ArticleReproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E2018
Decline in seminal quality in Indian men over the last 37 years.
Article in Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 83 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of Sleep Disorders and Circadian Rhythm Changes on Male Reproductive Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Pooled it
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- Environmental determinants of male infertility: emerging threats and technological interventions.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Temporal trends in semen parameters among men attending a fertility center in the UAE (2012 - 2022): a retrospective study.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Depression, anxiety, and stress impair sperm quality via dysregulation of the mitochondrial PDK-PDC axis.Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2025Article
- Sperm DNA fragmentation index: limited effectiveness on predicting embryo quality in assisted reproduction technology treatments.Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2025Article
- Trends in male infertility burden in South Asia: a 30-year analysis of DALYs, prevalence, and future projections based on GBD 2021.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2025Article
- Article
- Frequency, morbidity and equity - the case for increased research on male fertility.Nature reviews. Urology · 2024Review
- Enhancing Spermatogenesis in Non-obstructive Azoospermia Through Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy22.Current stem cell research & therapy · 2024Review
- The role of p53 in male infertility.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Review
- Antioxidant activity of Flemingia praecox and Mucuna pruriens and their implications for male fertility improvement.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Global, regional and national burden of male infertility in 204 countries and territories between 1990 and 2019: an analysis of global burden of disease study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Improved sperm DNA fragmentation levels in infertile men following very short abstinence of 3-4 hours.Translational andrology and urology · 2023Article
- Smoking Induces a Decline in Semen Quality and the Activation of Stress Response Pathways in Sperm.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Palliative and Antioxidant Effects of Hesperidin against Lead-Acetate-Induced Testicular Injury in Male Wistar Rats.Biomedicines · 2023Article
- Dietary trends and the decline in male reproductive health.Hormones (Athens, Greece) · 2023Review
- Changes in Semen Analysis over Time: A Temporal Trend Analysis of 20 Years of Subfertile Non-Azoospermic Men.The world journal of men's health · 2023Article
- Novel Lines of Research on the Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Nut Consumption.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Toxic effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances on sperm: Epidemiological and experimental evidence.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSince the first report of a decline in semen quality in 1974, there have been several reports of similar declines across populations. Despite some scattered reports of declining semen quality in the Indian sub-continent, comprehensive studies analyzing semen quality over the last few decades have not been undertaken. We undertook the present study to investigate the temporal trend in semen parameters in Indian populations over a period of 37 years (1979-2016).
methodsPublications providing semen analysis details for fertile and infertile men from the Indian sub-continent were collected by a thorough literature search. Semen quality data for 6466 normal fertile or presumptive normal men (from 119 studies/data sets) and 7020 infertile men (from 63 studies/data sets) published between 1979 and 2016 were retrieved. We undertook systematic review and quantitative analysis of mean sperm count, motility, normal morphology and other available parameters. Data were analyzed to estimate semen parameters reference values for Indian men and to assess temporal trends in infertile, fertile and all subjects.
resultsSeminal quality shows a decreasing temporal trend and the decrease is higher in infertile than fertile males. In pooled analysis for all individuals, significant (p < 0.05 or < 0.001) declines in sperm concentration and normal morphology are observed; however, isolated analysis for each group shows declines without statistical significance. The mean (± SD) semen volume, sperm concentration, total motility, rapid linear progressive motility, normal sperm morphology and sperm viability for Indian fertile men are 2.88 ± 0.77 ml, 81.08 ± 29.21 million/ml, 66.37 ± 10.95%, 52.64 ± 15.78%, 56.68 ± 20.23% and 72.63 ± 8.31%, respectively, whereas in infertile these are 3.07 ± 1.27 ml, 37.94 ± 26.41 million/ml, 40.22 ± 13.76%, 26.79 ± 15.47%, 36.41 ± 21.66% and 55.25 ± 11.99%, respectively. The mean seminal parameter values were significantly lower (p < 0.001) in infertile as compared to fertile men, except semen volume.
conclusionsSemen parameters in Indian men have declined with time and the deterioration is quantitatively higher in the infertile group. The study also provides reference values for semen parameters in Indian men.
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