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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on November 29, 2006
Human Reproduction 2007 22(3):751-755; doi:10.1093/humrep/del449
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Twin pregnancy possibly associated with high semen quality

Camilla Asklund1,3, T.K. Jensen1, N. Jørgensen1, A. Tabor2, L. Sperling2 and N.E. Skakkebæk1

1 University Department of Growth and Reproduction 2 The Ultrasound Clinic, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Denmark

3 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: University Department of Growth and Reproduction, GR-5064, Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej 9, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. E-mail: camilla.asklund{at}rh.hosp.dk

BACKGROUND: Recent studies found an association between a long waiting time to pregnancy (TTP) and reduced probability of twinning and a reduced dizygotic (DZ) twinning rate in subfertile men. However, it remains unsolved whether semen quality is associated with twin offspring. We therefore studied the semen quality in a group of fathers of naturally conceived twins.

METHODS: In this study, 37 fathers of DZ twins and 15 fathers of monozygotic (MZ) twins participated, and 349 normal fertile men served as a reference group. All men delivered a semen sample, underwent a physical examination and completed a questionnaire.

RESULTS: After adjustment, fathers of DZ and MZ twins had 3.6 (95% CI 1.7; 5.4) and 4.6 (95% CI 2.0; 7.2) percentage points higher percentage of sperm cells with normal morphologic features and percentages of motile sperm cells were 11.5 (95% CI 7.2; 15.9) and 12.5 (95% CI 6.3; 18.6) percentage points higher than the reference group (P < 0.01). Fathers of DZ twins and MZ twins had 24.7 (95% CI; –9.1; 71.3) and 17.0% (–25.2%; 83.0%) higher sperm concentration than the reference group.

CONCLUSIONS: Fathers of DZ twins had a better semen quality than the reference group, which supports the assumption that spontaneous DZ twinning rate can be used as a sensor of male fecundity of a population.

Key words: dizygotic twinning rates/semen quality/fecundity/twinning

Submitted on August 11, 2006; resubmitted on October 9, 2006; accepted on October 16, 2006.


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