Methotrexate is a first-line therapy for rheumatoid arthritis and also used to treat inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and several cancers. Current multinational recommendations indicate that both men and women should discontinue methotrexate at least three months before a planned pregnancy. Several previous investigations have proposed that men using methotrexate could have their semen damaged and thereby harm a future child, which needed further evidences.
A nationwide study was carried out by the researchers in Denmark, to establish the association or lack of it between paternal exposure to methotrexate within the 90-day period before pregnancy and congenital malformations and stillbirth in the offspring. The researchers examined records of all 849,676 live births, including 127 in which the fathers had been exposed to methotrexate within 90 days of pregnancy. Significant…
