Effect of Leukocyte Counts in Seminal Plasma on DNA Fragmentation of Spermatozoa

Background: Infections of the male genitourinary tract account for up to 15% of cases of male infertility. Leukocy-tospermia is the presence of leukocytes in the semen, and the presence of >1 million leukocytes per mL of semen is consid-ered as pathological. Aim of Study: To investigate the effect of leukocyte count on DNA fragmentation percent. Patients and Methods: The study included one hundred male participants from Zagazig City, Sharkiya, Governorate, Egypt in El-Banoon fertility Center from February 2019 to Feb-ruary 2023. Patients were divided into two groups: Group I con-trol group consisting of 50 healthy males with normal semen analysis and Group II consisting of 50 males had leukocytes in the semen >1 million per mL. Results: There was no significant difference between the 2 groups as regard age and BMI. Percentages of viscous sam-ples and semen liquefactiontime had significantly higher and Percentages of progressive and total sperm motility had signifi-cantly lower in study group as compared to control group. leu-kocyte concentration and DNA Fragmentation were significant-ly higher in study group than control group while Viability was significantly lower in study group in comparison with control group. The study group had significantly lower sperm dynam-ic motility parameters including VCL, VSL, VAP, MAD, ALH and STR as compared to the control group. BCF and WOB were significantly higher with study group indicating a nega-tive effect on linearity. Conclusion: The present study suggested that bacterial in-fection significantly correlated with leukocytospermia, decreas-ing sperm motility, morphology, and DNA integrity.