Cat tube parasite can cut sperm head – and may provide infertility

Male fertility rates decreased During the last century. An analysis in 1992 indicated a steady decrease in sperm and quality Since the 1940s. A newer study found that male infertility rates It increased nearly 80 % from 1990 to 2019. The reasons for leading this trend remain a mystery, but often include the perpetrators Obesity, weak diet and environmental toxins.

Infectious diseases Like gonorrhea or chlamydia, factors that affect fertility in men are often ignored. The accumulated evidence indicates that a common parasite for one cell is called Toxoplasma Gundi It may also be a shareholder: A study in April 2025 showed for the first time that “human sperm They lose their heads When direct contact “with the parasite.

I am a microbiologist, and My laboratory studies Toxoplasma. This new study enhances emerging results that emphasize the importance of preventing this parasitic infection.

Many of the ways you can get a toxoplasm

The affected cats DefeCate Toxoplasma Eggs in a garbage box, garden, or other places in the environment, where they can be Humans or other animals. Water, shellfish, fruits, and unwashed vegetables The eggs of infectious parasites can also be shelter. In addition to eggs, the tissue cysts in meat from animals with warm blood can also be spread if not destroyed Cooking to the appropriate temperature.

While most parasite hosts can control the initial infection with a few symptoms, if any,, Toxoplasma It is still in the body for life Sleeping cysts in the brain, heart and muscle tissue. These cysts can revitalize and cause additional rings of severe diseases that harm critical organs. between 30 % and 50 % of the world’s population Permanently affected with Toxoplasma Because of many ways the parasite can spread.

Toxoplasma You can target male reproductive members

When infection, Toxoplasma Spread to Almost each muscle and structural muscle. Evidence for this Toxoplasma The genitals of human males can also be targeted for the first time During the peak of AIDS In the 1980s, when some patients came with Parasitic infection in their testicle.

While HIV patients are at risk Otherwise, healthy individuals. Photography studies of affected mice confirm this Toxoplasma Parasites Travele In addition to the brain and eyes within days of infection.

In 2017, my colleagues and I found it Toxoplasma It can also Forming cysts in mouse prostate. The researchers also noticed these parasites in Ejaculation for many animalsIt includes Human semenRaise the possibility Transition.

Knowing that Toxoplasma It can be resided in male genital organs that have pushed fertility analyzes in injured men. A small study of 2021 in Prague of 163 injured men Toxoplasma I found it More than 86 % of abnormal cases.

A 2002 study in China found this Period couples are probably To get Toxoplasma Infection from fertile husbands, 34.83 % compared to 12.11 %. A 2005 study in China also found this Men are likely to test sterilizers positively to Toxoplasma From fertile men. Not all studiesHowever, it produces a link between gossip disease and sperm quality.

Toxoplasma It can harm directly to human sperm

Exposoplasm in human infection in humans reflects, allowing researchers to treat questions that are not easy to examine in people. The testicle function and sperm production decreases sharply in Toxoplasma-injured Miceand Mice and Rams. The affected mice have a number of sperm are much lower and higher than Abnormal sperm.

In that study in April 2025, researchers from Germany, Uruguay and Chile noticed this Toxoplasma It can reach the testes And the rowThe tube where the sperm is tender and stored, Two days after the injury In mice. This result prompted the team to test what is happening when the parasite directly connects to the human sperm in the test tube.

Just five minutes after the parasite, 22.4 % of sperm cells have been cut off. The number of cut sperm has increased as they interact with parasites. The sperm cells that maintained their head were often Twin and Mischapet. Some sperm cells had holes in their head, indicating that the parasites were trying to invade them because they would infiltrate any other type of cell in the organs to which it sneaks. In addition to direct contact, Toxoplasma It may also harm sperm because the infection is strengthened Chronic. The inflammatory conditions in the male reproductive system Harmful in the production of sperm and function.

Researchers speculate that the harmful effects Toxoplasma Sperm may be contributing to significant global declines in male fertility over the past decades.

Prevention of toxoplasm disease

Evidence for this Toxoplasma It can sneak into male genital organs convincing, but whether this produces health problems in people still unclear. Testoblasm’s testicular disease shows that parasites can invade human eunuchs, however Symptom disease is very rare. Studies so far that show defects in the sperm of the infected men are very small so that fixed conclusions cannot be extracted at this time.

In addition, some reports indicate that the high rates of high in countries with high income countries It did not increase Over the past few decades, while male infertility has been rising, it is likely to be one part of the puzzle.

Regardless of the impact of this potential parasite on fertility, it is wise to avoid Toxoplasma. Infection can cause miscarriage or birth defects if someone acquires it for the first time during pregnancy, and it can be life -threatening for people with immunodeficiency. Toxoplasma It is also The main cause of the death of the food transmitted In the United States.

take Suitable care for your catImmediately clean the garbage box and wash your hands accurately after it helps reduce your exposure Toxoplasma. You can also protect yourself from this parasite by washing fruits and vegetables, Cook meat to appropriate temperatures Before consumption and avoiding Raw oysterand Raw water and Raw milk.

Bill SullivanProfessor of microbiology and immunity, Indiana University. This article has been republished from Conversation Under the creative public license. Read The original article.