ArticleThe Pan African medical journal2018
[Exposure of man to metal trace elements and alteration of sperm parameters: study conducted in the mining areas of Haut-Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo].
Article in The Pan African medical journal, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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
7 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Anterior abdominal wall agenesis associated with cardiac exstrophy and macrocephaly in a gold mining area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: management and prognosis in a resource-limited area.Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology · 2025Article
- Surgical long-term outcomes of Hirschsprung Disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a case series of 31 patients in a resource-limited setting.BMC surgery · 2025Article
- Prevalence and risk of occurrence of visible birth defects in mining areas in South Kivu: A hospital-based cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Article
- [Epidemio-clinical and seminal profile of the man consulting for the desire to procreate: current situation in Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo].The Pan African medical journal · 2023Article
- Concurrent Heavy Metal Exposures and Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy: A Case-Control Study from the Katanga Mining Area of the Democratic Republic of Congo.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- [Abnormal semen analyses in men undergoing premarital screening and in infertile couples in Butembo-Democratic Republic of Congo].The Pan African medical journal · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionArsenic and cadmium exposures cause significant adverse effects. This study aims to determine the urinary arsenic and cadmium concentrations in men in order to analyze their profile in relation to sperm count test values. METHODES: We conducted an exposed-non-exposed analytical study of men exposed to arsenic and cadmium in a mining area in Upper Katanga, DRC and of non-exposed men living far from any mining area.
resultsStudy results show that 48% of exposed subjects had semen pH below the threshold value of 7.2 versus 16% of non-exposed subjects. The risk of a lowering of pH below the standards was more than 4 times higher (OR=4.85[1.9-12.39]) among exposed men. The difference between the averages of the total number of spermatozoa was statistically significant to the advantage of non-exposed subjects. Abnormal number of spermatozoa was much higher in exposed subjects. It was recorded a more rapid spermatozoa mobility degradation in exposed subjects. In addition, 44% of exposed men had urinary arsenic concentration > 20 µg/L versus 8% of non-exposed subjects, the risk of excessive arsenic accumulation was nine times higher in exposed men than in non-exposed men (OR=9.04 [2.82-28.96]). Sixty percent of exposed men had urinary cadmium concentration ≥0.5µg/ml versus 38% of non-exposed subjects, with an Odd Ratio of 2.45 [1.1-5.47], reflecting a risk of excessive cadmium accumulation in exposed men. On the other hand, it was recorded that, among exposed men, high urinary arsenic and cadmium concentrations resulted in a proportional degradation of sperm count test values.
conclusionThis study shows, on one hand, high urinary arsenic and cadmium concentrations and, on the other hand, more rapid and more severe alterations of sperm count test values in men living in mining area. This suggests a decline in male fertility which deserves to be further documented in future studies.
Indexed as
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.