# Is there a correlation between male partner’s previous tuberculosis and recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL)? – a single-center retrospective analysis

## TL;DR

This study explores if a male partner's history of tuberculosis increases the risk of recurrent pregnancy loss in couples.

## Contribution

It identifies a significant link between untreated male tuberculosis and idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss.

## Key findings

- Male partners with untreated tuberculosis history are more likely to experience idiopathic RPL.
- Tuberculosis in male partners correlates with higher sperm DNA fragmentation and lower testosterone.
- Adjusting for factors shows a strong statistical association between male tuberculosis and RPL.

## Abstract

The research on idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) mainly focuses on women, but recently researchers began to explore the potential contribution of male partners. Growing evidence suggests that male tuberculosis may contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes. We studied whether men’s previous tuberculosis may contribute to idiopathic RPL in early pregnancy.

A retrospective study on 182 couples with idiopathic RPL in early pregnancy (study group) and 260 couples with fertility (control group) who visited the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022 was conducted. Logistic regression analysis was performed to nvestigate the correlation between male partner’s previous pulmonary tuberculosis and idiopathic RPL.

Male partners accounted for 37.91 % of previous pulmonary tuberculosis in the study group, and the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) in the study group was higher than that in the control group (17.52 ± 7.87 vs. 7.79 ± 4.49, p=0.000). After adjusting for factors, Logistic regression analysis showed that male partners with previous tuberculosis history were prone to RPL (p=0.000), and male partners with untreated tuberculosis history were more prone to idiopathic PRL [treated tuberculosis history vs. untreated tuberculosis (OR 29.557, 95 % CI 6.437–135.708, p=0.000), no tuberculosis history vs. untreated tuberculosis history (OR 73.856, 95 % CI 13.139–415.150, p=0.000)]. Spearman correlation showed that the prevalence of tuberculosis in male partners was positively correlated with DFI (R=0.492, p=0.000) and negatively correlated with testosterone (R=−0.120, p=0.012).

Among the couples with idiopathic PRL, male partners with a history of pulmonary tuberculosis (especially untreated pulmonary tuberculosis) are more prone to PRL, which maybe caused by high DFI and low testosterone.