ArticleBMC genomics2025
Seminal plasma proteomics of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients reveals disruption of male reproductive function.
Article in BMC genomics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Environmental influences on seminal plasma: Molecular and functional insights.The Journal of reproduction and development · 2026Review
- Extracellular vesicles: key mediators inFrontiers in veterinary science · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundA considerable proportion of males suffer from asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, while the effect on reproductive function and underlying pathomechanisms remain unclear.
resultsThe total sperm count decreased evidently after asymptomatic infection, yet all semen samples were tested to be SARS-CoV-2 RNA negative. Through label‑free quantitative proteomic profiling, a total of 733 proteins were further identified in seminal plasma from 11 COVID-19 patients and seven uninfected controls. Of the 37 differentially expressed proteins, 23 were upregulated and 14 were downregulated in the COVID-19 group compared with control. Functional annotations in Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Reactome showed that these proteins were highly enriched in infection, inflammation, and immunity-related pathways as well as spermatogenesis-associated biological process. Four proteins were significantly correlated with one or more semen parameters in Spearman's coefficient analysis, and seven were filtered as potential hub proteins from the interaction network by MCODE and Cytohubba algorithms. Furthermore, we verified the proteomic results by Western blot analysis of three representative proteins (ITLN1, GSTM2, and PSAP) in the validation cohort.
conclusionsIn summary, our study showed that acute asymptomatic COVID-19 could alter the seminal plasma protein profile without direct testicular infection and consequently lead to impaired semen quality. These novel findings should enlighten the physicians about the adverse effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on male fertility, and provide valuable resources for reproductive biologists to further decipher the molecular functions.
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