Evidence mapPaperPMID 41827997Full record

ReviewDiagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)2026

Prostatitis-Related Male Infertility: From Inflammation and Dysbiosis to Sperm DNA Damage.

Aris Kaltsas, Nikolaos Pantazis, Vasileios Tzikoulis, Christos Roidos, Natalia Palapela, Chara Tsiampali, Evangelos N Symeonidis, Athanasios Zachariou, Nikolaos Sofikitis, Fotios Dimitriadis

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Aris KaltsasThird Department of Urology, Attikon University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece.ORCID 0000-0003-4651-312X
Nikolaos PantazisFirst Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Vasileios TzikoulisFirst Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.ORCID 0000-0001-8265-1605
Christos RoidosFirst Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.ORCID 0009-0009-2566-5125
Natalia PalapelaMedical Faculty, Medical University of Sofia, 1431 Sofia, Bulgaria.
Chara TsiampaliIndependent Researcher, 55131 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Evangelos N SymeonidisDepartment of Urology II, European Interbalkan Medical Center, 55535 Thessaloniki, Greece.ORCID 0000-0002-6360-0762
Athanasios ZachariouDepartment of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.ORCID 0000-0002-5287-4450
Nikolaos SofikitisDepartment of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
Fotios DimitriadisThird Department of Urology, Attikon University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece.ORCID 0000-0003-1198-9144

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Prostatitis includes infectious and noninfectious inflammatory phenotypes that can impair male reproductive potential and may influence couple-level reproduction via seminal inflammatory and microbial exposure. This review summarizes mechanisms linking prostatic inflammation and dysbiosis to semen dysfunction and sperm DNA damage and proposes an infertility-oriented diagnostic and management framework. This is a narrative review of clinical and translational evidence addressing semen inflammation, oxidative stress, sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF), microbiome signatures, and reproductive outcomes in prostatitis (National Institutes of Health (NIH) categories I-IV). Across prostatitis phenotypes, leukocytospermia and elevated seminal cytokines (especially interleukin-8) are associated with impaired motility, altered viscosity and liquefaction, oxidative stress, and higher SDF. Persistent infection or dysbiosis may sustain immune activation and redox injury, while ductal remodeling and pain-related sexual dysfunction can further reduce natural conception. Seminal cytokines and microbes may affect female reproductive tract biology, although clinical outcome data remain limited. Prostatitis-related infertility requires evaluation beyond routine semen analysis. A biomarker-guided workup integrating inflammatory markers, oxidative stress testing, targeted microbiology (culture plus nucleic acid amplification tests when indicated), SDF testing in selected men, and imaging when obstruction is suspected can identify treatable drivers and guide timing and selection of assisted reproduction strategies. Future studies should standardize fertility endpoints and validate biomarker-guided and microbiome-directed interventions.

Indexed as

assisted reproductionchronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndromeinterleukin-8leukocytospermiamale infertilityoxidative stressprostasomesprostatitisseminal microbiomesperm DNA fragmentation

Identifiers

PMID41827997
PMCPMC12985220

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.