To What Extent Do Ethnicity Impact Sperm Parameters and Pregnancy Rates in IUI Cycles?

Introduction

There is no existing data concerning comparison of sperm parameters and pregnancy rates in the Southern Israeli Arab and Jewish populations.

Aim

This study was designed to compare sperm parameters and pregnancy rates among Israeli Arabs and Jews in the same geographical region.

Materials and methods

This study included 1132 IUI consecutive cycles between 2009 and 2012. Four hundred and seventy of the cycles were conducted on the Arab population and 662 cycles on Jewish participants. Sperm preparation methods complied with WHO guidelines.

Results

Unlike Jewish participants, the mean age of Arab men, was significantly correlated with pregnancy rate (PR) (p=0.03). The PR of younger Arab men (19-34) compared to older (≥35) was significantly higher (6.3% vs. 1.8% respectively, p=0.02). No correlation was found between the mean age of Jewish and Arab women regarding PR. All sperm parameters: concentration, motility, progressive motility and TMC were lower in the Arab population compared to Jewish participants, (42 vs. 52X10⁶ p<0.001, 52% vs. 55% p=0.02, 41% vs. 44% p=0.01 and 59 vs. 83X10⁶ p6 vs. 7.5X10⁶ p<0.001). PR of Arab men in stratification to woman age was lower compared to Jews (4.7% vs. 6.8%). Nevertheless, the difference in PR did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusions

Our data demonstrates that sperm parameters in Arabs residing in Southern Israel are significantly lower than Jewish participants in the same area. This finding is reflected in the PR. A follow up study with a larger cohort is needed to verify our results.