Effect of antioxidant supplementation containing L-carnitine on semen parameters: a prospective interventional study

Abstract

Objective: One of the remarkable causes of infertility in men is oxidative stress having a reducing effect on their reproductive function. In the present study, we investigated the efficacy of supplementation with antioxidants and L-Carnitine (contained in Androferti) on semen parameters. Methods: We included 180 infertile male patients diagnosed with idiopathic oligoastenoteratozoospermia (OAT) in this study, and we analyzed the semen sample from 59 patients before and after oral antioxidant treatment, with the commercial name of Androferti (containing 1500 mg of L-Carnitine, 60 mg of vitamin C, 20 mg of coenzyme Q10, 10 mg of vitamin E, 10 mg of zinc, 200 µg of vitamin B9, 50 µg of selenium, 1 µg of vitamin B12). All of the patients received Androferti twice a day for 3 months. Results: There were significant improvements in the sperm concentration ( p =0.004) after the antioxidant supplementation. There was also a meaningfully improvement in sperm morphology ( p =0.01) after treatment. However, sperm motility was not significantly altered after antioxidant treatment ( p =0.2). Conclusions: Antioxidants supplementation containing 1500 mg L-carnitine can improve the semen quality in infertile men diagnosed with idiopathic OAT. However, further studies are required to determine the antioxidant effects on reproduction function.

Utility of Antioxidants in the Treatment of Male Infertility: Clinical Guidelines Based on a Systematic Review and Analysis of Evidence

“…A total of 21 articles published between January 2019 and July 2020 investigated the effects of antioxidant treatment on semen quality ( Table 4 ) [ 25 42 43 44 45 46 56 57 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 104 115 121 ]. Based on our analysis, 13 and 8 studies were ranked as low and high-quality, respectively.…”

“…(MedCalc Software bv, Ostend, Belgium). Chi-square test was used to evaluate the association between the quality of the study and the outcomes (positive or no/negative effect) due to antioxidant treatment on semen parameters and sperm function such as oxidative stress and SDF are presented in Table 2 [ 25 26 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 …”

“…Furthermore, Terai et al [ 98 ] did not include a placebo group, with an experimental group investigating a Chinese herbal formula. Hadi et al [ 45 ], Alahmar et al [ 97 ], Hamidian et al [ 121 ], Salehi et al [ 42 ], Hasoon [ 43 ], Gambera et al [ 93 ], Arafa et al [ 25 ], Nazari et al [ 101 ], and Jannatifar et al [ 92 ] all reported improved semen parameters, but these studies are uncontrolled open label trials and are relatively underpowered. Furthermore, Alkumait et al [ 100 ] and Terai et al [ 98 ] were unblinded trials with relatively small sample sizes (n=51 and 31, respectively).…”

Oxidative stress and male infertility

“…L‐Carnitine and coenzyme Q10 are powerful antioxidants that prevent LPO and SDF. Meta‐analysis and other studies showed that both compounds improved conventional sperm parameters 118‐122 . Several studies on supplementation with a combination of antioxidants have also been reported 123‐125 .…”

“…Meta-analysis and other studies showed that both compounds improved conventional sperm parameters. [118][119][120][121][122] Several studies on supplementation with a combination of antioxidants have also been reported. [123][124][125] These antioxidant therapies and outcomes were shown in possible toxic effect when overused.…”