Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Food Supplements in the Treatment of Male Infertility: A Critical Review on Their Formulations and Use

Andrea Garolla
* ORCID logo ,
Gabriel Cosmin Petre
,
Francesco Francini-Pesenti
,
Luca De Toni
,
Amerigo Vitagliano
,
Andrea Di Nisio
ORCID logo ,
Carlo Foresta
Version 1 : Received: 17 April 2020 / Approved: 19 April 2020 / Online: 19 April 2020 (04:18:39 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Garolla, A.; Petre, G.C.; Francini-Pesenti, F.; De Toni, L.; Vitagliano, A.; Di Nisio, A.; Foresta, C. Dietary Supplements for Male Infertility: A Critical Evaluation of Their Composition. Nutrients 2020, 12, 1472. Garolla, A.; Petre, G.C.; Francini-Pesenti, F.; De Toni, L.; Vitagliano, A.; Di Nisio, A.; Foresta, C. Dietary Supplements for Male Infertility: A Critical Evaluation of Their Composition. Nutrients 2020, 12, 1472.

Abstract

Background: Dietary supplements (DS) represent a possible approach to improve sperm parameters and male fertility. A wide range of DS containing different nutrients is now available. Although many authors demonstrated benefits from some nutrients in male infertility, their real effectiveness is still under debate. The aim of this study was to critically review the composition of DS using the Italian market as sample. Materials & Methods: Active ingredients and their minimal effective daily dose (mFED) were identified through literature search. Thereafter, we created a formula to classify the expected efficacy of each DS. Considering active ingredients, their concentration and the recommended daily dose, DS were scored into three classes of expected efficacy: higher, lower and none. Results: Twenty-one DS were identified. Most of them had a large number of ingredients, frequently at doses below mFED or with unproven efficacy. Zinc was the most common ingredient of DS (70% of products), followed by selenium, arginine, coenzyme Q and folic acid. By applying our scoring system, 9.5% of DS fell in higher class, 71.4% in lower class and 19.1% in the class with no expected efficacy. Conclusions: DS marketed in Italy for male infertility frequently include effective ingredients but also a large number of substances at insufficient dose or with no proven efficacy. Manufacturers and physicians should better consider the scientific evidence on effective ingredients and their doses before formulating and prescribing these products.

Keywords

fertility; male reproduction; semen parameters; supplements; ingredients

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Food Science and Technology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Download PDF

Comments (0)

We encourage comments and feedback from a broad range of readers. See criteria for comments and our Diversity statement.

Leave a public comment
Send a private comment to the author(s)
* All users must log in before leaving a comment
Views 0
Downloads 0
Comments 0
Metrics 0
Get PDF Cite Share 0
Bookmark BibSonomy Mendeley Reddit Delicious
×
Alerts
Notify me about updates to this article or when a peer-reviewed version is published.
We use cookies on our website to ensure you get the best experience.
Read more about our cookies here.