Effect of Alcohol on Clinical Outcomes and Its Relationship with Semen Parameters

Abstract

Background: The incidence of infertility is 10-15% globally and this has risen in recent years. Alcohol has been consumed in
India for centuries, both in rural and urban areas, with prevalence rates ranging from 20% to 38% in males, according to various
reports. Studies in northern India found the 1 year prevalence of alcohol use to be between 25% and 40%. In southern India, the
prevalence of current alcohol use varies between 33% and 50%, with a higher prevalence among the lesser educated and the
poor. Aim: To determine the effect of alcohol on seminal parameters. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Morpheus Lucknow
Fertility Center, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Time duration: From January 2017 to December 2020. Sample size: Total 130 patients
consisting of 57 patients as nonalcoholic control and 73 patients as alcoholic. Main outcome measure(s): The outcome of interest
was seminal parameters, including count, motility, volume and morphology. Method: The study included two subject groups,
controls and alcoholics. Subjects in the control group were volunteers who were free from any disease and who had never
consumed alcoholic drinks and who had never smoked. Subjects in the alcoholic group were nonsmokers who had consumed
a minimum of 180 mL of alcohol (brandy and whisky, both 40-50% alcohol content) per day for a minimum of 5 days per week
in the past year. Semen samples were collected after at least 48 hours but no more than 7 days of sexual abstinence. Semen
parameters - volume, count, motility and morphology - were analyzed. Results: In the alcoholic group, volume (p < 0.005),
count (p < 0.005), percentage of rapid progressively motile sperm (p < 0.005), were statistically significantly decreased, while
percentage of nonprogressive sperm and percentage of immotile sperm (p < 0.005) were statistically significantly increased,
compared with the control group. The percentages of slow progressively motile sperm and morphology were not statistically
significant. Conclusions: The present study found statistically significant results that chronic alcoholism suppresses semen
quality, at the seminiferous tubular level. Alcohol decreases semen volume, total sperm concentration, motility of sperm and
viability of sperm. This study has proved beyond doubt that chronic alcohol consumption has a detrimental effect on the quality
of semen, which in turn, may have effect on their reproductive outcomes.