BACKGROUND Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after at 1 year of regular unprotected intercourse. Male contributes to almost half of infertility cases and in almost 30 % of cases, no definite aetiology is identified, and hence, male infertility is labelled idiopathic in these cases. Oxidative energy production mechanisms are almost always accompanied by reactive oxygen species (ROS), generation whose too much concentrations can lead to extensive protein damage and cytoskeletal modifications and inhibit cellular mechanisms. A number of laboratory techniques have been developed to evaluate oxidative stress by measuring ROS level in the semen. In recent times antioxidant supplements have been proposed as useful agents to increase the scavenging capacity of seminal plasma, controversy still surrounds their actual clinical utility. METHODS 34 male patients were included in this study. Reactive oxygen species detection was done by Flowcytometry using dichloroflurosecindiacetate (DCFH-DA). RESULTS The ROS in the patient group was found to be significantly higher 29.821 (5.6300 than the control group 22.162 (1.6331 having p value < 0.001). The ROS (29.821 ± 5.6300) was found to be significantly reduced after 3 months of antioxidant therapy which got reduced to 19.893 ± 4.2299 respectively. CONCLUSIONS Our study demonstrates that infertile men have significantly higher level of ROS (as measured by flowcytometry) & lower sperm count (oligospermia), decreased progressive & total motility and increased immotile sperms as compared to healthy fertile men. This study further proves that antioxidant therapy based on a combination of carnitine, zinc, coq10, lycopene and vitamin C & E for 3 months is associated with a decrease of ROS as measured by flowcytometry & a variable degree of improvement in above mentioned semen parameters. KEYWORDS Reactive Oxygen Species, Male Infertility
Is antioxidant therapy a promising strategy to improve human reproduction? Are anti-oxidants useful in the treatment of male infertility?