Baseline levels of seminal reactive oxygen species predict improvements in sperm function following antioxidant therapy in men with infertility
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Poor sperm function is a major cause of infertility. There is no drug therapy to improve sperm function. Semen oxidative stress is a recently identified pathway for sperm damage. Commercial antioxidants such as L-carnitine and acetyl-L-carnitine (LAL) are commonly self-administered by infertile men. However, concerns have been raised whether inappropriate LAL therapy causes reductive stress-mediated sperm damage. It is imperative to investigate whether: (1) LAL improves sperm function by reducing reactive oxidative species (ROS); (2) LAL has differential effects on sperm function between men with normal and elevated ROS. METHODS: A prospective cohort study of routine clinical practice was performed in infertile men with abnormal sperm quality. Changes in sperm function and semen ROS levels following three months of oral LAL therapy were compared between participants with baseline seminal normal ROS (≤10RLU/SEC/106 sperm; n = 29) and High ROS (>10 RLU/SEC/106 sperm; n = 15) levels measured using an established colorimetric-luminol method. RESULTS: In normal ROS group, sperm function did not change following LAL therapy. In high ROS group, LAL therapy reduced semen ROS fivefold, increased sperm count by 50% (mean count in mill/ml: 21.5 + 7.2, baseline; 32.6 + 9.5, post-treatment, P = .0005), and total and progressive sperm motility each by 30% (mean total sperm motility in % 29.8 + 5.0, baseline: 39.4 + 6.2, post-treatment, P = .004; mean progressive sperm motility in % 23.1 + 4.6, baseline: 30.0 + 5.5, post-treatment, P = .014 vs. baseline). CONCLUSIONS: We report for the first time that LAL only improves sperm quality in infertile men who have baseline high-ROS levels prior to treatment. These data have important potential implications for couples with male infertility and their clinicians.
Date Issued
2021-01
Date Acceptance
2020-08-06
Citation
Clinical Endocrinology, 2021, 94 (1), pp.102-110
ISSN
0300-0664
Publisher
Society for Endocrinology
Start Page
102
End Page
110
Journal / Book Title
Clinical Endocrinology
Volume
94
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2020 The Authors. Clinical Endocrinology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32895999
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Endocrinology & Metabolism
BLIND RANDOMIZED-TRIAL
COMBINED L-CARNITINE
L-ACETYL-CARNITINE
OXIDATIVE STRESS
ROS
fertility
male infertility
male reproductive health
semen
sperm
spermatogenesis
Endocrinology & Metabolism
1103 Clinical Sciences
1114 Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Date Publish Online
2020-09-07