European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Human semen contains the nutritious elements for the nourishment of the sperm. Semen being a sterile and nutritious fluid is very much suitable for the growth of bacteria. Semen gets contaminated by bacteria while sharing the same pathway as urine. Most commonly pathogens residing in the urinary tract and on the skin or urethra are most likely to contaminate the semen. Bacterial contamination of semen can affect sperm quality and still, research is going on to find out how bacteria is affecting sperm quality. The present review is divided into different thoughts i.e. there is evidence of bacteria affecting the sperm quality adversely and there is also evidence of no effect of bacteria in semen on sperm quality. Bacterial infections of the urogenital tract are usually treated with antibiotic therapy. Antibiotic therapy helps to remove the deleterious effects of bacteriospermia on sperm parameters but some researchers found out that antibiotics adversely affect the sperm. Most of the antibiotics used to treat the urogenital tract infection affect sperm motility, sperm viability, and sperm DNA integrity directly or indirectly.