Hepatitis B virus infection increases the incidence of immune infertility in males

Objective: To investigate the relationship between hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and the incidence of male immune infertility. METHODS: Based on the levels of serum HBsAg, 3 124 infertile men were classified into an HBV-positive and an HBV-negative group and, according to the results of IBT tests, those with immune infertility were further divided into an HBV-positive and an HBV-negative group. Statistical analyses were made on the incidence rate of immune infertility and seminal parameters in the immune infertility patients of the HBV-positive and HBV-negative groups, the correlation of the number of HBV DNA copies in the serum with that in the seminal plasma of the HBV-positive patients, the association of the numbers of HBV DNA copies in the serum and seminal plasma with semen parameters, and the relationship of the number of HBV DNA copies in the seminal plasma with the incidence of immune infertility. Sperm concentration and the percentage of progressively motile sperm (PMS) were measured by computer-aided sperm analysis, sperm morphology determined by Diff-Quik staining, the level of HBsAg detected by ELISA, and the numbers of HBV DNA copies in the serum and seminal plasma calculated by RT-PCR. RESULTS: The incidence rate of immune infertility was significantly higher in the HBV-positive than in the HBV-negative group (20.3 vs 3.3%, χ2 = 187.5, P 0.05). The number of HBV DNA copies in the serum was positively correlated with that in the seminal plasma (rs = 0.86, P 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: HBV infection can increase the incidence rate of immune infertility in men and is correlated with the low quality of sperm.