Carne em excesso pode prejudicar feto masculino

o artigo original pode ser lido na íntegra em: http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/22/6/1497

Semen quality of fertile US males in relation to their
mothers’ beef consumption during pregnancy

S.H.Swan 1,4, F.Liu 1, J.W.Overstreet 2, C.Brazil 2 and N.E.Skakkebaek 3

1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Avenue,
Rochester, NY 14624, USA; 2ITEH, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA; 3University Department of Growth and
Reproduction, Rigshospitalet, GR-5064, Blegdemsvej 9-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
4Correspondence address. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry,
601 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester, NY 14624, USA. E-mail: Shanna_swan@urmc.rochester.edu.

BACKGROUND: To look at possible long-term risks from anabolic steroids and other xenobiotics in beef, we examined
mens’ semen quality in relation to their mother’s self-reported beef consumption during pregnancy.

METHODS:
The study was carried out in five US cities between 1999 and 2005. We used regression analyses to examine semen
parameters in 387 partners of pregnant women in relation to the amount of beef their mothers reported eating
while pregnant. Mothers’ beef consumption was also analysed in relation to the son’s history of previous subfertility.

RESULTS: Sperm concentration was inversely related to mothers’ beef meals per week (P 5 0.041). In sons of ‘high
beef consumers’ (>7 beef meals/week), sperm concentration was 24.3% lower (P 5 0.014) and the proportion of men
with sperm concentration below 20 3 106/ml was three times higher (17.7 versus 5.7%, P 5 0.002) than in men whose
mothers ate less beef. A history of previous subfertility was also more frequent among sons of ‘high beef consumers’
(P 5 0.015). Sperm concentration was not significantly related to mother’s consumption of other meat or to the man’s
consumption of any meat.

CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that maternal beef consumption, and possibly xenobiotics
in beef, may alter a man’s testicular development in utero and adversely affect his reproductive capacity.