Effect of smoking on sperm vitality, DNA integrity, seminal oxidative stress, zinc in fertile men.

Objective: To assess the effect of smoking on sperm vitality, sperm DNA integrity, semen reactive oxygen species, and zinc levels in fertile men.

Methods: One-hundred sixty men were investigated. They were divided into 2 equal groups: healthy fertile nonsmokers and healthy fertile smokers. They were subjected to history taking, clinical examination, and semen analysis. In their semen, sperm hypo-osmotic swelling test, sperm DNA fragmentation test, seminal reactive oxygen species, and zinc were assessed.

Results: Compared with fertile nonsmokers, fertile smokers were significantly associated with lower hypo-osmotic swelling test and seminal zinc levels and significantly associated with higher sperm DNA fragmentation percent and seminal reactive oxygen species levels.

Conclusions: Smoking (cigarettes/day and duration) has detrimental effects on sperm motility, viability, DNA fragmentation, seminal zinc levels, and semen reactive oxygen species levels, even in fertile men, and it is directly correlated with cigarette quantity and smoking duration.