ReviewInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
Air Pollution and COVID-19: A Possible Dangerous Synergy for Male Fertility.
Review in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association of Ureaplasma urealyticum with lifestyle factors and semen parameters: results from a cross-sectional study in 2668 males.Asian journal of andrology · 2026Article
- Environmental Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and SARS-CoV-2 Infection History Among Blood Donors.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Review
- Sex-Specific Signatures of Circulating Protein and Cellular Host Responses Predicting COVID-19 Severity.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Chlorogenic acid improves urogenital dysfunction induced by exposure to ambient particulate matter.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- The consequences of climate change and male reproductive health: A review of the possible impact and mechanisms.Biochemistry and biophysics reports · 2025Review
- Is There a Relationship Between Prenatal Dexamethasone and Postnatal Fructose Overexposure and Testicular Development, Function, and Oxidative Stress Parameters in Rats?International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Association of mixed exposure to microplastics with sperm dysfunction: a multi-site study in China.EBioMedicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Comparative analysis of the bioaccumulation of bisphenol A in the blood serum and follicular fluid of women living in two areas with different environmental impacts.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Does Air Pollution Impact on Semen Parameters? Findings from a Real-Life, Cross-Sectional Study in Italian Infertile Men.The world journal of men's health · 2023Article
- A comprehensive understanding of ambient particulate matter and its components on the adverse health effects based from epidemiological and laboratory evidence.Particle and fibre toxicology · 2022Review
- Molecular Alterations and Severe Abnormalities in Spermatozoa of Young Men Living in the "Valley of Sacco River" (Latium, Italy): A Preliminary Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Review
- Mediterranean Diet as a Shield against Male Infertility and Cancer Risk Induced by Environmental Pollutants: A Focus on Flavonoids.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Reprotoxic Impact of Environment, Diet, and Behavior.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Processing and Quality Control of Masks: A Review.Polymers · 2022Review
- Positive association between outdoor air pollution and the incidence and severity of COVID-19. A review of the recent scientific evidences.Environmental research · 2022Review
- Sex-Dependent Performance of the Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte, Monocyte-to-Lymphocyte, Platelet-to-Lymphocyte and Mean Platelet Volume-to-Platelet Ratios in Discriminating COVID-19 Severity.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Article
- Milder symptoms and shorter course in patients with re-positive COVID-19: A cohort of 180 patients from Northeast China.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Several studies indicate that semen quality has strongly declined in the last decades worldwide. Air pollution represents a significant co-factor with the COVID-19 impact and has negative effects on the male reproductive system, through pro-oxidant, inflammatory and immune-dysregulating mechanisms. It has recently been reported that chronic exposure to PM2.5 causes overexpression of the alveolar ACE2 receptor, the entry route of SARS-CoV-2 into the organism shared by the lungs and testis where expression is highest in the body. In the testis, the ACE2/Ang-(1-7)/MasR pathway plays an important role in the regulation of spermatogenesis and an indirect mechanism of testicular damage could be due to the blockade of the ACE2 receptor by SARS-CoV-2. This prevents the conversion of specific angiotensins, and their excess causes inflammation with the overproduction of cytokines. PM2.5-induced overexpression of the alveolar ACE2 receptor, in turn, could increase local viral load in patients exposed to pollutants, producing ACE2 receptor depletion and compromising host defenses. By presenting an overall view of epidemiological data and molecular mechanisms, this manuscript aims to interpret the possible synergistic effects of both air pollution and COVID-19 on male reproductive function, warning that the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the fertile years may represent a significant threat to global reproductive health. All of this should be of great concern, especially for men of the age of maximum reproductive capacity, and an important topic of debate for policy makers. Altered environmental conditions, together with the direct and indirect short- and long-term effects of viral infection could cause a worsening of semen quality with important consequences for male fertility, especially in those areas with higher environmental impact.
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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.