Vascular health of fathers with history of intracytoplasmic sperm injection

Figures & data

Table 1. Patients’ characteristics.

Variable	ICSI (n = 34)	Control (n = 29)	p Value
Age (years)	48.49 (46.32 − 57.09)	47.19 (40.62 − 55.18)	0.061
Bodyweight (kg)	93.67 ± 15.79	90.91 ± 10.83	0.415
Height (cm)	181.86 ± 6.01	183.94 ± 5.15	0.150
BMI (kg/m^2)	28.32 ± 4.62	26.90 ± 3.34	0.174
Underweight (n (%))	0 (0)	0 (0)	0.357
Normal weight (n (%))	9 (26.47)	8 (27.59)
Overweight (n (%))	14 (41.18)	16 (55.17)
Obese (n (%))	11 (32.35)	5 (17.24)
Waist/hip-circumference ratio	0.97 ± 0.05	0.96 ± 0.06	0.723
Smoking status (n (%))^a	10 (29.41)	5 (17.86)	0.290
Paternal educational level	4.00 (3.00 − 5.00)	5.00 (5.00 − 5.00)	0.017*
Paternal age at birth (years)	38.52 (34.92 − 45.47)	33.53 (30.09 − 35.24)	<0.001***

ICSI: intracytoplasmic sperm injection; BMI: body mass index

^a28 control subjects were included in the analysis. Paternal educational level was assessed according to the German education system: no school leaving qualification (0), lower secondary school leaving certificate (1), intermediate secondary school leaving certificate (2), general qualification for university entrance (3), completed apprenticeship (4), and completed university degree (5). Data is presented as mean ± SD for normally distributed parameters and as median (IQR) for non-normally distributed parameters. Nominal data is presented as n (%). *p < 0.05; ***p ≤ 0.001.

Table 2. Diet quality, level of physical activity, and sedentary behavior.

Variable	ICSI (n = 34)	Control (n = 29)	p Value
MEDAS^a	5.85 ± 2.64	5.86 ± 2.48	0.983
Total MET-minutes per week^b	1950 (930–5005)	1510 (550–2355)	0.050
Recreational MET-minutes per week	480 (150–1290)	720 (270–1500)	0.476
Muscle strengthening activities (times/week)	0 (0 − 0.125)	0 (0–1)	0.711
Sedentary behavior (hours/day)	8.18 ± 3.25	9.74 ± 2.76	0.046*

ICSI: intracytoplasmic sperm injection; MEDAS: Mediterranean diet adherence score; MET: metabolic-equivalent

Data is presented as mean ± SD for normally distributed parameters and as median (IQR) for non-normally distributed parameters. Nominal data is presented as n (%).

^a 33 ICSI subjects were included in the analysis.

^b 32 ICSI subjects and 28 control subjects were included in the analysis.

*p < 0.05.

Table 3. Vascular function.

Variable	ICSI (n = 34)	Control (n = 29)	p Value
Pulse wave analysis
SBP (mmHg)^a	127.94 ± 11.38	124.91 ± 12.58	0.329
Elevated SBP (n (%))^a	13 (38.24)	9 (33.33)	0.692
DPB (mmHg)^a	86.32 ± 8.12	83.54 ± 8.58	0.201
Elevated DBP (n (%))^a	18 (52.94)	11 (40.74)	0.343
MAP (mmHg)^a	105.40 ± 9.21	102.53 ± 9.87	0.246
cSBP (mmHg)^a	122.38 ± 11.77	119.05 ± 11.99	0.280
cDBP (mmHg)^a	87.54 ± 8.41	84.69 ± 8.58	0.197
Heart rate (bpm)^a	58.38 ± 9.53	60.14 ± 8.90	0.465
AIx@75 (%)^a	10.29 ± 9.47	11.68 ± 13.42	0.652
PWV (m/s)^a	7.48 ± 0.83	7.01 ± 0.99	0.048*
Sonography of the common carotid artery
CCA CS (%)^b	6.61 ± 2.31	7.02 ± 1.99	0.463
CCA SR (1/s)^b	1.60 ± 0.53	1.84 ± 0.48	0.079
CCA Dis (mmHg^−1 × 10^−3)^c	319.67 ± 105.95	347.98 ± 99.05	0.294
Stiffness index β^d	4.97 (3.42 − 7.05)	3.50 (2.86–5.84)	0.019*
cIMT (mm)^e	0.63 ± 0.11	0.58 ± 0.09	0.056

ICSI: intracytoplasmic sperm injection; SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure; MAP: mean arterial pressure; cSBP: central systolic blood pressure; cDBP: central diastolic blood pressure; AIx@75: augmentation index averaged to a heart rate of 75 bpm; PWV: pulse wave velocity; CCA: common carotid artery; CS: peak circumferential strain; SR: peak strain rate; Dis: arterial distensibility

^a27 control subjects were included in the analysis. ^b33 ICSI subjects were included in the analysis. ^c33 ICSI subjects and 27 control subjects were included in the analysis. ^d32 ICSI subjects and 26 control subjects were included in the analysis. ^e33 ICSI subjects and 28 control subjects were included in the analysis.

Data is presented as mean ± SD for normally distributed parameters. Nominal data is presented as n (%). *p < 0.05.

Table 4. Age-adjusted vascular function.

Variable	ICSI (n = 34)	Control (n = 29)	p Value
SBP (mmHg)^a	127.66 ± 2.08	125.26 ± 2.34	0.451
DBP (mmHg)^a	85.74 ± 1.38	84.26 ± 1.56	0.486
MAP (mmHg)^a	104.97 ± 1.63	103.08 ± 1.83	0.451
cSBP (mmHg)^a	121.97 ± 2.05	119.57 ± 2.31	0.447
cDBP (mmHg)^a	86.98 ± 1.42	85.40 ± 1.59	0.469
Heart rate (bpm)^a	58.16 ± 1.61	60.41 ± 1.82	0.365
AIx@75 (%)^a	9.45 ± 1.87	12.74 ± 2.11	0.255
PWV (m/s)^a	7.30 ± 0.07	7.23 ± 0.08	0.491
Sonography of the common carotid artery
CCA CS (%)^b	6.76 ± 0.37	6.85 ± 0.39	0.872
CCA SR (1/s)^b	1.66 ± 0.08	1.77 ± 0.09	0.347
CCA Dis (mmHg^−1 × 10^−3)^c	323.91 ± 18.05	342.80 ± 20.02	0.493
Stiffness index β^d	6.31 ± 0.71	4.49 ± 0.79	0.099
cIMT (mm)^e	0.62 ± 0.02	0.60 ± 0.02	0.406

ICSI: intracytoplasmic sperm injection; SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure; MAP: mean arterial pressure; cSBP: central systolic blood pressure; cDBP: central diastolic blood pressure; AIx@75: augmentation index averaged to a heart rate of 75 bpm; PWV: pulse wave velocity; CCA: common carotid artery; CS: peak circumferential strain; SR: peak strain rate; Dis: arterial distensibility

The analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test for significance.

^a27 control subjects were included in the analysis. ^b33 ICSI subjects were included in the analysis. ^c33 ICSI subjects and 27 control subjects were included in the analysis. ^d32 ICSI subjects and 26 control subjects were included in the analysis. ^e33 ICSI subjects and 28 control subjects were included in the analysis. Data is presented as mean ± SD for normally distributed parameters.

Table 5. Blood lipid profile.

Variable	ICSI (n = 34)	Control (n = 29)	p Value
TC (mg/dL)	205.12 ± 36.52	198.24 ± 40.44	0.481
Increased TC (n (%))	19 (55.88)	14 (48.28)	0.547
LDL-C (mg/dL)	132.38 ± 32.38	124.41 ± 40.36	0.388
Increased LDL-C (n (%))	25 (73.53)	16 (55.17)	0.128
HDL-C (mg/dL)	51.32 ± 13.25	56.24 ± 17.17	0.205
Decreased HDL-C (n (%))	15 (44.12)	10 (34.48)	0.436
Non-HDL-C (mg/dL)	153.74 ± 37.60	142.03 ± 44.04	0.260
Increased Non-HDL-C (n (%))	27 (79.42)	18 (62.07)	0.128
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	121.50 (89.00 − 181.75)	149.00 (82.50 − 189.00)	0.831
Lp(a) (mg/dL)^a	8.00 (5.00 − 26.25)	9.00 (5.00 − 12.00)	0.895
Increased Lp(a) (n (%))^a	6 (20.00)	4 (13.79)	0.731

ICSI: intracytoplasmic sperm injection; TC: total cholesterol; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; non-HDL-C: non-HDL cholesterol; Lp(a): lipoprotein (a)

Data is presented as mean ± SD for normally distributed parameters and as median (IQR) for non-normally distributed parameters. Nominal data is presented as n (%).

^a30 ICSI subjects were included in the analysis.