The Effect of Environmental, Lifestyle, and Intrinsic Factors on Sperm Morphology in Assisted Reproduction

Sperm morphology as part of a complete semen analysis becomes more and more significant from a clinical point of view for infertility and perhaps men’s health. The current manuscript reviews the effect of some environmental and lifestyle factors on sperm morphology. A new look into an old challenge is delivered based on contemporary scientific and clinical evidence. The impact of lifestyle, age of the male, heat stress, and other factors on sperm morphology, DNA fragmentation index (DFI), and, consequently, assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs) outcome is discussed. Sperm morphology is probably the most relevant parameter of the traditional semen evaluation and can be used as a valid biomarker assessment of male fertility potential in in vitro fertilization (IVF)/ intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) programs.