The Effect of Antioxidants on Sperm Quality Parameters and Pregnancy Rates for Idiopathic Male Infertility: A Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Kun-Peng Li,Xue-Song Yang,Tao Wu

doi:10.3389/fendo.2022.810242

Kun-Peng Li, Xue-Song Yang + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2022.810242

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Abstract

PurposeMale infertility is a global public health issue recognized by the WHO. Recently, antioxidants are increasingly used to treat idiopathic male infertility. However, the lack of available evidence has led to the inability to rank the effects of antioxidants on the sperm quality parameters and pregnancy rate of infertile men. This network meta-analysis studied the effects of different antioxidants on the sperm quality and pregnancy rate of idiopathic male infertility.MethodsWe searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The weighted mean difference (WMD) and odds ratio (OR) were applied for the comparison of continuous and dichotomous variables, respectively, with 95% CIs. The outcomes were sperm motility, sperm concentration, sperm morphology, and pregnancy rate.ResultsA total of 23 RCTs with 1,917 patients and 10 kids of antioxidants were included. l-Carnitine, l-carnitine+l-acetylcarnitine, coenzyme-Q10, ω-3 fatty acid, and selenium were more efficacious than placebo in sperm quality parameters. l-Carnitine was ranked first in sperm motility and sperm morphology (WMD 6.52% [95% CI: 2.55% to 10.05%], WMD 4.96% [0.20% to 9.73%]). ω-3 fatty acid was ranked first in sperm concentration (WMD 9.89 × 106/ml, [95% CI: 7.01 to 12.77 × 106/ml]). In terms of pregnancy rate, there was no significant effect as compared with placebo.Conclusionsl-Carnitine was ranked first in sperm motility and sperm morphology. ω-3 fatty acid was ranked first in sperm concentration. Coenzyme-Q10 had better effective treatment on sperm motility and concentration. Furthermore, high-quality RCTs with adequate sample sizes should be conducted to compare the outcomes of different antioxidants.

Highlights

Increasing evidence indicates that the incidence of infertility has gradually increased over the past decades
Unlike unexplained male infertility (UMI) with normal sperm parameters, the patients diagnosed with idiopathic male infertility have the presence of altered sperm characteristics without an identifiable cause
All the patients were diagnosed with idiopathic infertility with abnormal sperm parameters

Summary

Introduction

Increasing evidence indicates that the incidence of infertility has gradually increased over the past decades. Infertility affects about 15% of couples globally (1). Male factors are estimated to be present in about 50% of cases, and 20% of cases have common contributing female factors (2, 3). The current research on the causes of male infertility has made great progress, idiopathic male infertility is still a challenging condition to diagnose and manage (2). Unlike unexplained male infertility (UMI) with normal sperm parameters, the patients diagnosed with idiopathic male infertility have the presence of altered sperm characteristics without an identifiable cause. We have to rule out the cause of female factor infertility (4, 5)

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