Double blow as microplastics found in penises for first time and ‘symptomless’ STI threatens male fertility
MEN have been dealt double blow in health news this week.
Scientists have found microplastics in penises for the first time, while a stealthy STI could be linked to male infertility.
Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic, often so small they can’t be detected with the naked eye.
A a result of plastic in industrial waste and consumer goods breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces, these particles make their way into food, water supplies and even into the air.
Specs of plastic debris were discovered in the penile tissue of five men undergoing erectile dysfunction surgery.
Seven different types of microplastics were identified in 80 per cent of the samples, with some fragments measuring two micrometres – two thousandths of a millimetre.
Scientists labelled their discovery as “concerning” and said it raised questions about microplastics’ potential role in erectile dysfunction.
“The detection of microplastics in penile tissue raises inquiries on the ramifications of environmental pollutants on sexual health,” they said.
Previous research has identified microplastics in the lungs and blood, as well as men’s testes and semen.
Researchers behind the most recent study – published to the journal IJIR: Your Sexual Medicine Journal – said the penis could be particularly vulnerable to contamination with microplastics due to high blood flow during erections.
Dr Ranjith Ramasamy, co-author of the study and former director of reproductive urology at the University of Miami, said: “The penis is a vascular, spongy organ so is definitely vulnerable.
“We know erectile dysfunction is multifactorial. You need good hormones, nerves, blood supply, and good smooth muscle tissue for an erection to happen.
“We found that microplastics were present in the smooth muscle of the penis.
“All we know is that they are not supposed to be there, and we suspect that it could lead to smooth muscle dysfunction.”
Scientists detected microplastics in four out of the five men undergoing surgery for an inflatable penile prosthesis, a treatment option for men with severe erectile dysfunction.
The microplastics detected ranged between 0.5mm and 0.002mm in size.
Almost half of were found to be polyethylene terephthalate, commonly used to make clothes and food and drink packaging.
Polypropylene – a harder microplastic also used in packaging – made up 34.7 per cent of the plastic debris found in penile tissue.
Scientists said: “Our study presents a ground-breaking investigation into the presence of microplastics in penile tissue.
“The detection of microplastics in penile tissue raises inquiries on the ramifications of environmental pollutants on sexual health.”
Dr Ramasamy said more research was needed to determine whether microplastics play a role in erectile dysfunction and male infertility.
“As a society, we need to be cognisant that drinking water from plastic water bottles, getting takeout food in plastic containers and, even worse, microwaving food in plastic containers, are contributing to having things in our body that should not be there,” he said.
“And the penis is the one organ that everybody will pay attention to.”
Erectile dysfunction – when you’re unable to get or keep an erection – is extremely common, especially in men over the age of 40.
The NHS estimates that half of all men between the ages of 40 and 70 will have it to some degree.
It’s advised you see a GP about it if it keeps on happening, as it could be a sign of an underlying health condition.
Stealthy STI possibly linked to male infertility
In other men’s sexual health news, scientists have suggested that hepatitis E may be a sexually transmitted infection and could be linked to male infertility.
Hepatitis E is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV), which can infect both humans and animals.
Most people will not have symptoms from HEV infection but it can also cause liver failure and, in rare cases, it can prove fatal to pregnant women.
The illness is particularly common in parts of the world where sanitation is poor.
It tends to be spread through drinking water contaminated by faeces from people infected with the virus, but in the UK hepatitis E is usually picked up from eating under-cooked meat.
Researchers at The Ohio State University examined how HEV affects pigs, as their reproductive anatomy closely resembles that of humans.
They infected pigs with the virus, finding that the animals had no symptoms despite the bug cropping up in their blood and faeces.
The study results – published in in the journal PLOS Pathogens – showed that HEV was present in pig sperm cells.
Lead author Kush Yadav said: “We can’t say they’re sitting on the outside or inside the sperm cells.
“We don’t know if the hepatitis E virus can actually complete a replication cycle in the sperm head, so we’re thinking sperm is more of a carrier than a susceptible cell.”
Researchers used fluorescence microscopy to examine pig semen 84 days after the animals were infected with HEV.
Signs and symptoms of hepatitis E
MOST people will have no symptoms of hepatitis E and will get better without ever knowing they have had it.
For people who do get symptoms the most common are:
- Jaundice (a yellow colour to your eyes and skin)
- Feeling very tired
- Tummy pain
- Not feeling hungry
- Feeling sick
- Fever
- Aches and pains in your joints
There are a lot of conditions that can cause these types of symptoms so you will need to have tests to find out if they are caused by hepatitis E.
If symptoms occur, they usually appear anywhere from two to six weeks after exposure to HEV.
Source: British Liver Trust
They detected viral particles in 19 per cent of sperm cells collected from infected pigs.
Scientists said HEV seemed to be damaging the pigs’ sperm, potentially altering its structure and decreasing its ability to move through seminal fluid.
They couldn’t show whether the changes to the animals’ sperm translated into fertility problems, but claimed the link between HEV infection and human infertility suggests this could be the case.
Co-author of the study Scott Kennedy said: “In between 20 and 50 per cent of documented male infertility cases, they don’t really know what’s causing it.
“So we’re pushing for more screening for hepatitis E virus as a potential cause for those cases.”
Dr Yadav added: “Our study is the first one demonstrating this association of hepatitis E virus with the sperm cell.
“Our future studies will be directed toward understanding the association between hepatitis E virus and the sperm head more mechanistically, and using animal models to see whether sexual transmission of the virus is happening – because in the human setting, we still don’t know.”