COVID-19 can invade tissues in the testicles in some men who are infected with the novel coronavirus, according to a new study by a team of University of Miami Miller School of Medicine researchers.
Written content by Howard Cohen via Miami Herald
The UM study was published Tuesday in The World Journal of Men’s Health.
“These findings could be the first step in discovering COVID-19’s potential impact on male fertility and whether the virus can be sexually transmitted,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, an associate professor and director of reproductive urology at UM’s Miller School.
Ramasamy and eight colleagues analyzed testis tissue from the autopsies of six men who died of COVID-19 infection in Miami-Dade County. They found impaired sperm function in three of the testis specimens and evidence of COVID-19 using electron microscopy in the tissue of one.
“We also identified the presence of the virus in a man who underwent a testis biopsy for infertility but had a previous history of COVID-19. So the patient tested negative and was asymptomatic after having COVID-19 but still showed the presence of the virus inside the testes,” Ramasamy said in a statement.
The COVID-19-positive autopsy patients’ ages ranged from 20 to 87, according to the health journal.
The COVID-19-negative patients’ ages ranged from 28 to 77.
The average length of time from the first positive COVID-19 test to death was 11 days, with one case tested after the man’s death.
The age of the live patient with antibody seroconversion post-COVID-19 infection was 28.
WHY COVID-19 MIGHT AFFECT TESTICLE FUNCTION
“This is the first published research to report on the case of a live patient to demonstrate the presence of COVID-19 in testis tissue of a patient who recovered from the virus. The finding is novel, remarkable, and certainly worthy of further exploration,” Ramasamy said.
Researchers know that COVID-19 can affect the lungs, heart, kidneys and liver. But until UM’s study, little was known about the pathogenesis of the virus in the testes, The World Journal of Men’s Health reported. Read more from Miami Herald.
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