One of the major causes of defective sperm function is oxidative stress, which not only disrupts the integrity of sperm DNA but also limits the fertilizing potential of these cells as a result of collateral damage to proteins and lipids in the sperm plasma membrane. The origins of such oxidative stress appear to involve the sperm mitochondria, which have a tendency to generate high levels of su...

Stress is a well-known cause of reproductive dysfunction in many species, including birds, rodents, and humans, though males and females may respond differently. A powerful way to investigate how stress affects reproduction is by examining its effects on a biological system essential for regulating reproduction, the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. Often this is done by observing how ...

In promiscuous species, male reproductive success depends on their ability to mate with fertile females and on the fertilizing ability of their sperm. In such species, theory predicts that, owing to a trade-off between pre- and post-copulatory reproductive traits, males with lesser access to females should increase resource investment into those sperm traits that enhance fertilization success-u...

BACKGROUND Hyperglycemia can impair the male reproductive system in experimental animals and in men during reproductive age. Studies have shown that vitamin C has some good effects on male reproductive system, and therefore vitamin C treatment could attenuate the dysfunctions in this system caused by hyperglycemia. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate whether vitamin C treatment cou...

Acrylamide (AA) is an important industrial chemical agent that is mainly used in the production of polymers and copolymers. Recently it has been attention because of its production in the diet at high-temperature (>120 ºC) processes such as cooking, frying, toasting, roasting or baking of high carbohydrate foods. According to high exposure to acrylamide, recognition of its toxic effect is ...

OBJECTIVE To examine the effects of increased sperm DNA damage in relation to seminal oxidative stress in men with idiopathic and male factor infertility. Prospective study. SETTINGS Infertility clinic at a tertiary care academic institution. PATIENT(S) Ninety-two infertile men with normal female partners. Sixteen fertile donors served as the control group. INTERVENTION(S) Standard semen ...

The naturally occurring antioxidants: vitamin E, β-carotene and vitamin C are known to ameliorate theoxidative stress generated during various physiological and pathological conditions. The oxidative stress mayoccur at different sites, different times, and by different mechanisms in the animal system. Lower levels ofthe anti-oxidant vitamins are associated with poor fertility and production lev...