Vaccination with Sputnik V does not have a negative impact on reproductive health, RIA Novosti reports, citing research data. Russian scientists have also found that the semen parameters in men who have had COVID-19 undergo significant deterioration.
The effect of the coronavirus infection and the Sputnik V vaccine on male reproductive function was studied with the use of advanced molecular genetic methods by a group of researchers led by Leyla Adamyan, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, chief consultant specialist in gynecology of the Ministry of Health, Anton Buzdin, chief physician of the State Clinical Hospital No. 15, and Valery Vechorko, a MPhTI professor.
First, a comprehensive examination of 50 men aged 22 to 50 years was conducted, including an analysis of spermogram indicators, blood tests, an assessment of the parameters of the hormonal profile, an examination by a urologist/andrologist. Then biologists and specialists in bioinformatics joined the work to conduct an in-depth genetic analysis.
“It turned out that the semen parameters deteriorate significantly after COVID-19. The genes that experience the most severe impact are those associated with the processes of mitochondrial energy production and with the transmission of signals from the so-called Toll-like receptors. Moreover, in samples obtained after COVID-19 the expression of all protein-coding genes of the mitochondrial genome is reduced,” the study says.
Specialists also analyzed the reproductive function of 44 men vaccinated with Sputnik V vaccine. The data obtained indicate that vaccination has no effect on the level of hormones and spermogram indicators. The study did not reveal anomalies similar to those found to the after-effects of COVID-19.