Table 3.
Estimated differences in semen quality parameters associated with a 1-unit increase in ln-transformed serum PFC concentrations: the LIFE Study.
| Semen parameter | Et-PFOSA-AcOH β (95% CI) | Me-PFOSA-AcOH β (95% CI ) | PFDeAβ (95% CI) | PFNAβ (95% CI) | PFOAβ (95% CI) | PFOSβ (95% CI) | PFOSAβ (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General characteristicsa | |||||||
| Semen volume (mL) | –0.452 (–1.837, 0.933) | –0.550 (–1.118, 0.018) | 0.630 (–0.195, 1.455) | 0.093 (–0.388, 0.574) | –0.092 (–0.457, 0.273) | 0.058 (–0.197, 0.312) | –1.433 (–4.626, 1.760) |
| Sperm viability (%)a | 3.154 (–5.212, 11.520) | –0.342 (–3.932, 3.248) | 1.612 (–3.451, 6.675) | 1.564 (–1.378, 4.506) | –0.777 (–3.016, 1.463) | –0.056 (–1.621, 1.509) | –5.922 (–25.61, 13.767) |
| Total sperm count (concentration × 106/mL) | 18.873 (–143.522, 181.267) | –9.951 (–77.147, 57.246) | 81.003 (–16.059, 178.065) | 45.125 (–11.347, 101.598) | 0.679 (–42.300, 43.658) | 9.741 (–20.243, 39.724) | 130.776 (–246.228, 507.780) |
| Sperm concentration (× 106/mL) | 14.848 (–34.366, 64.062) | 8.200 (–12.056, 28.456) | –1.063 (–30.457, 28.332) | 5.218 (–11.870, 22.306) | 0.388 (–12.581, 13.357) | 0.025 (–9.018, 9.068) | 47.187 (–66.294, 160.668) |
| Sperm motilitya | |||||||
| Average path velocity (μm/sec) | 2.153 (–8.455, 12.761) | –0.106 (–4.641, 4.430) | 3.761 (–2.637, 10.158) | 2.293 (–1.426, 6.013) | 2.223 (–0.603, 5.050) | 0.378 (–1.598, 2.355) | 9.433 (–15.420, 34.287) |
| Straight line velocity (μm/sec) | 2.380 (–6.296, 11.056) | –0.145 (–3.861, 3.570) | 2.947 (–2.293, 8.186) | 2.118 (–0.927, 5.162) | 1.614 (–0.702, 3.930) | 0.646 (–0.972, 2.264) | 1.257 (–19.117, 21.632) |
| Curvilinear velocity (μm/sec) | 0.151 (–18.037, 18.340) | –0.664 (–8.453, 7.125) | 4.773 (–6.216, 15.762) | 3.139 (–3.25, 9.528) | 4.982* (0.137, 9.827) | 0.293 (–3.101, 3.688) | 16.779 (–25.918, 59.475) |
| Amplitude head displacement (μm) | –0.372 (–1.523, 0.780) | –0.328 (–0.825, 0.168) | 0.419 (–0.281, 1.119) | 0.176 (–0.232, 0.583) | 0.165 (–0.145, 0.475) | –0.086 (–0.303, 0.131) | –0.354 (–3.089, 2.380) |
| Beat cross frequency (Hz) | 2.662 (–3.234, 8.559) | –0.735 (–3.289, 1.819) | 0.608 (–2.987, 4.203) | 0.542 (–1.549, 2.633) | 1.374 (–0.213, 2.961) | –0.136 (–1.249, 0.976) | –3.545 (–17.583, 10.492) |
| Straightness (%) | 7.705 (–8.556, 23.966) | 0.117 (–6.898, 7.132) | 6.975 (–2.888, 16.839) | 4.019 (–1.718, 9.756) | 3.736 (–0.627, 8.099) | 1.254 (–1.800, 4.308) | 13.216 (–25.281, 51.714) |
| Linearity (%) | 7.164 (–3.424, 17.753) | 0.420 (–4.168, 5.009) | 5.507 (–0.932, 11.946) | 3.021 (–0.725, 6.768) | 1.570 (–1.286, 4.427) | 1.116 (–0.881, 3.112) | 11.462 (–13.728, 36.653) |
| Percent motility (%) | 5.915 (–4.500, 16.331) | 0.676 (–3.732, 5.085) | 3.672 (–2.564, 9.908) | 2.516 (–1.108, 6.139) | 1.437 (–1.319, 4.192) | 1.556 (–0.361, 3.473) | –4.190 (–28.297, 19.918) |
| Sperm heada | |||||||
| Length (μm) | –0.145 (–0.396, 0.105) | –0.029 (–0.134, 0.077) | –0.155* (–0.304, –0.006) | –0.064 (–0.151, 0.023) | –0.037 (–0.103, 0.029) | –0.029 (–0.075, 0.017) | –0.509 (–1.085, 0.066) |
| Area (μm2) | –0.335 (–1.096, 0.427) | –0.150 (–0.473, 0.174) | –0.271 (–0.728, 0.186) | –0.201 (–0.467, 0.064) | –0.156 (–0.358, 0.046) | –0.132 (–0.272, 0.009) | –2.295* (–4.052, –0.538) |
| Width (μm) | 0.006 (–0.151, 0.163) | –0.023 (–0.090, 0.043) | 0.017 (–0.077, 0.111) | –0.023 (–0.078, 0.031) | –0.026 (–0.068, 0.015) | –0.024 (–0.053, 0.005) | –0.210 (–0.571, 0.152) |
| Perimeter (μm) | –0.249 (–0.695, 0.197) | –0.068 (–0.256, 0.121) | –0.227 (–0.493, 0.039) | –0.118 (–0.273, 0.037) | –0.066 (–0.184, 0.052) | –0.066 (–0.148, 0.016) | –1.252* (–2.276, –0.228) |
| Elongation factor (%) | 1.476 (–3.295, 6.247) | –0.054 (–2.051, 1.942) | 2.122 (–0.706, 4.949) | 0.294 (–1.355, 1.942) | –0.203 (–1.454, 1.047) | –0.191 (–1.061, 0.679) | 3.121 (–7.753, 13.995) |
| Acrosome area of head (%) | 2.457 (–1.821, 6.735) | 1.140 (–0.665, 2.945) | 1.367 (–1.190, 3.924) | 1.405 (–0.079, 2.889) | 1.304* (0.180, 2.428) | 0.288 (–0.500, 1.075) | 9.785 (–0.047, 19.617) |
| Straw | |||||||
| Distance (mm)b | –1.439 (–7.612, 4.734) | 0.648 (–2.226, 3.522) | 2.727 (–1.166, 6.621) | 1.742 (–0.536, 4.019) | –0.001 (–1.674, 1.672) | 1.231* (0.089, 2.372) | 13.890 (–2.427, 30.206) |
| Sperm morphologyb | |||||||
| Percent normal, strict criteriac | 4.816 (–4.735, 14.367) | –0.385 (–4.669, 3.900) | 4.914 (–0.829, 10.658) | 3.897* (0.564, 7.231) | 1.916 (–0.561, 4.392) | 1.720 (–0.012, 3.452) | 18.709 (–4.918, 42.335) |
| Percent normal, WHO criteriad | 6.096 (–5.728, 17.920) | –0.432 (–5.737, 4.873) | 5.799 (–1.313, 12.912) | 3.968 (–0.168, 8.104) | 1.726 (–1.345, 4.796) | 1.835 (–0.312, 3.982) | 25.417 (–3.815, 54.648) |
| Amorphous (%) | –4.101 (–14.484, 6.281) | 0.981 (–3.674, 5.635) | –0.435 (–6.698, 5.827) | –1.437 (–5.080, 2.206) | –0.372 (–3.070, 2.327) | –0.259 (–2.150, 1.631) | –10.054 (–35.783, 15.674) |
| Round (%) | –1.309 (–2.832, 0.213) | –0.056 (–0.740, 0.629) | 0.365 (–0.555, 1.285) | 0.311 (–0.224, 0.846) | –0.020 (–0.416, 0.377) | 0.162 (–0.116, 0.440) | –1.074 (–4.858, 2.711) |
| Pyriform (%) | –0.248 (–6.234, 5.739) | –0.126 (–2.809, 2.556) | –1.605 (–5.21, 2.000) | –0.012 (–2.113, 2.089) | –0.459 (–2.013, 1.096) | –0.632 (–1.719, 0.456) | –1.376 (–16.212, 13.459) |
| Bicephalic (%) | –0.186 (–1.800, 1.427) | 0.283 (–0.439, 1.006) | 0.658 (–0.312, 1.629) | 0.169 (–0.397, 0.735) | 0.325 (–0.093, 0.743) | 0.205 (–0.088, 0.498) | 4.127* (0.149, 8.105) |
| Tapered (%) | –1.337 (–3.844, 1.170) | –0.623 (–1.746, 0.501) | –0.717 (–2.228, 0.795) | –0.051 (–0.932, 0.830) | 0.117 (–0.535, 0.769) | 0.037 (–0.42, 0.494) | –6.179 (–12.371, 0.014) |
| Megalo head (%) | –0.732 (–2.528, 1.064) | 0.088 (–0.717, 0.893) | –0.632 (–1.713, 0.450) | –0.355 (–0.985, 0.275) | –0.392 (–0.857, 0.073) | –0.257 (–0.584, 0.069) | –1.085 (–5.537, 3.367) |
| Micro head (%) | –0.743 (–1.865, 0.378) | –0.171 (–0.675, 0.332) | 0.114 (–0.563, 0.792) | –0.019 (–0.413, 0.375) | –0.214 (–0.505, 0.077) | –0.084 (–0.288, 0.120) | 0.555 (–2.23, 3.340) |
| Neck or midpiece abnormalities (%) | –5.766 (–15.38, 3.848) | 5.011* (0.724, 9.298) | –2.624 (–8.423, 3.175) | –2.462 (–5.833, 0.909) | –1.845 (–4.340, 0.650) | –0.512 (–2.264, 1.240) | –5.048 (–28.909, 18.812) |
| Coiled tail (%) | –6.898 (–17.585, 3.789) | 0.099 (–4.699, 4.898) | –7.603* (–14.014, –1.193) | –4.030* (–7.766, –0.293) | –2.768* (–5.536, 0.000) | –2.274* (–4.209, –0.338) | –9.128 (–35.650, 17.395) |
| Other tail abnormalities (%) | –0.451 (–4.453, 3.551) | 1.440 (–0.348, 3.227) | –0.354 (–2.766, 2.057) | –0.519 (–1.922, 0.885) | –0.112 (–1.151, 0.928) | –0.327 (–1.054, 0.401) | –3.089 (–13.002, 6.824) |
| Cytoplasmic droplet (%) | –0.949 (–6.000, 4.103) | –1.825 (–4.082, 0.431) | –0.172 (–3.217, 2.873) | 0.123 (–1.65, 1.896) | –0.348 (–1.66, 0.963) | –0.407 (–1.326, 0.511) | –9.053 (–21.541, 3.436) |
| Immature sperm (n) | –4.963 (–21.346, 11.419) | 18.719** (11.611, 25.827) | 3.629 (–6.243, 13.501) | 2.610 (–3.135, 8.355) | –0.411 (–4.668, 3.846) | 2.095 (–0.880, 5.070) | 90.881** (51.266, 130.496) |
| Sperm chromatin stabilityb | |||||||
| DNA fragmentation index (%) | –2.634 (–11.979, 6.710) | 1.234 (–2.859, 5.328) | –4.040 (–9.793, 1.712) | –2.878 (–6.155, 0.400) | –0.713 (–3.184, 1.757) | –0.914 (–2.678, 0.849) | –0.899 (–23.035, 21.236) |
| High DNA stainability (%) | –0.539 (–5.395, 4.317) | –2.552* (–4.665, –0.438) | –0.929 (–3.923, 2.065) | –0.687 (–2.395, 1.020) | –0.115 (–1.399, 1.169) | –0.423 (–1.340, 0.493) | –15.153** (–26.559, –3.747) |
| Analysis includes 5 azoospermic men but excludes 39 men who had missing values for PFCs (n = 11), missing semen samples (n = 26), or both (n = 2). Fixed-effects and mixed-effects models were used to analyze semen parameters with one and two measurements, respectively. PFC concentrations were ln-transformed and adjusted for age (years), BMI (kg/m2), serum cotinine (active smoking yes/no), abstinence (days), sample age (hours), and research site (Texas/Michigan).aAssessed in both semen samples. bAssessed by SCSA® analysis only in the baseline semen sample. cRothmann et al. (2013). dWHO (1992). *p < 0.05. **p < 0.01. | |||||||