Norwegian version

Male Reproductive Health

The research areas for this research group are sperm quality, testicular cancer and assisted fertilization.

This research group belongs to the Faculty of Health Sciences,

The incidence rate of testicular cancer in Caucasian men in Europe and North America has increased several fold over the past 50 years, and there are large geographical differences. This rapid change within a couple of generations suggests a major contribution of exogenous factors in the development of this disease.

The aetiology of testicular cancer is largely unknown, although genetic components and conditions during pregnancy are believed to play a role. The hypothesis is that hormonal disturbances during pregnancy are important in the development of this disease, and that polymorphisms in genes regulating sex hormone action play an aetiologic role. This is addressed in a large Norwegian-Swedish population of testicular patients and their parents (1000 case-parent triads), and controls. Furthermore, our material will be included in a European and North-American study.

The principal aim is to investigate polymorphic variation in relevant genes in order to contribute to the understanding of the aetiology of testicular cancer.

Head of research group

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  • More about the research group

    Concerns have been raised about male fertility as several studies have suggested that semen quality is declining worldwide. Although the reason for the decline remains unclear, it is suggested that environmental factors are mainly responsible for alteration in the semen quality.

    As overweight and obesity is also an increasing health issue worldwide, it is of importance to address how male reproductive health is affected. While changes in reproductive hormones in overweight and obese men caused by a high BMI seem to be well established, the effect of on semen quality is still debated. In this project, we investigate the relationship between BMI, semen quality parameters, reproductive hormones and several lipid hormones in normal-weight, overweight and obese men.

    Furthermore, we analyse whether metabolic syndrome could explain differences in semen quality within the group of obese males.