Antioxidants in Male Infertility-If We Want to Get This Right We Need to Take the Bull by the Horns: A Pilot Study

Antioxidant therapy should be reserved for infertile patients who actually exhibit signs of oxidative stress (OS). Nevertheless, there is no consensus regarding the measure of the primary endpoint and the assay that should be used. The formation of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), an early marker of sperm DNA oxidation (SDO), was analyzed using flow cytometry, in men at a University hospital setup for infertility treatment. Similar to conventional semen parameters, 8-OHdG assay was validated on fresh semen samples to reduce the variability of results. SDO was associated with semen volume, sperm concentration, leucocytes and round cells, but not with age, body mass index, sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) or OS. Whether the semen samples were normal or subnormal according to the WHO criteria, the expression of 8-OHdG was not different. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis could discriminate two independent populations. Both SDF and SDO were independently expressed. A high SDF did not reveal a high SDO and vice versa. The thresholds for SDO have been established, but vary with the techniques used. The methodology for SDO needs to be further validated and optimized on a larger clinically defined patient population before the outcome measure is fit to monitor antioxidant therapy in male infertility.

Automated summary

Antioxidant therapy should only be used for infertile patients showing signs of oxidative stress. However, there is no consensus on the measurement of the primary endpoint and the assay to be used. This study analyzed the formation of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), an early marker of sperm DNA oxidation (SDO), in male infertility patients. The results showed that SDO was associated with semen volume, sperm concentration, leucocytes and round cells, but not with age, body mass index, sperm DNA fragmentation or oxidative stress. Further validation and optimization of the methodology for SDO is needed before it can be used to monitor antioxidant therapy in male infertility.