{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T13:00:23Z","timestamp":1790600423986,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"Knowledge E DMCC","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790553600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["knepublishing.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["IJRM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Staphylococcus aureus (S. Aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. Coli) are the most commonly considered causes of infection in genitourinary system. Asymptomatic bacteriospermia could contribute to infertility due to late detection. Pathogen quantity may impact semen quality.\r\nObjective: This study examined how S. aureus and E. coli loads may affect semen quality of asymptomatic men.\r\nMaterials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 130 asymptomatic men who were referred to Yas hospital complex in vitro fertilization center, Tehran, Iran, for infertility evaluation were enrolled after eligibility screening via a structured interview. Their semen samples were collected and analyzed. Microscopic and macroscopic examinations were performed using a computer-aided sperm analysis system and World Health Organization guidelines. The presence and number of leukocytes in semen were determined using the peroxidase staining method. For quantitative analysis, 2 semen samples were cultured simultaneously on blood and MacConkey agar.\r\nResults: The results of semen analysis in 2 groups of men with and without positive culture showed significant differences in most parameters. The frequency of S. aureus and E. coli in semen samples was 20 (15.4%) and 10 (7.7%), respectively. Higher colony counts of S. aureus (p &lt; 0.001) and E. coli (p = 0.022) were observed in semen samples with abnormal parameters, whereas samples with normal parameters generally showed lower bacterial loads.\r\nConclusion: Higher bacterial loads of S. aureus and E. coli were associated with poorer semen quality in this sample of asymptomatic men referred for infertility evaluation. Bacterial load assessment may be useful as an adjunct in semen evaluation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.18502\/ijrm.v24i8.21666","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T12:15:29Z","timestamp":1790597729000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.18502\/knecrossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The impact of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli loads on semen quality in asymptomatic men: A cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.18502","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Amin","family":"Dehghan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammad Reza","family":"Pourmand","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"7770","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"343844","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[1] Rivera VV, Cardona Maya WD, Puerta-Su\u00e1rez J. The relationship between sexually transmitted microorganisms and seminal quality in asymptomatic men. Asian J Urol 2022; 9: 473\u2013479.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajur.2021.09.004"},{"key":"343845","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[2] Dutta S, Sengupta P, Izuka E, Menuba I, Jegasothy R, Nwagha U. Staphylococcal infections and infertility: Mechanisms and management. Mol Cell Biochem 2020; 474: 57\u201372.","DOI":"10.1007\/s11010-020-03833-4"},{"key":"343846","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[3] Thaper D, Rahi DK, Prabha V. Amelioration of sperm immobilisation factor-induced infertility by bacterial antigenic determinants cross-reacting with spermatozoa. Reprod Fertil Dev 2019; 31: 602\u2013612.","DOI":"10.1071\/RD18300"},{"key":"343847","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[4] Solomon M, Henkel R. Semen culture and the assessment of genitourinary tract infections. Indian J Urol 2017; 33: 188\u2013193.","DOI":"10.4103\/iju.IJU_407_16"},{"key":"343848","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[5] Bao B, Wen H, Wang F, Han D, Liu B. Inflammation of the male reproductive system: Clinical aspects and mechanisms. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2025; 16: 1547020.","DOI":"10.3389\/fendo.2025.1547020"},{"key":"343849","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[6] Chauhan A, Thaper D, Prabha V. Sperm impairing microbial factor: Potential candidate for male contraception. Reprod Biol Endocrinol 2020; 18: 96.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12958-020-00654-4"},{"key":"343850","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[7] Li J, Li B, Song J, Liu H, Bi W, Dong G, et al. Characteristic and mechanism of immobilization effect of Staphylococcus aureus on human spermatozoa. Microb Pathog 2018; 119: 28\u201334.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.micpath.2018.03.049"},{"key":"343851","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[8] Marchiani S, Baccani I, Tamburrino L, Mattiuz G, Nicol\u00f2 S, Bonaiuto C, et al. Effects of common gram-negative pathogens causing male genitourinary-tract infections on human sperm functions. Sci Rep 2021; 11: 19177.","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-98710-5"},{"key":"343852","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[9] Folliero V, Santonastaso M, Dell\u2019Annunziata F, De Franciscis P, Boccia G, Colacurci N, et al. Impact of Escherichia coli outer membrane vesicles on sperm function. Pathogens 2022; 11: 782.","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens11070782"},{"key":"343853","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[10] Volz Y, Ebner B, Pfitzinger P, Berg E, Lellig E, Marcon J, et al. Asymptomatic bacteriospermia and infertility-what is the connection? Infection 2022; 50: 1499\u20131505.","DOI":"10.1007\/s15010-022-01828-5"},{"key":"343854","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[11] Dehghan A, Pourmand MR, Salimi V, Akbari Asbagh F, Rahimi Foroushani A, Sadeghi K, et al. The effects of Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis, and Ureaplasma urealyticum loads on semen quality: Detection and quantitative analysis. Microb Pathog 2022; 169: 105676.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.micpath.2022.105676"},{"key":"343855","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[12] World Health Organization. WHO laboratory manual for the examination and processing of human semen. 5th Ed. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO Press; 2010.","DOI":"10.1038\/aja.2008.57"},{"key":"343856","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[13] Ventimiglia E, Capogrosso P, Boeri L, Cazzaniga W, Matloob R, Pozzi E, et al. Leukocytospermia is not an informative predictor of positive semen culture in infertile men: Results from a validation study of available guidelines. Hum Reprod Open 2020; 2020: hoaa039.","DOI":"10.1093\/hropen\/hoaa039"},{"key":"343857","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[14] Wang S, Zhang K, Yao Y, Li J, Deng S. Bacterial infections affect male fertility: A focus on the oxidative stress-autophagy axis. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9: 727812.","DOI":"10.3389\/fcell.2021.727812"},{"key":"343858","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[15] Shash RYM, Mohamed GAA, Shebl SE, Shokr M, Soliman SA. The impact of bacteriospermia on semen parameters among infertile Egyptian men: A case-control study. Am J Mens Health 2023; 17: 15579883231181861.","DOI":"10.1177\/15579883231181861"},{"key":"343859","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[16] Wang Y, Fu X, Li H. Mechanisms of oxidative stress-induced sperm dysfunction. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2025; 16: 1520835.","DOI":"10.3389\/fendo.2025.1520835"},{"key":"343860","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"[17] Eini F, Azizi Kutenaei M, Zareei F, Sharifian Dastjerdi Z, Hosseinzadeh Shirzeyli M, Salehi E. Effect of bacterial infection on sperm quality and DNA fragmentation in subfertile men with leukocytospermia. BMC Mol Cell Biol 2021; 22: 42.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12860-021-00380-8"}],"container-title":["International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine (IJRM)"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/knepublishing.com\/index.php\/ijrm\/article\/download\/21666\/32378","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/knepublishing.com\/index.php\/ijrm\/article\/download\/21666\/32378","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T12:30:16Z","timestamp":1790598616000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/knepublishing.com\/index.php\/ijrm\/article\/view\/21666"},"secondary":[{"URL":"http:\/\/ijrm.ir\/article-1-3695-en.html","label":"UNIVERSITY"}]},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]},"references-count":17,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.18502\/ijrm.v24i8.21666","relation":{},"ISSN":["2476-3772","2476-4108"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2476-3772","type":"electronic"},{"value":"2476-4108","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]}}}