The effect of Russian COVID-19 vaccines on male fertility

Introduction. During the first year of the spread of the infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the only available measures to combat it were social distancing, wearing protective masks, early detection and isolation of infected patients and those who had contacted them. Later, since December 2020, vaccines became available as the main tool to combat the pandemic[1]. In the Russian Federation, 4 vaccines against COVID-19 are officially registered: Sputnik V, Sputnik Light, EpiVacCorona and CoviVac. It has been proven that the new coronavirus infection has a negative impact on male fertility, causing secondary hyponadism [2]. Objective. To assess the effect of COVID-19 vaccines on male fertility based on the level of sex hormones and pituitary hormones in the peripheral blood, as well as spermogram parameters, after a full course of vaccination. Materials and methods. The study involved 60 men aged 19 to 38 years. 30 subjects were vaccinated with the two-component vaccine Sputnik V, the remaining 30 subjects were vaccinated with the two-component vaccine EpiVacCorona. Peripheral blood (total testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin, estradiol) and ejaculate of the subjects were used as study material. Results. Analyzing the level of hormones in the peripheral blood, it was noted that all indicators after the full vaccination cycle were within the reference values. The parameters of LH and FSH in the subjects vaccinated with Sputnik V were significantly lower compared with the initial indicators. The level of testosterone (T) in patients vaccinated with EpiVacCorona was significantly higher compared with the indicator before vaccination (in both cases, p ≤ 0.05). As for the parameters of the spermogram, when comparing the indicators before and after vaccination, patients vaccinated with Sputnik V had a significantly higher parameter: sperm with normal morphology (p ≤ 0.05), in the group vaccinated with EpiVacCorona, the total motility of sperm and the class of «progressively motile» sperm were significantly higher after vaccination (p ≤ 0.05). In both groups, the MAR test score was significantly lower compared to the scores before vaccination (in both cases p ≤0.05). Conclusion. This observation demonstrated that COVID-19 vaccines do not have a negative impact on the male reproductive system. On the contrary, some peripheral blood and spermogram parameters had better results after vaccination. From this study, it can be concluded that the vaccines themselves, unlike the SARS-CoV-2 virus, do not have a pathophysiological effect on testicular tissue. Thus, vaccination is a safe and reliable method of protection, not only from the virus itself, but also from its complications.

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