الفهرس 
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Abstract
Introduction: It was reported that viral infections contribute to male infertility either by direct toxic effects on cells in the male reproductive tract, and/or indirectly by causing a local inflammatory, or immunological, reaction. HCV is an RNA virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae, with a diameter of 40–50 nm. The HCV genome is a single-stranded RNA molecule of 9500 kDa that encodes a precursor polypeptide of 3000 amino-acid residues. from an epidemiological point of view, discrepancies have been reported about the ability of HCV to be transmitted via sexual intercourse, with some reports supporting a possible role of this way of infection.
Aim of the work: Aim of the work was to study the effect of HCV infection on semen parameters and to compare the serum viral load with viral load in the seminal plasma.
Subjects & Methods: 30 patients matching our inclusion and exclusion criteria were evaluated with computerized semen analysis (CASA). 15 of the patients were fertile and 15 were infertile, in the same time 30 fertile healthy controls were also evaluated by CASA.
Results: 2.35% of the HCV infected patients were infertile. There were non significant differences between CASA parameters of patients with positive and negative HCV in semen. A significant positive correlation was found between the viral loads in blood and teratozoospermic index. A strong significant negative correlation was found between HCV RNA viral load in semen and sperm deformity index. Significant differences were also seen when comparing infertile HCV infected patients and controls regarding straight line velocity, percentage of straightness and normal morphology percentage
Conclusions: HCV affects male fertility mainly through sperm motility and morphology. No significant differences in CASA were found between fertile and infertile HCV infected patients. The percentage of HCV infected patients that found to be able to pass the virus in semen in a detectable level was 13.33%. 75% of these patients were fertile. The prevalence of infertility among HCV infected males with exclusion of other possible factors affecting male fertility is much lower than the prevalence of infertility in general population and found to be only 2.33% in our study.