Research paper
Antioxidants for male subfertility.
Study answer
What this study found
Overall, oral antioxidants may improve live birth and clinical pregnancy in subfertile men, but the evidence is low to very low quality. Across pooled analyses, antioxidants increased live birth (OR 4.21, 95% CI 2.08 to 8.51, 4 RCTs, 277 men) and clinical pregnancy (OR 3.43, 95% CI 1.92 to 6.11, 7 RCTs, 522 men). They were also associated with lower sperm DNA fragmentation (MD -13.85, 95% CI -17.28 to -10.41, 2 RCTs, 100 men) and improved sperm motility in several analyses, but heterogeneity was often high. Benefits were not consistently shown for miscarriage, gastrointestinal adverse…
- Study & population
- This was a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials in subfertile men.
- Intervention
- The review evaluated oral antioxidant supplements for male subfertility, but the included trials used many different regimens rather than one standardized product.
- Key limitation
- The evidence base was small and methodologically limited, with many trials contributing only single outcomes.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
BACKGROUND Between 30% to 80% of male subfertility cases are considered to be due to the damaging effects of oxidative stress on sperm and 1 man in 20 will be affected by subfertility. Antioxidants are widely available and inexpensive when compared t…