract”, can remain in the semen of patients for 110 days after infection, which reduces the quality of spermatozoa.
- Researchers suggest that people planning to have children should observe a “quarantine” period of at least six months after recovering from the coronavirus.
- They also discovered that sperm produced “nuclear DNA-based extracellular traps” to neutralize pathogens such as bacteria or viruses, forming “the first line of the immune system.”
“More than four years into the pandemic, we know that the COVID-19 virus is capable of invading and destroying multiple types of human cells and tissues, including the reproductive system, where the testicles serve as a ‘gateway’.” For the first time, a team of researchers has demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2, “more aggressive than other viruses towards the male genital tract”can remain in patients’ semen for up to four months after infection, reducing sperm quality.
The authors of the study, published in the journal Andrologysuggest that people planning to have children should observe a period of “quarantine” at least six months after recovering from coronavirus.
Covid-19 virus detected in semen of recovering patients
To reach these conclusions, scientists from the University of São Paulo in Brazil examined sperm samples taken from 13 patients aged 21 to 50 who had been infected with Covid-19 (mild to moderate form) and were recovering at the time of analysis. They used PCR tests “in real time” and transmission electron microscopy tools for “detect viral RNA in semen and spermatozoa”we can read in a communicatedThe analysis was carried out up to 90 days after their hospital discharge and 110 days after diagnosis.
Although PCR test results were negative for SARS-CoV-2 in semen in all participants, the virus was detected in the semen of 9 of 13 patients (69.2%), mainly those who had had moderate to severe Covid, and this during the 90 days following their hospitalization. But “That doesn’t mean he wasn’t around for longer“, the researchers specify.
Note that two other patients presented “a gamete alteration similar to that observed in patients diagnosed with Covid-19”. The authors therefore concluded that in total, 11 of the patients “had the virus in their sperm” at the time of analysis.
The role of sperm in the immune system
The team of scientists also discovered that sperm produced “nuclear DNA-based extracellular traps” to neutralize pathogens such as bacteria or viruses, “sacrificing oneself” by the way. “The genetic material in the nucleus decondensed, the sperm cell membranes ruptured and the DNA was expelled into the extracellular medium, forming networks similar to those in the systemic inflammatory response to coronavirus.”they explain.
These extracellular traps thus form “the first line of the immune system”according to the authors. “The discovery that sperm are part of the innate immune system and help defend the body against attacks is unique in the literature. This study can be considered a scientific paradigm shift.”
Until now, spermatozoa were known to have four functions: to link the genetic content of male gametes to female gametes, to fertilize female gametes, to promote the development of embryos until the twelfth week of pregnancy and to co-determine the development of certain chronic diseases in adulthood, such as infertility, diabetes, hypertension, certain types of cancer and cardiovascular disorders, among others.