Reproductive Medicine Centre, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
Curr Opin Urol. 2011 Nov;21(6):519-26. doi: 10.1097/MOU.0b013e32834b7e7c.
A time-related negative trend in male reproductive function has been suggested. It has been hypothesized that this is due to exposure to chemicals interfering with the action of sex hormones. Also a negative effect of phytoestrogens on male fertility has been postulated. This review aimed to review the epidemiological evidence of deteriorating male reproductive function and summarize the most recent literature on exposure to endocrine disrupters and phytoestrogens in relation to male fertility and/or semen quality.
There is no doubt that the incidence of testicular cancer has increased through the past 50 years, a decline in sperm counts, if any, may have leveled off during the past decade. There are some reports indicating negative association between exposure to certain chemicals and sperm parameters such evidence has not been found for phytoestrogens. The majority of these studies have been limited to assessing postnatal exposure.
Although possible negative impact of industrial chemicals and male fertility is an important issue on the research agenda, so far, it has no clinical implications. The future research should focus on looking at the impact of low dose exposure to a mixture of chemicals, two generation studies and gene-environment interaction.
男性生殖功能呈与时间相关的下降趋势，据推测这是由于接触干扰性激素作用的化学物质所致。也有人假设植物雌激素对男性生育力有负面影响。本综述旨在回顾男性生殖功能恶化的流行病学证据，并总结关于内分泌干扰物和植物雌激素暴露与男性生育力和/或精液质量的最新文献。
毫无疑问，过去 50 年来睾丸癌的发病率有所增加，精子数量的下降，如果有的话，在过去十年中可能已经趋于稳定。有一些报告表明，某些化学物质的暴露与精子参数之间存在负相关，但尚未发现植物雌激素有这种证据。这些研究大多数仅限于评估产后暴露。
尽管工业化学物质对男性生育力可能产生负面影响是研究议程上的一个重要问题，但到目前为止，这并没有临床意义。未来的研究应集中于研究低剂量接触混合化学物质、两代研究和基因-环境相互作用的影响。
