Serum Testosterone Level and Semen Indices in Sulfur Mustard Exposed Men: Comment on 'Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay Analysis of Iranian Mustard Gas Casualties: A Long-Term Outlook'

摘要

We read with great interest the article by Safarinejad [1], which investigated an association between sulfur mustard (SM) exposure and sperm DNA damage using sperm chromatin structure assay on SM-injured and non-SM-injured infertile and fertile men. Accordingly, spermatozoa from SM-injured subjects had more abnormal chromatin than their non-SM-injured counterparts [1]. This article is quite interesting as the relationship between SM exposure and sperm DNA integrity has not been hitherto reported in the literature [1-3]. However, there are 2 controversial findings in the study by Safarinejad. In table 1 of the results section, Safarinejad recorded 122.7 nmol/1 as the mean value of serum testosterone level in non-SM-injured healthy fertile men (group 4 of the study).