The presence of anti-thyroid antibodies in ovarian follicles, as demonstrated for the first time in this study, may play a critical role in female infertility related to thyroid autoimmunity.
It is a known fact that abnormal seminal liquid specimens contain abnormal amounts of oxygen free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS), and that the use of antioxidant molecules both in vivo and in vitro leads to improvement of semen quality in terms of motility, reduction in DNA damage, with obvious consequences on the fertilization potential. Myo-inositol has been observed to have anti-oxidant properties and be present in much greater concentrations specifically in seminal liquid than in the blood. Moreover, there seems to be a direct relationship between myo-inositol and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and sperm motility. Studies performed in vivo have demonstrated that a dietary supplementation with myo-inositol in men undergoing assisted reproduction techniques may improve sperm quality and motility in oligoasthenospermia (OAT) patients. In the following study we utilized myo-inositol in vitro to verify its effect on semen quality in both normal and OAT patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) with respect to standard sperm medium. In vitro incubation of seminal liquid carried out using myo-inositol (Andrositol-Lab, Lo.Li. Pharma-Roma, Italy) at a concentration of 15 μl/ml improved progressive motility in both normospermia and OAT subjects. In our opinion, myo-inositol may prove to be a useful strategy to improve sperm preparation for clinical use in IVF.
The employment of ICSI in the absence of a male factor can reduce reproductive outcome in poor responder. Probably because of aging-related defects overcoming the advantage of sperm selection, the choice of IVF technique is not relevant to reproductive success when oocyte quality is compromised by reproductive aging. Although further randomized trials are needed to confirm our results, we propose that, in absence of male infertility, conventional IVF might be the technique of choice in young patients, especially in those aged below 35 years.
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