The role of oral antioxidants in the improvement of sperm parameters in infertile men

期刊论文
发表日期：

2024年2月5日

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Georgios Kallinikas,
James N. Tsoporis,
Georgios Haronis,
Anastasios Zarkadas,
Dimitrios Bozios,
Vassilios Konstantinopoulos,
Diomidis Kozyrakis,
Despoina Mitiliniou,
Evangelos Rodinos,
Athanasios Filios,
Panagiotis Filios,
Gerasimos Vlassopoulos

摘要

Purpose

A variety of pathologic conditions may increase oxidative stress in semen resulting in structural modifications to spermozoa’s plasma membrane that interfere with sperm motility, morphology, and count. Antioxidants are currently being marketed to treat male infertility. In semen, antioxidants may decrease oxidative stress and potentially improve sperm parameters. In this narrative, mini-review we evaluated the effectiveness of antioxidants in infertility.

Methods

This mini-review of the current literature has been carried out through searching of the PubMed and Google scholar databases.

Results and conclusions

The literature review suggests that there is evidence that oral antioxidants such as selenium, carnitine, zinc, coenzymeQ10, vitamins E and C, etc. alone or in combinations, improve sperm count, motility, morphology as well as pregnancy rates in infertile men with idiopathic oligoasthenospermia. Unfortunately, most of these studies are poorly designed, limited by sample size, varying in dosage, differing in primary end points, and most notably lacking live birth data. Importantly, large randomized, well-designed, placebo-controlled trials are needed.