Recreational Drug Misuse and Its Potential Contribution to Male Fertility Levels’ Decline: A Narrative Review
Recreational drug intake may be associated with a range of medical untoward consequences, including male infertility. However, as the related evidence is still limited, the main outcome of this review is to provide a better understanding of the existence of any association between recreational drug...
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| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/12/11/1582 |
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| author | Nicolò Schifano Stefania Chiappini Alessio Mosca Andrea Miuli Maria Chiara Santovito Mauro Pettorruso Paolo Capogrosso Federico Dehò Giovanni Martinotti Fabrizio Schifano |
| author_facet | Nicolò Schifano Stefania Chiappini Alessio Mosca Andrea Miuli Maria Chiara Santovito Mauro Pettorruso Paolo Capogrosso Federico Dehò Giovanni Martinotti Fabrizio Schifano |
| author_sort | Nicolò Schifano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recreational drug intake may be associated with a range of medical untoward consequences, including male infertility. However, as the related evidence is still limited, the main outcome of this review is to provide a better understanding of the existence of any association between recreational drug misuse and male fertility levels’ decline. Whilst searching the MEDLINE/PubMed, a comprehensive overview of the literature regarding male infertility and substances of abuse (e.g., phytocannabinoids, opiates/opioids, stimulants, ‘herbal highs’, psychedelics, and ‘novel psychoactive substances) was here undertaken. Due to the paucity of robust, high-quality, empirical, human studies, a narrative strategy was here preferred over a systematic approach. Relevant data are qualitatively analyzed and presented in a table. Although most available evidence is in support of a detrimental role of cannabis on human spermatogenesis, a few remaining studies failed to document any effect of this drug on seminal quality, and it is not clear to which extent this drug impacts fertility rates/time to pregnancy. The current understanding of the impact of opiate-, cocaine- and amphetamine/stimulant-misuse on human reproduction is widely unknown, and most studies dealing with this matter represent only an extrapolation of data derived from specific clinical circumstances. Although the message of ‘no smoking, no alcohol and no street drugs’ should always be offered as good health advice to all patients seeking medical help for fertility issues, robust scientific clinical evidence in support of a direct detrimental impact of recreational drugs on spermatogenesis is scant to date. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:26:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8a56a965d9344ce1836df09f3f573e69 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:26:31Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-8a56a965d9344ce1836df09f3f573e692023-11-24T07:50:10ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252022-11-011211158210.3390/brainsci12111582Recreational Drug Misuse and Its Potential Contribution to Male Fertility Levels’ Decline: A Narrative ReviewNicolò Schifano0Stefania Chiappini1Alessio Mosca2Andrea Miuli3Maria Chiara Santovito4Mauro Pettorruso5Paolo Capogrosso6Federico Dehò7Giovanni Martinotti8Fabrizio Schifano9Department of Urology, ASST Sette Laghi–Circolo e Fondazione Macchi Hospital, 21100 Varese, ItalyPsychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire AL10 9EU, UKDepartment of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G. D’Annunzio” University, 66100 Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G. D’Annunzio” University, 66100 Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G. D’Annunzio” University, 66100 Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G. D’Annunzio” University, 66100 Chieti, ItalyDepartment of Urology, ASST Sette Laghi–Circolo e Fondazione Macchi Hospital, 21100 Varese, ItalyDepartment of Urology, ASST Sette Laghi–Circolo e Fondazione Macchi Hospital, 21100 Varese, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, “G. D’Annunzio” University, 66100 Chieti, ItalyPsychopharmacology, Drug Misuse and Novel Psychoactive Substances Research Unit, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire AL10 9EU, UKRecreational drug intake may be associated with a range of medical untoward consequences, including male infertility. However, as the related evidence is still limited, the main outcome of this review is to provide a better understanding of the existence of any association between recreational drug misuse and male fertility levels’ decline. Whilst searching the MEDLINE/PubMed, a comprehensive overview of the literature regarding male infertility and substances of abuse (e.g., phytocannabinoids, opiates/opioids, stimulants, ‘herbal highs’, psychedelics, and ‘novel psychoactive substances) was here undertaken. Due to the paucity of robust, high-quality, empirical, human studies, a narrative strategy was here preferred over a systematic approach. Relevant data are qualitatively analyzed and presented in a table. Although most available evidence is in support of a detrimental role of cannabis on human spermatogenesis, a few remaining studies failed to document any effect of this drug on seminal quality, and it is not clear to which extent this drug impacts fertility rates/time to pregnancy. The current understanding of the impact of opiate-, cocaine- and amphetamine/stimulant-misuse on human reproduction is widely unknown, and most studies dealing with this matter represent only an extrapolation of data derived from specific clinical circumstances. Although the message of ‘no smoking, no alcohol and no street drugs’ should always be offered as good health advice to all patients seeking medical help for fertility issues, robust scientific clinical evidence in support of a direct detrimental impact of recreational drugs on spermatogenesis is scant to date.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/12/11/1582substance abusedrug abusesubstance dependencemale infertility |
| spellingShingle | Nicolò Schifano Stefania Chiappini Alessio Mosca Andrea Miuli Maria Chiara Santovito Mauro Pettorruso Paolo Capogrosso Federico Dehò Giovanni Martinotti Fabrizio Schifano Recreational Drug Misuse and Its Potential Contribution to Male Fertility Levels’ Decline: A Narrative Review Brain Sciences substance abuse drug abuse substance dependence male infertility |
| title | Recreational Drug Misuse and Its Potential Contribution to Male Fertility Levels’ Decline: A Narrative Review |
| title_full | Recreational Drug Misuse and Its Potential Contribution to Male Fertility Levels’ Decline: A Narrative Review |
| title_fullStr | Recreational Drug Misuse and Its Potential Contribution to Male Fertility Levels’ Decline: A Narrative Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recreational Drug Misuse and Its Potential Contribution to Male Fertility Levels’ Decline: A Narrative Review |
| title_short | Recreational Drug Misuse and Its Potential Contribution to Male Fertility Levels’ Decline: A Narrative Review |
| title_sort | recreational drug misuse and its potential contribution to male fertility levels decline a narrative review |
| topic | substance abuse drug abuse substance dependence male infertility |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/12/11/1582 |
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