Male fertility hurt by Chlamydia

Washington -- Chlamydia, known to damage female fertility, also damages male fertility, researchers in Spain found.

Researchers at the Canalejo University Hospital, in La Coruna, Spain, analyzed the sperm of 143 men infected with Chlamydia and another urinary tract infection. The study participants hadn't fathered children.

The study found that the degree of DNA fragmentation in the subject's sperm was three times higher than in healthy men's. As well as a low sperm count, the study participants had a higher number of sperms with defective shapes and the sperm had poor motility.

The researchers treated 95 of the infertile men with antibiotics for four month and found their sperm DNA fragmentation improved by 36 percent and 13 percent of the man got their partners pregnant. However, by the end of the treatment period 86 percent of the couples became pregnant.

The findings were presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine Conference, in Washington.

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