Table 3.
Basic characteristics of the reviewed literature.
| Study | Type | Country | Year | Subjects | Severity | Main findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holtmann 2020 [17] | Prospective cohort study | Germany | 2020 | 18 patients/10 controls | Asymptomatic/Mild/Moderate | No virus detection in semen ↓ sperm concentration ↓ sperm motility |
| Li 2020 [33] | Observational | China | 2020 | 23 patients/22 controls | Asymptomatic/Mild/Moderate | No virus detection in semen Inflammatory histopathological findings and impaired spermatogenesis in testis/epididymis ↑ IL-6, TNF, MCP-1 and leukocytes in semen ↓ sperm concentration irrespective of disease severity/fever |
| Yang 2020 [34] | Observational | China | 2020 | 12 patients | Severe | No virus detection in testis Inflammatory histopathological findings and impaired spermatogenesis in testis/epididymis |
| Gacci 2021 [6] | Prospective and cross-sectional | Italy | 2021 | 43 patients | Moderate /Severe |
↓ sperm concentration ↑ frequency of oligo/azoospermia ↑ IL-8 |
| Pazir 2021 [18] | Prospective cohort study | Turkey | 2021 | 24 patients | Asymptomatic/Mild | ↓ sperm motility |
| Koc 2021 [19] | Prospective cohort study | Turkey | 2021 | 21 patients | Mild | ↓ sperm volume ↓ sperm motility ↓ sperm normal morphology |
| Erbay 2021 [20] | Multicenter cohort study | Turkey | 2021 | 69 patients | Mild/Moderate | ↓ sperm volume ↓ sperm concentration ↓ sperm motility ↓ sperm viability |
| Guo 2021 [7] | Prospective cohort study | China | 2021 | 41 patients/50 controls | Moderate /Severe |
↓ sperm concentration ↓ sperm motility Potentially reversible |
| Ruan 2021 [23] | Prospective cohort study | China | 2021 | 74 patients | Asymptomatic/Mild/Moderate/Severe | No virus detection in semen No major effects on sperm quality |
| Gul 2021 [26] | Prospective and cross-sectional | Turkey | 2021 | 29 patients | Mild/Moderate/Severe | No effects on sperm quality |
| Ma 2021 [27] | Prospective cohort study | China | 2021 | 12 patients | Mild/Moderate | No virus detection in semen No major effects on sperm quality |
| Temiz 2021 [29] | Prospective and cross-sectional | Turkey | 2021 | 10 patients/10 controls | ND | No virus detection in semen No major effects on sperm quality |
| Paoli 2021 [35] | Observational | Italy | 2021 | 4 patients/2 controls | Mild/Moderate | No virus detection in semen |
| Hajizadeh Maleki 2021 [36] | Prospective cohort study | Iran | 2021 | 84 patients/105 controls | Mild/Moderate/Severe | ↑ IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TGF-β, INF-α, INF-γ and oxidative stress in semen ↓ sperm volumen ↓ sperm concentration ↓ sperm motility ↓ sperm normal morphology |
| Morselli 2022 [37] | Prospective cohort study | Italy | 2022 | 43 patients | Mild/Moderate/Severe | ↑ frequency of oligo/azoospermia ↑ IL-1β in semen Semen IL-1β and TNF levels negatively correlated with sperm concentration |
| Aksak 2022 [16] | Prospective cohort study | Turkey | 2022 | 100 patients/100 controls | Mild | ↓ sperm concentration ↑ frequency of azoospermia |
| Wang 2022 [38] | Cross-sectional | China | 2022 | 3 patients/3 controls | ND | COVID-19 inhibits spermatogenesis by inducing testicular cell senescence |
| Donders 2022 [21] | Prospective cohort study | Belgium | 2022 | 118 patients | Mild/Moderate/Severe | No virus detection in semen ↑ frequency of oligozoospermia ↓ sperm motility ↓ sperm normal morphology Reversible and irrespective of disease severity |
| Tufveson 2022 [22] | Meta-analysis | Denmark | 2022 | 9 studies | Asymptomatic/Mild/Moderate/Severe | SARS‐CoV‐2 infection reversibly impairs spermatogenesis |
| Hu 2022 [24] | Prospective cohort study | China | 2022 | 36 patients/45 controls | Asymptomatic/Mild/Moderate/Severe | No effects on sperm quality |
| Shcherbitskaia 2022 [28] | Prospective cohort study | Russia | 2022 | 17 patients/22 controls | ND | No effects on sperm quality |
| Seckin 2022 [39] | Case Report | USA | 2022 | 1 clinical case | Moderate | Development of full asthenozoospermia that progressively reversed after recovery |
| Gharagozloo 2022 [40] | Case Report | USA | 2022 | 1 clinical case | Moderate | Development of azoospermia that progressively reversed after recovery |
| Paoli 2023 [25] | Prospective cohort study | Italy | 2023 | 80 patients/98 controls | Mild/Moderate/Severe | No effects on sperm quality |
| Che 2023 [8] | Meta-analysis | China | 2023 | 13 studies | Asymptomatic/Mild | ↓ sperm concentration ↓ sperm motility ↓ sperm normal morphology irrespective of fever and disease severity No hormonal dysregulation |
ND: No data.