Abstract
Male infertility has been associated with imbalance in the polyunsaturated fatty acids arachidonic acid/docosahexaenoic acid (AA/DHA) ratio. This study aimed to assess whether use of the potent antioxidant, lycopene, would affect this imbalance in seminal plasma and to test whether modulation of the AA/DHA ratio correlates with male fertility. The study included 44 males from infertile couples who were treated with lycopene for three months before scheduled IVF treatment. The control group was 13 fertile males who were also treated with lycopene for three months. AA and DHA levels were measured in seminal plasma before and after treatment. The outcome of IVF treatment after lycopene use in of males from infertile couples was recorded. The subjects were subdivided into 21 normozoospermic males from couples with idiopathic infertility and 23 males with semen abnormalities. Prior to the treatment with lycopene, the AA/DHA ratios in both subgroups of patients were significantly higher than in fertile controls and improved following treatment with lycopene. Improvement was more marked in the normospermic males. Seven spontaneous pregnancies (16%) occurred before the scheduled IVF treatment and 15 couples (42%) achieved pregnancy after IVF. Three months of treatment with lycopene led to a significant improvement in the AA/DHA ratio in seminal plasma of males from infertile couples and facilitated the spontaneous as well as IVF conception.
Highlights
Oxidative stress (OS), an imbalance between prooxidants and antioxidants, is considered an important contributing factor in many pathological conditions, including male infertility
Our study revealed a significant increase in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels and even more significant decrease in arachidonic acid (AA) levels, and a decrease in the acid/docosahexaenoic acid (AA/DHA) ratio, in seminal plasma after three months of lycopene treatment in both male partners in an infertile relationship (MPIR) groups
We have previously reported a positive effect of lycopene administration on DHA and AA and their ratio in normozoospermic men from infertile couples with excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in washed spermatozoa
Summary
Oxidative stress (OS), an imbalance between prooxidants and antioxidants, is considered an important contributing factor in many pathological conditions, including male infertility. Spermatozoa are susceptible to oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Omega-3 fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is susceptible to peroxidation due to its six double bonds. In contrast to DHA, excessive amounts of the omega-6 fatty acid, arachidonic acid (AA) have been shown to have pro-inflammatory effect. AA has been found to play important roles in sperm capacitation and the acrosome reaction[3], tight regulation of AA levels is essential because the balance between AA and DHA may affect the functional capacity of spermatozoa. Safarinejad et al found significantly higher AA/DHA ratios in blood serum and spermatozoa of infertile men than fertile normozoospermic males[5]
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