Impact of Metabolic Health on Sperm Epigenetic Marks in Humans

Other illness

• Chronic kidney disease stage 4 or 5 (including end-stage renal disease);
• Congestive heart failure, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II, III or IV;
• History of myocardial infarction, unstable angina or revascularization within the past 6 months;
• Active genitourinary infection;
• Cancer (except localized non-melanoma skin cancers) or use of chemotherapy agents within 5 years;
• Use of steroid hormones (including testosterone), other than inhalers for reactive airway disease

Lab values

• Hepatic disease, including serum alanine transaminase (ALT) or aspartate aminotransferase (AST) greater than or equal to 3 times the upper limit of normal; hepatic synthetic insufficiency as defined as serum albumin \< 3.0 g/dL; or serum bilirubin \> 2.0;

Other

• Severe diabetic retinopathy;
• Testicular volume \<12 mL (assessed using Prader orchidometer);
• Hypogonadism, defined as total testosterone \<250 ng/dl;
• Hyperprolactinemia, defined as prolactin \>18 ng/ml;
• Hyperestrogenism, defined as estradiol \>42 pg/ml;
• Cryptorchidism;
• Cigarette smoking;
• Active alcohol abuse or substance abuse;
• Use of nitrates or guanylate cyclase stimulators;

• Male, age 18-65 years
• Willing and able to provide informed consent and follow all study procedures, including providing sperm specimens 3 months apart.
• Type 1 or type 2 diabetes diagnosis confirmed by an endocrinologist (for participants in the diabetes groups)
• HbA1c \> 7% (for participants in the diabetes groups)
• Overweight (BMI \> 25 kg/m2) (for all groups, to ensure groups are similar)