Iron and a Man’s Reproductive Health: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Abstract

Iron overload diseases are associated with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, infertility, and sexual dysfunction in men. Recent findings have elucidated the roles by which iron may affect the male reproductive axis. Iron is requisite for life. Iron can also catalyze the production of reactive oxygen species. To maintain balance, the human body tightly regulates dietary iron absorption. Severe iron overload disorders-e.g., hereditary hemochromatosis and β-thalassemia-occur when these regulatory mechanisms are deficient. While iron is necessary, the male reproductive system is particularly sensitive to iron overload. Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, infertility, and sexual dysfunction commonly occur if excess iron from iron overload disorders is not removed. The average male in the USA consumes significantly more iron than needed to replace daily losses. How this degree of iron loading may affect one's reproductive health remains less clear, but there is evidence it may have adverse effects.

Simultaneous Quantification of 30 Elements in the Mineral Chinese Medicine Quartz Album by ICP-MS for the Identification of Different Geogenesis

“…Iron homeostasis has an important role in the body’s normal function, and iron is involved in the physiological functions of immunity as well as hematopoiesis and in pathological processes such as inflammation, infectious diseases, and iron death (Fernández-García et al, 2022; Fuhrmann & Brüne, 2022). Iron is essential for proper sperm development and function and can affect all aspects of male reproductive health; too much or too little can cause abnormalities in reproductive function (Gabrielsen et al, 2018). Calcium is the most important nutrient, essential not only for bone health but also for neuromuscular activity, heart rate regulation, immune function, and other key physiological processes (Martiniakova et al, 2022).…”

New Entity—Thalassemic Endocrine Disease: Major Beta-Thalassemia and Endocrine Involvement

“…Males with BTH are at risk of infertility due to germ cell loss [ 118 ]. IO also induces an excessive amount of free radicals which impairs the quality of sperm, iron being a local catalyser of ROS [ 130 , 131 ]. The first MRI study on testes (2017) showed that, in patients with transfusion-dependent BTH, MRI T2 values are lower versus healthy control, and correlate with serum ferritin; IO-related testicular damage explains infertility in males without hypogonadotropic hypogonadism [ 132 ].…”

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“…The weight of evidence indicates possible endocrine effects (effects on testes, epididymides, prostate in males, uteri and adrenals in females, all hormone‐sensitive/producing organs) associated with the NF intake. The Panel notes that according to the literature, iron plays an important role in male serum reproductive hormones, fertility and sexual function, although the extent to which perturbations in body iron levels may affect male reproductive health in the general population remains to be elucidated (Gabrielsen et al., 2018). The Panel also notes that, in females, the role of iron in reproductive fitness throughout the lifespan is extensively documented in the literature (Miller, 2016), and recent studies suggest the existence of an interplay between iron levels and hormonal status (Rossi et al., 2016; Tonai et al., 2020).…”