Serum Testosterone-Estradiol Ratio in Toxoplasma-Seropositive Infertile Men: A Prospective, Single-Center Study

Background: the purpose of the current study was to compare the testosteroneestradiol (t:e2) ratio in toxoplasma gondii seropositive infertile men with seropositive and seronegative normozoospermic controls. methods: totally, 200 men with normal virilization, 100 with idiopathic infertility and 100 normozoospermic men, were included. participants underwent medical history assessment, physical examination, semen analysis, testing for t. gondii igm/ igg, and estimation of serum t:e2 ratios. statistical comparisons were done using ttest and chi-square with p<0.05 significance level. results: infertile cases were diagnosed with oligozoospermia (63%), oligoasthenozoospermia (34%), and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (3%). regarding anti-toxoplasma igg and igm antibodies, among infertile men, 34 tested positive for igg and 8 tested positive for igm. among cases tested positive for igg antibodies, 13 (38.2%) had disturbed t:e2 ratios. also, among the 12 igg-positive controls, 5 (41.7%) had disturbed t:e2 ratios (p=0.834). however, only 2 out of the 83 seronegative controls (2.5%) had disturbed t:e2 ratios (p<0.001). furthermore, 6 out of 8 igm-positive cases had altered t:e2 ratios, compared to 3 out of 5 igm-positive controls (p=0.568) and 2 out of 83 seronegative controls (p<0.001). the t:e2 ratio was significantly lower (8.68±1.95) among igm-positive and higher (13.04±3.78) among igg-positive cases when compared to seronegative controls (10.45±0.54) (p<0.001). there were no significant differences in t:e2 ratios between infertile men with positive igm or igg serology and the control group with the same serology. conclusion: a substantial number of infertile men with toxoplasmosis showed disrupted t:e2 ratios, highlighting the significance of anti-t. gondii-igg testing in individuals with abnormal ratios.