ArticleSpermatogenesis2012
Impact of obesity on male fertility, sperm function and molecular composition.
Article in Spermatogenesis, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 163 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
163 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 389 citations in OpenAlex.
- When Weight Matters: How Obesity Impacts Reproductive Health and Pregnancy-A Systematic Review.Current obesity reports · 2025Pooled it
- AI Tools for Assessing Human Fertility Using Risk Factors: A State-of-the-Art Review.Journal of medical systems · 2023Pooled it
- Impact of Bariatric Surgery on Male Sex Hormones and Sperm Quality: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Obesity surgery · 2019Pooled it
- The Effects of Kisspeptin on Brain Response to Food Images and Psychometric Parameters of Appetite in Healthy Men.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2021Trial
- The Effect of Macronutrients on Reproductive Hormones in Overweight and Obese Men: A Pilot Study.Nutrients · 2019Trial
- Paternal obesity modifies the effect of an antenatal lifestyle intervention in women who are overweight or obese on newborn anthropometry.Scientific reports · 2017Trial
- Areas of Controversy and Confusion in Male Infertility: A Call for Clarity.The world journal of men's health · 2026Article
- Kisspeptin-10 Alleviates Obesity-induced Testicular Oxidative Stress and Mitochondrial Dysfunction via Modulation of Mitophagy and Autophagy Signaling.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2026Article
- GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Tirzepatide in Men Seeking Fertility: A Structured Narrative Review and Proposed Clinical Framework.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Outcomes following varicocele treatment: a comparative study of microsurgical and angioembolization approaches.Asian journal of andrology · 2026Article
- Reproductive Physiology and Reproductive Parameters of Male Owston's Civets (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Metabolic Syndrome and Male Infertility: The Role of Obesity and Chronic Inflammation.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Timing-Dependent Effects of Prebiotic-Probiotic Supplementation on High-Fat-Diet-Induced Testicular Dysfunction and Gut Microbiota Alterations in Rats.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- O-GlcNAc transferase governs spermatogenic mitotic-to-meiotic transition and progression by coordinating transcription and alternative splicing programs.Cellular & molecular biology letters · 2026Article
- Puerarin ameliorates obesity-induced spermatogenic dysfunction by targeting GRP78/StAR to increase testosterone synthesis.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Article
- Uncovering novel germline variants associated with testicular germ cell tumors by exome sequencing.NAR cancer · 2026Article
- The influence of body mass index on oxidative stress markers in infertile men's semen parameters.Clinical and experimental reproductive medicine · 2026Article
- Obesity disrupts ovarian hemodynamics during the preovulatory and luteal phases in mice†.Biology of reproduction · 2026Article
- Concomitant Effect of Hypothyroidism with Obesity on Testicular and Sperm Function in Male ICR Mice: Involvement of TGFβ/SMAD Signaling.Cell biochemistry and biophysics · 2026Article
- Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Male Infertility: A Narrative Review of Diagnostic Value and Clinical Integration.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
103 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Male obesity in reproductive-age men has nearly tripled in the past 30 y and coincides with an increase in male infertility worldwide. There is now emerging evidence that male obesity impacts negatively on male reproductive potential not only reducing sperm quality, but in particular altering the physical and molecular structure of germ cells in the testes and ultimately mature sperm. Recent data has shown that male obesity also impairs offspring metabolic and reproductive health suggesting that paternal health cues are transmitted to the next generation with the mediator mostly likely occurring via the sperm. Interestingly the molecular profile of germ cells in the testes and sperm from obese males is altered with changes to epigenetic modifiers. The increasing prevalence of male obesity calls for better public health awareness at the time of conception, with a better understanding of the molecular mechanism involved during spermatogenesis required along with the potential of interventions in reversing these deleterious effects. This review will focus on how male obesity affects fertility and sperm quality with a focus on proposed mechanisms and the potential reversibility of these adverse effects.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.