COVID-19 Infection Alters Sperm RNA Content and Causes Anxiety in Future Generations
Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Oct 13, 2025 13 hours, 5 minutes ago
Medical News: A new study has revealed an unexpected and unsettling consequence of COVID-19—its potential to impact not only those infected but also their future children. Researchers found that male mice infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus showed changes in their sperm that were linked to anxiety-like behavior in their offspring. The findings raise important questions about how viral infections may leave behind molecular traces that affect generations to come.
COVID-19 Infection Alters Sperm RNA Content and Causes Anxiety in Future Generations
The research was led by scientists from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health in Australia, who investigated whether COVID-19 could cause heritable biological changes through the father’s reproductive cells. Using a controlled mouse model, they infected male mice with the virus and allowed them to recover before breeding them with healthy females. The offspring of these infected fathers displayed increased anxiety and stress-related behaviors compared to those from uninfected males. According to this
Medical News report, these behavioral changes were accompanied by clear molecular differences—specifically in the RNA composition of the fathers’ sperm.
How the Virus Alters Sperm
The study found that SARS-CoV-2 infection disrupted small non-coding RNAs in sperm. These RNAs do not alter the DNA sequence but play a vital role in regulating gene expression during embryo development. Researchers believe that these altered RNAs influence how the brain develops in the offspring, especially in the hippocampus—the area responsible for emotion, memory, and learning. Interestingly, the female offspring showed stronger anxiety-related behaviors, suggesting that the effect of paternal infection might differ between sexes.
From Fathers to Children—A Hidden Molecular Memory
The findings point toward an “epigenetic” inheritance mechanism, meaning the virus might indirectly program changes in sperm that persist long after recovery. When the team microinjected RNA taken from infected male sperm into fertilized eggs, the resulting offspring showed similar anxiety-like behavior. This experiment confirmed that sperm RNA changes were indeed driving the behavioral differences.
Although the study was conducted in mice, it highlights a crucial concern for humans. If similar effects occur in people, it would mean that even a temporary COVID-19 infection could alter sperm composition, leading to increased risk of anxiety or other neurodevelopmental issues in children. The researchers caution that more work is needed to confirm whether this phenomenon exists in humans and how long after infection such sperm changes might persist.
Broader Implications for Reproductive and Mental Health
This discovery adds to a growing body of evidence that infections, stress, and environmental factors can modify the information passed from parents to offspring through mechanisms beyond DNA. The implications are signifi
cant: if COVID-19 or other viruses can alter sperm RNA, this could contribute to the long-term rise in mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression among future generations.
Conclusion
The research underscores how COVID-19 may not be just a short-term illness but a virus with potential long-lasting biological echoes. It serves as a reminder of how viral infections can affect reproductive health and the mental well-being of future generations. If confirmed in humans, these insights could lead to recommendations for men recovering from COVID-19 to wait before conceiving and may guide the development of new strategies to minimize intergenerational effects.
The study findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal: Nature Communications.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64473-0
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https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/breaking-news-nirmatrelvir-in-covid-19-antiviral-paxlovid-impairs-sperm-function
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/coronavirus
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