Dietary fatty acid intakes and asthenozoospermia: a case-control study

ObjectiveTo investigate the association between dietary fatty acids intakes and asthenozoospermia.DesignCase-control study.SettingInfertility clinics.Patient(s)A total of 107 men with incident asthenozoospermia and 235 age-matched controls.Intervention(s)None.Main Outcome Measure(s)Assessments of dietary intakes, semen quality, anthropometry, endocrine parameters, and demographic information.Result(s)According to the fully adjusted model, being in the highest tertile of total saturated fatty acids (odds ratio [OR] = 1.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24-2.96), total trans-fatty acids (OR = 2.53, 95% CI 1.54-3.92), palmitic acid (OR = 1.90, 95% CI 1.26-2.74), and stearic acid (OR = 2.13, 95% CI 1.29-3.88) was positively associated with asthenozoospermia. Whereas higher intakes of omega-3 polyunsaturated (OR = 0.68, 95% CI 0.58-0.94) and of docosahexaenoic (OR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.29-0.89) fatty acids were significantly associated with reduced odds of asthenozoospermia.Conclusion(s)Our findings suggest that the high intake of saturated and trans-fats was positively related to the odds of having asthenozoospermia. Conversely, inverse and dose-dependent associations were found between asthenozoospermia and intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The observed associations of different types of fatty acids underline the importance of the type of fat in the etiology of asthenozoospermia.