Is there a place for nutritional supplements in the treatment of idiopathic male infertility?
Objective: Infertility affects 15% of couples in fertile age. Male factor is a cause of infertility in almost half of cases, mainly due to oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT). The purpose of this study is to review the effects of nutritional supplements as medical treatment for idiopathic male infert...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PAGEPress Publications
2014-09-01
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| Series: | Archivio Italiano di Urologia e Andrologia |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.pagepressjournals.org/index.php/aiua/article/view/4749 |
| _version_ | 1828315318796156928 |
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| author | Davide Arcaniolo Vincenzo Favilla Daniele Tiscione Francesca Pisano Giorgio Bozzini Massimiliano Creta Giorgio Gentile Filippo Menchini Fabris Nicola Pavan Italo Antonio Veneziano Tommaso Cai |
| author_facet | Davide Arcaniolo Vincenzo Favilla Daniele Tiscione Francesca Pisano Giorgio Bozzini Massimiliano Creta Giorgio Gentile Filippo Menchini Fabris Nicola Pavan Italo Antonio Veneziano Tommaso Cai |
| author_sort | Davide Arcaniolo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: Infertility affects 15% of couples in fertile age. Male factor is a cause of infertility in almost half of cases, mainly due to oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT). The purpose of this study is to review the effects of nutritional supplements as medical treatment for idiopathic male infertility. Material and methods: A Pub Med and Medline review of the published studies utilizing nutritional supplements for the treatment of male infertility has been performed. Results: Clinical trials on Vitamin E, Vitamin A, Vitamin C. Arginine, Carnitine, N-Acetyl-Carnitine, Glutathione, Coenzyme Q10, Selenium and Zinc were reviewed. Although there is a wide variability in selected population, dose regimen and final outcomes, nutritional supplements both alone and in combination seems to be able to improve semen parameters (sperm count, sperm motility and morphology) and pregnancy rate in infertile men. Conclusions: There are rising evidences from published randomized trials and systematic review suggesting that nutritional supplementation may improve semen parameters and the likelihood of pregnancy in men affected by OAT. This improvement, however, is not consistent and there is a wide variation in the treatment regimens used. Well designed and adequately powered RCTs are needed to better clarify the role of nutritional supplements as treatment for male infertility. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:58:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0eaa9ddb6b0b4f61944c2efe8f8bf80e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1124-3562 2282-4197 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:58:21Z |
| publishDate | 2014-09-01 |
| publisher | PAGEPress Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Archivio Italiano di Urologia e Andrologia |
| spelling | doaj.art-0eaa9ddb6b0b4f61944c2efe8f8bf80e2022-12-22T02:38:44ZengPAGEPress PublicationsArchivio Italiano di Urologia e Andrologia1124-35622282-41972014-09-0186316417010.4081/aiua.2014.3.1643899Is there a place for nutritional supplements in the treatment of idiopathic male infertility?Davide Arcaniolo0Vincenzo Favilla1Daniele Tiscione2Francesca Pisano3Giorgio Bozzini4Massimiliano Creta5Giorgio Gentile6Filippo Menchini Fabris7Nicola Pavan8Italo Antonio Veneziano9Tommaso Cai10Department of Urology, University of Federico II, NaplesDepartment of Urology, University of Catania, CataniaDepartment of Urology, Santa Chiara Hospital, TrentoDepartment of Urology, University of Turin, TurinDepartment of Urology, Istituto Di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Policlinico San Donato, University of Milan, MilanDepartment of Urology, University of Federico II, NaplesDepartment of Urology, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Policlinico S.Orsola-Malpighi, BolognaDepartment of Urology, University of Pisa, PisaDepartment of Urology, University of Trieste, TriesteDepartment of Urology, Ospedale Madonna delle Grazie, MateraDepartment of Urology, University of Turin, Turin; Young Commision of Italian Andrological Society (SIA), RomeObjective: Infertility affects 15% of couples in fertile age. Male factor is a cause of infertility in almost half of cases, mainly due to oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT). The purpose of this study is to review the effects of nutritional supplements as medical treatment for idiopathic male infertility. Material and methods: A Pub Med and Medline review of the published studies utilizing nutritional supplements for the treatment of male infertility has been performed. Results: Clinical trials on Vitamin E, Vitamin A, Vitamin C. Arginine, Carnitine, N-Acetyl-Carnitine, Glutathione, Coenzyme Q10, Selenium and Zinc were reviewed. Although there is a wide variability in selected population, dose regimen and final outcomes, nutritional supplements both alone and in combination seems to be able to improve semen parameters (sperm count, sperm motility and morphology) and pregnancy rate in infertile men. Conclusions: There are rising evidences from published randomized trials and systematic review suggesting that nutritional supplementation may improve semen parameters and the likelihood of pregnancy in men affected by OAT. This improvement, however, is not consistent and there is a wide variation in the treatment regimens used. Well designed and adequately powered RCTs are needed to better clarify the role of nutritional supplements as treatment for male infertility.http://www.pagepressjournals.org/index.php/aiua/article/view/4749PhytotherapyMale fertilityOligoasthenotera-tozoospermiaN-Acetyl-CarnitineVitamin ESemen parameters |
| spellingShingle | Davide Arcaniolo Vincenzo Favilla Daniele Tiscione Francesca Pisano Giorgio Bozzini Massimiliano Creta Giorgio Gentile Filippo Menchini Fabris Nicola Pavan Italo Antonio Veneziano Tommaso Cai Is there a place for nutritional supplements in the treatment of idiopathic male infertility? Archivio Italiano di Urologia e Andrologia Phytotherapy Male fertility Oligoasthenotera-tozoospermia N-Acetyl-Carnitine Vitamin E Semen parameters |
| title | Is there a place for nutritional supplements in the treatment of idiopathic male infertility? |
| title_full | Is there a place for nutritional supplements in the treatment of idiopathic male infertility? |
| title_fullStr | Is there a place for nutritional supplements in the treatment of idiopathic male infertility? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is there a place for nutritional supplements in the treatment of idiopathic male infertility? |
| title_short | Is there a place for nutritional supplements in the treatment of idiopathic male infertility? |
| title_sort | is there a place for nutritional supplements in the treatment of idiopathic male infertility |
| topic | Phytotherapy Male fertility Oligoasthenotera-tozoospermia N-Acetyl-Carnitine Vitamin E Semen parameters |
| url | http://www.pagepressjournals.org/index.php/aiua/article/view/4749 |
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