Male infertility due to the use of anabolic steroids

Abstract

The definition of infertility is the inability of a sexually active couple who do not use contraception to conceive a pregnancy within a period of one year (Carson; Kallen, 2021). Approximately 30% of cases of marital infertility are due to some complication in male fertility health, requiring procedures such as physical examinations and semen analysis (Sunder; Leslie, 2022; Borght; Wyns, 2018). The characteristics analyzed in semen include sperm concentration, volume, total sperm count, and sperm performance (motility, morphology, viability, and composition), with male infertility generally related to a failure in one or more factors (Sunder; Leslie, 2022; Leslie; Soon-Sutton; Khan, 2024).

Anabolic steroids are molecules synthesized from testosterone, with a strong anabolic effect, and are mainly used to increase strength and muscle mass. Their use also generates some side effects such as increased libido, increased sebaceous secretion and acne, increased body hair, and impaired spermatogenesis (de Oliveira; Neto, 2018). In the genitourinary system, it can cause a decrease in the number of sperm or their complete absence and testicular atrophy, due to the inhibition of gonadotropin secretion and the conversion of androgen hormones into estrogens (Abrahin; de Souza, 2013).
Laboratory diagnosis assesses factors such as fluid volume, sperm concentration, their characteristics and total concentration, as well as motility, viability, morphology, and secretion composition, being a tool in identifying the cause of infertility (Sunder; Leslie, 2022, Pasqualotto et al., 2006). It is essential as part of the investigation of this problem, since after an analysis of the spermogram of athletes who used anabolic steroids for more than 3 years, a picture analogous to infertility was found (Abrahin; de Souza, 2013).