Plants Used in Chinese Medicine for the Treatment of Male Infertility Possess Antioxidant and Anti-Oestrogenic Activity

Abstract

In this study Chinese herbs commonly used in the treatment of male infertility were investigated for relevant biochemical activity. Male factor infertility predominantly arises via barriers to, or defects in, spermatogenesis. The process of spermatogenesis is under strict endocrine control; in addition oxidative stress has been implicated in male infertility with significant levels of reactive oxygen species detected in 25% of infertile males. A total of 37 individual herbs and seven herb decoctions used in the treatment of male factor infertility were therefore tested for endocrine activity using a recombinant yeast based assay and antioxidant activity using the FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant potential) assay. Individual herbs tested did not show androgenic properties, 20 showed strong and 10 weak anti-oestrogenic activity (per g of dried herb tamoxifen equivalents ranged from 1.18-1280.66 mg and 0.06-0.98 mg, respectively). Oestrogenic responses were elicited for two herbs (85.30-550 mg oestradiol equivalents/g dried herb), with seven and three herbs exhibiting a strong or weak anti-androgenic response (per g of dried herb DHT equivalents ranged from 1.54-66.78 mg and 0.17-0.32 mg), respectively. Of these 37 herbs, strong (15 herbs), intermediate (7 herbs) and weak/no (15 herbs) antioxidant activity was detected (ranging from 0.912-1.26; 0.6-0.88 and 0-0.468 mg ascorbate equivalent/mg dried herb, respectively). The seven decoctions (previously used to treat patients) tested elicited strong (5 herbs) and weak (2 herbs) anti-oestrogenic responses (per g of dried herb tamoxifen equivalents ranged from 1.14-13.23 mg and 0.22-0.26 mg, respectively), but not oestrogenic, androgenic nor anti-androgenic, consistent with their individual composition. With regard to antioxidant activity the following responses were recorded: three strong, three intermediate and one weak (ranging from 1.02-1.2; 0.72-0.76 and 0.44 mg ascorbate equivalent/mg dried herb, respectively). The prospects for introducing Chinese herbal treatments into the Western-based medicine are discussed.

Meiotic recombination and male infertility: from basic science to clinical reality?

“…These include: (i) Klinefelter syndrome patients; (ii) patients with cytogenetically visible structural chromosome aberrations; (iii) NOA patients (should enough sperm be available for treatment and screening); (iv) oligoasthenoteratozoospermic patients; (v) patients with a history of unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss or repeated in vitro fertilization or intracytoplamic sperm injection failure; and (vi) patients with very high levels macrocephalic, multinucleated and multiflagellate sperm. 21,[80][81][82][83] Performing routine sperm aneuploidy screening in these patients will enable a more individualized risk assessment of aneuploid offspring. For example, the genetic counseling of a patient with low levels of sperm aneuploidy (comparable to fertile controls) will be very different to that of an individual with 40% aneuploid sperm.…”

“…One such example of a personalized approach was previously published demonstrating in a small cohort of men, a significant reduction in sperm aneuploidy levels coincident with traditional Chinese herbal medicine treatment for male infertility. 82,92 The ultimate goal has to be the ability to offer valuable clinical prognostic options with appropriate treatment options as a result of the genetic basis of the infertility phenotype. This clearly remains a question for basic science at present and for the immediate future.…”

Male Fertility, Chromosome Abnormalities, and Nuclear Organization

“…It has been suggested that non-disjunction of specific chromosome pairs may be associated with specific semen parameters and that screening for sperm aneuploidy could become a prognostic test for couples undergoing ICSI [Petit et al, 2005;Durakbasi-Dursun et al, 2008;Sanchez-Castro et al, 2009]. There may even be avenues for possible therapy [Tempest et al, 2008].…”

A Chinese herbal decoction can increase the intracellular Ca2+ concentration and CatSper1 expression in mouse sperm tails

“…The percentage of infertility attributed to males has reached 50% (1). Certain Chinese herbal decoctions have been reported to be efficacious in infertility treatment (2,3). However, the active mechanisms of these remedies remain unknown.…”