Prevalence of human herpes virus types 1-7 in the semen of men attending an infertility clinic and correlation with semen parameters.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of herpes viruses in the semen of an asymptomatic male cohort with and without infertility problems and its association with altered semen parameters.

DESIGN: A prospective randomized study.

SETTING: Medical school and IVF clinic.

PATIENT(S): One hundred seventy-two male patients undergoing routine semen analysis: 80 with normal semen parameters (control group) and 92 with abnormal semen parameters.

INTERVENTION(S): Semen samples were collected by masturbation.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The DNA from the Herpesviridae family (herpes simplex virus 1 [HSV-1], herpes simplex virus 2 [HSV-2], Varicella zoster virus [VZV], Epstein-Barr virus [EBV], cytomegalovirus [CMV], human herpes virus type 6 [HHV-6], human herpes virus type 7 [HHV-7]) and routine semen parameters.

RESULT(S): Viral DNA was detected in 143/172 (83.1%) of the total samples for at least one herpes virus: HSV-1, 2.5%; VZV, 1.2%; EBV, 45%; CMV, 62.5%; HHV-6, 70%; HHV-7, 0% in the normal semen samples and HSV-1, 2.1%; VZV, 3.2%; EBV, 39.1%; CMV, 56.5%; HHV-6, 66.3%; HHV-7, 0% in the abnormal semen samples. No association was found between the presence of viral DNA and semen parameters. Interestingly, a statistical significance between leukocytospermia and the presence of EBV DNA was observed.

CONCLUSION(S): The DNA of herpes viruses is frequently detected in the semen of asymptomatic fertile and infertile male patients. Further studies are required to investigate the role of herpes viruses in male factor infertility.