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Understanding the role of oxidative stress on sperm
function, and why men should take vitamins while
they are trying to conceive
Oxidative stress to sperm from free radicals can cause both loss of motility and DNA damage in sperm. This oxidative damage can even sometimes occur in the laboratory during assisted reproduction procedures. It occurs more readily in infertile men as they often have only about half of the levels of naturally occurring antioxidants in their semen, as compared to fertile men.
There is a growing body of literature in this area. It may be why some men have sperm that appear normal, but still are infertile (unexplained infertility).
Recent studies suggest that taking oral antioxidants, can protect sperm and improve their function by increasing the antioxidant levels in a man’s semen. There is enough evidence now, that probably any man that is trying to conceive and certainly those with poor sperm quality, or damage should take vitamins designed for men that are trying to conceive.
1. Saleh RA, Agarwal A, Sharma RK et al., Effect of cigarette smoking on levels of seminal oxidative stress in infertile men. Fert Ster 2003; 79:1469-70.
2. Agarwal A, Saleh RA, Bedaiwy MA. Role of reactive species in the pathophysiology of human reproduction. Fert Ster 2003; 79:829-43.
3. Loft S, Kold-Jensen T, Hjollund NH et al., Oxidative DNA damage in human sperm influences time to pregnancy. Hum Repro 2003; 18:1265-72.
4. Kodama H, Yamaguchi R, Fukuda J, et al. Increased oxidative deoxyribonucleic acid damage in the spermatozoa of infertile male patients. Fertil Steril 1997; 68:519-24.
5. Lopes S, Jurisicova A, Sun J-G, et al. Reactive oxygen species: potential cause for DNA fragmentation in human spermatozoa. Hum Reprod 1998; 13:896-900.
6. Pasqualotto FF, Sharma RK, Kobayashi H, et al. Oxidative stress in normospermic men undergoing infertility evaluation. J Androl 2001; 22: 316-322.
7. Pasqualotto FF, Sharma RK, Nelson DR, et.al. Relationship between oxidative stress, semen characteristics, and clinical diagnosis in men undergoing infertility investigation. Fertil Steril 2000; 73:459-464.
8. Potts RJ, Notarianni LJ, Jefferies TM. Seminal plasma reduces exogenous oxidative damage to human sperm, determined by the measurement of DNA strand breaks and lipid peroxidation. Mutation Research 2000; 447: 249-256.
9. Twigg J, Fulton N, Gomez E, et al. Analysis of the impact of intracellular reactive oxygen species generation on the structural and functional integrity of human spermatozoa: lipid peroxidation, DNA fragmentation and effectiveness of antioxidants. Hum Reprod 1998; 13:1429-1436.
10. Whittington K, Harrison S., Williams, KM et al. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and the outcome of diagnostic tests of sperm function. Intern’l Jour of Androl 1999; 22:236-242.
11. Wang X, Sharma RK, Sikka SC, Thomas AJ Jr, Falcone T, Agarwal A. Oxidative stress is associated with increased apoptosis leading to spermatozoa DNA damage in patients with male factor infertility. Fertil Steril 2003; 80: 531-5
12. Nakamura H, Kimura T, Nakajima A, Shimoya K, Takemura M, Hashimoto K, Isaka S, Azuma C, Koyama M, Murata Y. Detection of oxidative stress in seminal plasma and fractionated sperm from subfertile male patients. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 2002; 105: 155-60
13. Sikka SC. Relative impact of oxidative stress on male reproductive function. Curr Med Chem 2001; 8: 851-62
The beneficial role of dietary supplementation (vitamins)
1. Keskes-Ammar L, Feki-Chakroun N, Rebai T, Sahnoun Z, Ghozzi H, Hammami S, Zghal K, Fki H, Damak J, Bahloul A. Sperm oxidative stress and the effect of an oral vitamin E and selenium supplement on semen quality in infertile men. Arch Androl 2003; 49: 83-94
2. Xu DX, Shen HM, Zhu QX, Chua L, Wang QN, Chia SE, Ong CN. The associations among semen quality, oxidative DNA damage in human spermatozoa and concentrations of cadmium, lead and selenium in seminal plasma. Mutat Res 2003; 534: 155-63
3. Fraga CG, Motchnik PA, Shigenaga MK, Helbock HJ, Jacob RA, Ames BN. Ascorbic acid protects against endogenous oxidative DNA damage in human sperm. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1991; 88: 11003-6
4. Matalliotakis I, Koumantaki Y, Evangeliou A, Matalliotakis G, Goumenou A, Koumantakis E. L-carnitine levels in the seminal plasma of fertile and infertile men: correlation with sperm quality. Int J Fertil Womens Med 2000; 45: 236-40
5. Lenzi A, Lombardo F, Sgro P, Salacone P, Caponecchia L, Dondero F, Gandini L. Use of carnitine therapy in selected cases of male factor infertility: a double-blind crossover trial. Fertil Steril 2003; 79: 292-300
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