COVID-19 May Cause Damage To Your Testicles, Doctor Warns

Dhir Acharya - Mar 13, 2020

Recent studies suggest that COVID-19 may cause damage to your testicles, even cause fertility. They also advise male patients to get their fertility tested.

Over the past few weeks, COVID-19 has been attacking harshly, spreading quickly in over 120 countries around the world, resulting in over 128,000 confirmed cases and more than 4,700 deaths. When it enters the human body, it causes several symptoms such as coughing, fever, and shortness of breath. However, in a new study, doctors warn that the coronavirus could cause damage to men’s testicles.

New studies suggest that COVID-19 may cause damage to male patients' testicles

Although this link hasn’t been proven, researchers at Tongji Hospital, Wuhan, are urging male COVID-19 patients to get their fertility tested as soon as they recover. Led by Professor Li Yufeng, the study explained that the main damages resulting from the coronavirus are in the immune system and the lungs, but theoretically, testicles can be damaged too.

Hence, the professor’s team from Tongji Hospital’s Reproductive Medicine Center reminded that men who’s got infected with COVID-19 should take fertility examination once the rehabilitation is over, according to the study.

The coronavirus attacks cells with a combination of the S protein and the ACE2 enzyme. Apart from the lung, some other organs in the human body have this enzyme too, which include thyroid, the heart, kidney, and small intestine, the researchers wrote.

Specifically, testicles contain a lot of the ACE2 enzyme, which means the coronavirus can potentially cause damage here.

The testicles contain the ACE2 enzyme and the coronavirus tends to attack organs containing this enzyme

The researchers also wrote that theoretically, it’s possible that new crown infection will result in testicular damage, which in turn impacts androgen synthesis and sperm production. Obstructed sperm production will have an influence on men’s fertility, severe cases may even cause infertility. Meanwhile, androgen deficiency will probably impact men’s secondary sexual characteristics as well as sexual function, reducing their life quality.

While the link hasn’t been proven, this is not the first study that suggests a link between the coronavirus and fertility. In February, researchers from Nanjing Medical University’s Affiliated Suzhou Hospital published a study, in which they suggested that the coronavirus could possibly damage the testicles and kidneys.