Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies assessing an association between alcohol intake and male reproductive function.
| Study | Year | Country | Age | Participation | Sample size |
Research index | Main outcome | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | Drinking Levels Defined |
||||||||||
| No-alcoholics | Moderate alcoholics | Heavy alcoholics | Alcoholics | ||||||||
| Anifandis | 2014 | Greece | 37.43 ± 0.3 | Men who were seeking semen analysis for fertility purposes in IVF Unit | 207 | 124 | 58 | 25 | 83 | V, C, M, DF | Heavy alcohol consumption may impair sperm volume, concentration, and sperm DNA fragmentation |
| Chia | 1998 | Singapore | 33.2 ± 5.3 | Fertile men | 243 | 146 | 97 | V, C, M, NM, | Social alcoholic consumption did not appear to affect sperm quality | ||
| Condorelli | 2014 | Italy | 34.0 ± 6.0 31.0 ± 8.0 |
Fertile and infertile men | 76 | 0 | 40 | 36 | 76 | V, C, M, NM, T, E, FSH, LH | ‘Daily drinkers’ have semen quality, testicular pathology, and hormonal characteristics significantly worse |
| Eskenazi | 2003 | USA | 44.5 | Non-smoking men without known fertility problems | 97 | 34 | 63 | V, C, M, | Semen volume and sperm motility decreased continuously | ||
| Goverde | 1995 | Netherlands | Men with poor semen quality | 47 | 20 | 27 | V, C, M, NM, | Alcohol consumption may further decrease an already low percentage of sperm with normal morphology | |||
| Hansen | 2012 | Denmark | Young Danish men | 345 | 54 | 84 | 109 | 291 | V, C, M, NM, DF, T, E, F, L, I, S | Alcohol intake and a hormonal shift towards a higher estradiol/testosterone ratio | |
| Hart | 2015 | Australia | 20 ± 0.5 | Fertile men | 887 | 120 | 463 | 304 | 767 | C, T, E, F, L, I, | Alcohol intake was not associated with any significant semen variables or circulating reproductive hormones |
| Jensen (a) | 2014 | Denmark | 18–28 | Young Danish men attending military service from 2008 to 2012 | 1206 | 176 | 680 | 92 | 1030 | V, C, M, NM, T, E, F, L, I, S | Alcohol consumption was also linked to changes in testosterone and SHBG levels. |
| Jensen (b1) | 2014 | Europe | 18–28 | Fertile young men | 6472 | 1133 | 2872 | 5339 | V, C, M, NM, T, F, LH, I, S | Alcohol consumption is not related to semen quality | |
| Jensen (b2) | 2014 | Europe and USA | 18–45 | Fertile men | 1872 | 560 | 429 | 1312 | V, C, M, NM, T, F, LH, I, S | Alcohol consumption is not related to semen quality | |
| Joo | 2012 | Korea | 39.5 ± 2.6 35.4 ± 1.2 |
Fertile men and nonsmokers | 13 | 8 | 5 | 13 | V,C,M, NM, | Alcohol consumption was associated with increased numbers of morphologically abnormal sperm. | |
| Kumar | 2014 | India | 31.91 ± 0.37 | Oligozoospermia | 63 | 54 | 9 | C, M, NM, | Alcohol use might be attributed to the risk of declining semen quality | ||
| Lopez Teijon | 2007 | Spain | 32.6 ± 6.0 | Volunteers from the province of Barcelona | 967 | 440 | 527 | C, M, NM | The consumption of alcohol did not have a significant effect on semen quality | ||
| Martini | 2004 | Argentina | Semen samples (one per patient) with toxic habits | 3430 | 3194 | 236 | V, C, M, NM | Alcohol consumption did not alter the seminal parameters | |||
| Muthusami | 2005 | India | 36.6 ± 5.7 35.0 ± 6.1 |
Nonsmoking alcoholics - normal healthy persons | 96 | 30 | 66 | V, C, M, NM, AM, T, E, F, Lh, I, S, | Alcohol consumption has a detrimental effect on male reproductive hormones and semen quality | ||
| Kucheria | 1985 | India | 25–42 | Alcohol Dependence Syndrome – control case | 30 | 10 | 20 | V, C, M, AM, T, F, L, | Alcohol consumption for a considerable period affects spermatogenesis, spermiogenesis and causes oligozoospermia | ||
| Brzek | 1987 | Czechoslovakia | 35,7–33.1 | Alcoholics and control group | 235 | 135 | 100 | V, C, M | Patients with alcohol abuse had defective stereograms | ||
| Komiya | 2014 | Japan | 40,7 ± 4,1 | Male Japanese patients with infertility | 54 | 27 | 27 | DF, | Chronic alcohol use increased the SDF | ||
| Keskin | 2016 | Turkey | 33.0 ± 5.43 | Infertile men who use alcohol | 356 | 256 | 81 | 19 | 100 | V, C, M, NM, AM | There was no significant difference in any of the parameters |
| Wdowiak | 2016 | Poland | 35.0 ± 4.82 | Couples who had been diagnosed with infertility | 499 | 345 | 154 | DF, | The percentage of sperm cells with nuclear DNA strand breaks was significantly higher in men with risky alcohol consumption | ||
| Ricci | 2018 | Italy | 39.3 ± 5.2 | Couples who had been diagnosed with infertility | 323 | 31 | 195 | 97 | 292 | V, C, M | Moderate alcohol intake appears positively associated with semen quality in male partners of infertile couples undergoing ARTs |
| Aboulmaouahib | 2018 | Morocco | 39.23 ± 8.87 37.95 ± 7.83 |
Infertile couples | 59 | 36 | 23 | V, C, M, NM, DF, AO | Alcohol intake had detrimental effects on DNA integrity with the potential adverse effects of OS on fertility. | ||
| Schmid | 2007 | USA | 41.8 ± 14.9 47.5 ± 14.5 |
Non-smokers | 80 | 30 | 50 | DF | Alcohol use affects sperm DNA fragmentation | ||
| Varshini | 2012 | India | 21–40 | Men who visited the University infertility clinic between 2006 and 2010 | 504 | 445 | 59 | DF | Alcoholics had a significantly higher median distribution of TUNEL-positive spermatozoa | ||
| Schmid | 2012 | USA | 46.4 | Healthy male volunteers | 79 | 31 | 48 | DF | Men with higher dietary and supplement intake of certain micronutrients may produce sperm with less DNA damage | ||
| Marshburn | 1989 | USA | Men couples are seen at the University of North Carolina infertility clinic between 1978 and 1982. | 446 | 338 | 108 | V, C, M, AM, | Ethanol could produce addictive effects on semen parameters. | |||
| Wogatzky | 2012 | Austria | 40.4 ± 5.9 | Men with undergoing ART | 1573 | 282 | 1127 | 164 | 1291 | V, C, M | Using alcohol does not affect sperm |
| Gautam | 2015 | India | 29.5 ± 5.4 28.5 ± 4.3 |
Fathers of children with retinoblastoma and controls | 56 | 31 | 25 | DF | ROS and DFI levels in alcohol users were higher as compared to alcohol non-users. | ||
| Maneesh | 2006 | India | 29.6 ± 4.2 | Male alcohol abusers- healthy male volunteers | 101 | 55 | 46 | T, F, L, AO | Ethanol caused low plasma testosterone in men accompanied by low LH and FSH | ||
| Shiels | 2009 | USA | 41.5 ± 0.7 | Men C20 years old who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey | 1275 | 466 | 809 | T, E, S, | Alcohol consumption activity may be associated with concentrations of sex steroid hormones among adult men. | ||
| Frias | 2002 | Spain | 20–27 | Men with acute alcohol intoxication | 23 | 11 | 12 | T, F, L, | Effect of alcohol on pituitary-gonadal axis hormones in humans | ||
| Handa | 1997 | Japan | 50–54 | Men who received a preretirement health examination at the Self-Defence Forces Fukuoka Hospital | 303 | 59 | 224 | T, F, | Drinking alcohol can affect estradiol | ||
| Kulkarni | 2009 | India | 37.65 ± 6.6 38.30 ± 6.3 |
Alcohol patients and controls | 360 | 200 | 160 | 160 | T, F, L, AO | Alcoholic patients displayed significantly low levels of serum testosterone, LH, FSH. | |
| Oldereid | 1992 | Norway | Men attending our laboratory | 239 | 56 | 183 | C, M, AM, | Alcohol did not appear to have any deleterious effects on sperm quality | |||
| Close | 1990 | USA | 32.9 | Infertile men | 136 | 82 | 46 | 8 | 54 | C, M | Alcohol showed no decrease in sperm count, percentage of motility of oval sperm |
| Von Der | 2002 | Finland | 20–50 | Male residents of Helsinki | 84 | 44 | 40 | T, E, | Alcohol misuse can affect testosterone levels. | ||
| Sierksma | 2004 | Finland | 45–64 | Middle-aged men, apparently healthy nonsmoking, and moderate alcohol drinkers, | 10 | 5 | 5 | Alcohol consumption can increase testosterone levels | |||
| Frias | 2000 | Spain | 13–17 | Young adolescents using alcohol | 21 | 10 | 11 | T, E, FSH, LH, | There are many serious effects of alcohol abuse on reproductive function | ||
| Iturriaga | 1995 | Chile | 37.3 ± 7.6 | Male chronic alcoholics | 45 | 15 | 30 | T, FSH, LH, SHBG, | Alcohol consumption leads to lower FSH and higher SHBG levels | ||
| Dai | 1981 | USA | 51 ± 5.4 | Men are considered to be free of clinical heart disease | 239 | 33 | 66 | 140 | 206 | T | Alcohol intake was not found to be related to testosterone concentrations. |
V: Semen volume (mL), C: Concentration (10″6 spermatozoa/mL), M: Progressive motility (%), NM: Normal morphology, AM: Abnormal morphology and sperm defects, AO: Antioxidant, DF: Sperm DNA fragmentation (%), T: Testosterone, E: Estradiol, F: FSH, L: LH, I: Inhibin B, S: SHBG2.