ReviewMedicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)2023
Next-Generation Sequencing to Elucidate the Semen Microbiome in Male Reproductive Disorders.
Review in Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Unfolding the Semen Microbiota: Implications for Male Infertility.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Sperm Sexing in Selected Animals and Humans: Methods, Applications, and Future Prospects.Andrology · 2026Review
- Lifestyle factors impact sperm microbiota and are associated with biological and clinical issues in infertile patients undergoing assisted reproductive technologies, a proof-of-concept study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Probiotics as Microbiome Modulators in Male Infertility: Rethinking Dysbiosis Across the Gut-Testis Axis.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
- Immunological mechanisms and precision stratification in male infertility: from testicular immune privilege and danger signal amplification to seminal immune biomarkers and mechanism-tailored intervention.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Interpretable machine learning uncovers core seminal microbial signatures in idiopathic oligoasthenospermia.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Comprehensive 16S rRNA gene sequencing and meta-transcriptomic analyses of the female reproductive tract microbiota: two molecular profiles with different messages.Human reproduction open · 2026Article
- The Role of the Genital Tract Microbiome in Human Fertility: A Literature Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Semen Microbiome, Male Infertility, and Reproductive Health.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Leukocytospermia and/or Bacteriospermia: Impact on Male Infertility.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Mean sperm counts are declining at an accelerated rate and infertility is increasingly becoming a public health concern. It is now understood that human semen, previously considered to be sterile, harbours its own specific microbiome. Via activated leucocytes and the generation of reactive oxygen species, bacteria have the capability of evoking an immune response which may lead to sperm damage. Men with infertility have higher rates of both reactive oxygen species and sperm DNA damage. Due to the lack of sensitivity of routine culture and PCR-based methods, next-generation sequencing technology is being employed to characterise the seminal microbiome. There is a mounting body of studies that share a number of similarities but also a great range of conflicting findings. A lack of stringent decontamination procedures, small sample sizes and heterogeneity in other aspects of methodology makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions from these studies. However, various themes have emerged and evidence of highly conserved clusters of common bacteria can be seen. Depletion or over-representation of specific bacteria may be associated with aberrations in traditional and functional seminal parameters. Currently, the evidence is too limited to inform clinical practice and larger studies are needed.
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.