Clinical Consequences of Oxidative Stress in Male Infertility*

A. Agarwal et al. (eds.), Studies on Men’s Health and Fertility, Oxidative Stress in Applied Basic Research and Clinical Practice, DOI 10.1007/978-1-61779-776-7_24, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 Abstract Male infertility affects 40% of infertile couples in the USA and may be attributed to conditions such as varicocele, leukocytospermia, infection, and idiopathic infertility. Such conditions may be associated with elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), decreased antioxidants, and oxidative stress (OS). OS can lead to male infertility in both an in vitro and in vivo setting. The negative effects of ROS on male fertility present as sperm DNA damage, decreasing motility, apoptosis, and lipid peroxidation. ROS and antioxidant levels can be measured and quantifi ed in order to detect OS in semen samples. Both oral antioxidant therapy and culture media supplementation have proven to be effective in reducing OS. Future research is still needed in order to better understand the mechanisms involved in oxidative damage in the context of male infertility and to improve the treatments available for patients with OS-mediated male factor infertility.