Factors Affecting Semen Quality: A Comparative Study on Functional and Molecular Aspects across Age, Body Mass Index, and Lifestyle

Background: This study was intended to assess the influence of lifestyle factors, such as obesity, smoking, tobacco use, and alcohol consumption, on male infertility using traditional semen analysis as well as the DNA fragmentation index (DFI) test.Method: Semen samples were collected from 1,006 infertile patients, along with completed questionnaires.All samples underwent routine semen analysis, and 502 were randomly selected for DFI analysis.Results: Semen volume was highest in men aged 31-35 (2.18 1.48 mL), while sperm count was highest in those >46 years (37.05 20.53 M/ mL).Motility and morphology were stable across age-groups.The lowest motility was in the 36-40 age-group, and the highest morphology was in those >46 years.The youngest group had the lowest DNA fragmentation (26.94 6.96).Semen volume was steady across insert 'normal' after across body mass index (BMI) groups, with the lowest in the obese group (1.96 0.93 mL).The normal BMI group had the highest sperm count, motility, morphology, and the lowest DFI.Nonsmokers had the best sperm parameters and the lowest DFI.Tobacco chewers had the highest sperm count, motility, and morphology when chewing 1-5 times per day, but the highest DNA fragmentation was seen in those chewing >10 times per day.Frequent alcohol consumption led to lower semen quality and higher DNA fragmentation, with the lowest values in the heaviest drinkers (1.75 1.32 mL, 29.54 22.98 M/mL, 39.29 24.94% motility, 1.16 0.76 morphology).Conclusion: Functional and molecular aspects of semen parameters were impacted by several factors, such as age, BMI, and various lifestyle factors.