Abdulhalim S. Serafi

ABSTRACT Cigarette smoking is a lifestyle pattern. It is a major global health problem responsible for the decline in semen quality and an overall decline in male reproductive health. The main objective of the current study was therefore to evaluate the effect of cigarette smoking on sperm quality in young Saudi men living in the Western region of Saudi Arabia (Makkah). In this study, semen samples were collected from 100 men each (mild, moderate and heavy cigarette smokers) aged between 18 and 36 years with a mean age of 24.38 ± 9.58 years. All samples were collected by masturbation with the abstinence interval of sex or ejaculate of at least 72 hours, along with 100 aged matched healthy nonsmokers who served as controls. The percentage of abnormal sperm chromatin non-condensation, DNA fragmentation, and DNA methylation was found to be significantly higher in heavy smokers compared to mild / moderate / nonsmokers (p <.0005). These results indicate that heavy cigarette smoking negatively affects the conventional semen parameters including sperm chromatin condensation and sperm viability. We hypothesized that heavy cigarette smoking seems to be associated with sub-fertility in these males by reducing sperm quality in a dose-dependent manner. Keywords: Cigarette smoking, Sperm chromatin, DNA fragmentation and methylation, young Saudi men.

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of caffeinated energy drinks on penile mid shaft circumference and length, penile pulse amplitude, both systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and heart rate in response to erotic stimulation in young Saudi men living in Western region of Saudi Arabia (Makkah). In this free-living population study data was collected from100 men each (mild, moderate and heavy caffeinated energy drinkers) ages between 20 and 35 years with a mean age of 26.42 ± 10.69 years along with 100 age matched healthy nondrinkers who served as controls. Heavy caffeinated energy drinker group showed a significant increase (p<0.0005) in mid shaft penile circumference and length and penile pulse amplitude where as both systolic and diastolic blood pressures and heart rate also exhibited a significant increase (P<0.025, P<0.0005 and P<0.005 respectively. However this difference was found to be non-significant in mild drinker group when compared with nondrinker controls. We hypothesized that heavy caffeine intake seems to be associated with an improved fertility which in turn may produce a beneficial effect on men who have erectile dysfunctions. Our finding further indicated that long term intake of caffeinated drinks significantly increased the blood pressure as well as heart rate in healthy men which may act as a potential risk of hypertensive tendencies especially in adolescents Saudi population. We conclude that heavy use of caffeinated energy drinks causes significant alteration in the penile vasculature and cardiodynamics in a dose-dependent manner. Keywords: Caffeinated energy drinks, penile vasculature, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate variability, young Saudi men

Cigarette smoking is a lifestyle pattern. It is a major public health problem globally and is considered as one of the most important factor responsible for decline in semen quality and overall decline in male reproductive health. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of cigarette smoking on semen quality in young Saudi men living in Western region of Saudi Arabia (Makkah). In this free-living population study semen samples were collected from100 men each (mild, moderate and heavy cigarette smokers) ages between 20 and 35 years with a mean age of 26.42 ± 10.69 years by masturbation with the abstinence interval of sex or ejaculate of at least 72 hours, along with 100 age matched healthy nonsmokers who served as controls. Heavy cigarette smoker group was found to be associated with significantly low levels of sperm count, concentration, sperm motility, semen volume, and percentage of morphologically (p<0.0005). We hypothesized that heavy cigarette smoking seems to be associated with sub-fertility in these males by reducing semen quality in a dose-dependent manner. Keywords: Cigarette smoking, seminal parameters, young Saudi men