Introduction: The impact of HPV on the male genital tract remains largely underestimated and underexplored, compared to the female side. Epidemiological data in men are scarce, and few studies have investigated the prevalence of HPV in the male population and spermogram abnormalities. The objective was to study the prevalence of Human papillomavirus seminal carriage in male genital tract and its association with the spermogram and spermocytogram abnormalities. Methods: From May to October 2021, patients were recruited in the SPERM-VIR study and provided semen samples. A total of 461 patients evaluated for fertility disorders was included. Individual informed consent was obtained to use biological, demographic, health, and lifestyle data. The spermogram, spermocytogram and sperm migration assays were carried out by the local Department of Medicine and Reproductive Biology. Then, overages of semen were sent to the local Virology Department for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) screening. Semen characteristics (semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, sperm motility, sperm morphology, spermatic denaturation, spermatic DNA fragmentation, sperm migration test results), demographic, health, and lifestyle data of patients carrying or not HPV in the sperm were compared using univariate and multivariate analyses with a logistic regression model. Results: HPV was detected in 22.34% of sperm samples. Multivariate analysis showed that positive HPV status was significantly associated with at least one spermogram abnormality, according to WHO 2021 standards (oligozoospermia and/or asthenozoospermia and/or teratozoospermia) with an adjusted odds ratio of 4.10 [95%CI2.32-7.25]. This statistical association was also found for the type of infertility (OR: 1.61 [95%CI1.00-2.57]), the notion of varicocele (OR: 3.99 [95%CI1.48-10.71]), Cryptorchidism/Testicular Ectopy/Monorchidism antecedent (OR: 3.54 [95%CI1.07-11.66]). Either mono or pluri-HPV infection were significantly associated with at least 1 spermogram abnormality (OR: 3.93 [95%CI2.08-7.41] and 4.11 [95%CI1.58-10.68], respectively), independently of HPV oncogenic risk. The association between HPV spermatic infection and the risk of infertility was significant in multivariate analysis (OR: 5.63 [95%CI3.16-10.01]) and by adjusting to propensity score (OR: 6.10 [95%CI3.33-11.21]). Conclusions: Our study is an additional argument supporting the impact of seminal HPV carrying on male infertility, especially in cases labelled as idiopathic. The determination of spermatic HPV could therefore be a part of the exploration of an infertile man SOURCE OF Funding: No external funding was received for this project.
