This work is licensed under a Table 3.
Characteristics of semen, testicular size, and reproductive hormone for 173 young Danish men stratified by tertiles of maternal pregnancy week 30 serum ΣPCB concentrations (pmol/ml).
| Median (p25–p75) | Adjusted percentage difference from low ΣPCB group a (95% CI) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | n | Low ΣPCB (n=58) | Medium ΣPCB (n=58) | High ΣPCB (n=57) | β-coeff (95% CI) b | Trend P value b | Medium ΣPCB | High ΣPCB | Adjusted ln β-coeff (95% CI) a b | Adjusted trend a b P value |
| Sperm concentration (106/ml) | 173 | 37 (13–64) | 37 (15–60) | 42 (23–91) | 0.22 (−1.50; 1.95) | 0.80 | −8 (−52; 36) | 22 (−24; 68) | 0.03 (−0.02; 0.07) | 0.25 |
| Total sperm count (106) | 129 | 123 (53–223) | 130 (42–215) | 92 (55–221) | −0.52 (−5.75; 4.70) | 0.84 | −12 (−65; 41) | 18 (−38; 73) | 0.02 (−0.03; 0.08) | 0.44 |
| Semen volume (ml) | 129 | 3.0 (2.2–4.2) | 3.1 (2.2–3.9) | 2.8 (1.8–4.0) | −0.02 (−0.08; 0.05) | 0.57 | 5 (−15; 26) | 0 (−22; 21) | −0.002 (−0.02; 0.02) | 0.86 |
| Percentage progressive spermatozoa | 173 | 66 (52–74) | 64 (52–73) | 65 (52–69) | −0.28 (−0.69; 0.12) | 0.16 | −1 (−10; 9) | −1 (−11; 9) | −0.003 (−0.01; 0.006) | 0.49 |
| Percentage motile spermatozoa | 173 | 74 (66–80) | 72 (66–76) | 73 (66–76) | −0.21 (−0.51; 0.09) | 0.17 | −2 (−8; 5) | −2 (−8; 4) | −0.002 (−0.008; 0.004) | 0.52 |
| Percentage morphologically normal spermatozoa | 161 | 8 (4–12) | 9 (4–14) | 9 (4–12) | 0.05 (−0.13; 0.23) | 0.58 | 4 (−43; 51) | −15 (−64; 34) | −0.01 (−0.06; 0.03) | 0.59 |
| Mean testicular volume (ml) | 173 | 15 (11–20) | 15 (13–20) | 15 (11–20) | 0.05 (−0.12; 0.22) | 0.57 | 2 (−11; 16) | −2 (−16; 12) | 0.003 (−0.01; 0.02) | 0.71 |
| Testosterone (nmol/l) | 173 | 23 (19–26) | 20 (17–23) | 21 (18–27) | 0.01 (−0.15; 0.18) | 0.88 | −11 (−21; −1) | −1 (−11; 10) | 0.0004 (−0.01; 0.01) | 0.94 |
| Free testosterone (nmol/l) | 173 | 0.55 (0.45–0.62) | 0.47 (0.41–0.57) | 0.53 (0.45–0.62) | −0.001 (−0.005; 0.002) | 0.41 | −11 (−22; −1) | −1 (−13; 10) | −0.0009 (−0.01; 0.01) | 0.86 |
| Estradiol (nmol/l) | 173 | 0.10 (0.09–0.13) | 0.09 (0.08–0.11) | 0.10 (0.08–0.11) | −0.0006 (−0.002; 0.0003) | 0.18 | −16 (−28; −5) | −4 (−16; 8) | −0.003 (−0.01; 0.009) | 0.64 |
| LH (IU/l) | 173 | 4.5 (3.3–6.0) | 4.1 (3.1–4.9) | 4.4 (3.6–5.7) | 0.01 (−0.04, 0.07) | 0.70 | −13 (−28, 1) | −2 (−17; 13) | −0.0009 (−0.02; 0.01) | 0.90 |
| FSH (IU/l) | 173 | 2.9 (2.0–4.1) | 3.1 (2.3–4.6) | 3.0 (2.4–4.3) | 0.01 (−0.05; 0.08) | 0.73 | 7 (−13; 27) | −1 (−20; 21) | 0.001 (−0.02; 0.02) | 0.90 |
| Inhibin B (pg/ml) | 173 | 219 (158–259) | 225 (172–283) | 221 (176–278) | 0.95 (−1.65; 3.56) | 0.47 | 5 (−11; 21) | 8 (−8; 24) | 0.008 (−0.007; 0.02) | 0.28 |
| SHBG (nmol/l) | 173 | 26 (21–33) | 27 (22–32) | 27 (21–34) | 0.19 (−0.12;0.49) | 0.23 | −4 (−17; 9) | −1 (−14; 13) | 0.001 (−0.01; 0.01) | 0.88 |
Note: p, percentile.
Adjustment: all multiple regression results were adjusted for the history of reproductive tract disease, the son's BMI; son's smoking status, maternal smoking during pregnancy, socioeconomic status, and total blood lipid concentration. Sperm concentration, total sperm count, progressive spermatozoa, motile spermatozoa, semen volume, and testicular volume were adjusted for abstinence time, sperm concentration was adjusted for spillage during semen sample collection, progressive spermatozoa and motile spermatozoa were adjusted for time from ejaculation to semen analysis, and the reproductive hormones were adjusted for time of day of blood sampling.
Trends on ΣPCB concentrations (continuous data) were tested by robust linear regression analysis (untransformed crude data) and multiple regression analysis (adjusted data).