Table 1. Characteristics of the 15 Included Studies in This Systematic Review .
| Reference | Year | Design | Population (WHO-Based Type of Samples) | Groups | Sample Analysis Criteria | Sperm Measuring Tool | Safety Assessment | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention | Control | Criteria | Assessment Tool | ||||||
| Salama and E-Sawy 20 | 2015 | IVCT | 27 SS (18 AZ + 9 NZ) | 27 washed + 11 non-washed aliquots | 27 washed + 11 non-washed aliquots | WHO v5 | CASA | SMI | HOS |
| SHCC | ANBS | ||||||||
| Espey et al21 | 2022 | IVCT | 64 SS (42 AZ + 22 NZ) | 3 AES | 1 AES | WHO v5 | CASA | DFI | LMqPCR |
| Acrosomal integrity | CD46 expression | ||||||||
| Salman Yazdi et al22 | 2014 | IVCT | 22 SS (22 AZ + 0 NZ) | 3 AES | 1 AES | WHO v4 | CASA | DFI | SCD |
| SMI | HOS | ||||||||
| Safian et al23 | 2020 | IVCT | 30 SS (0 AZ + 30 NZ) | 3 groups of 10 SS ( + 3 AES) | 1 AES as control | WHO v5 | ND | Viability | ENS |
| DFI | SCD | ||||||||
| Allameh et al15 | 2021 | DBRCT | 70 men (ND) | 35 men (3 SS each) | 35 men (3 SS each) | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Safian et al24 | 2022 | IVCT | 24 SS (0 AZ + 24 NZ) | 2 AES | 1 AES | ND | ND | Quality | DFI |
| LPL | |||||||||
| PRM 1 and 2 | |||||||||
| ADD1 | |||||||||
| Frangez et al25 | 2015 | IVCT | 30 SS (30 AZ + 0 NZ) | 4 AES | 1 AES | WHO v5 | CASA | ND | ND |
| Safian et al26 | 2021 | IVCT | 22 SS (0 AZ + 22 NZ) | 1 AES | 1 AES | WHO v5 | CASA | Morphology | Diff-Quik |
| Viability | ENS | ||||||||
| MMP | JC-1 dye | ||||||||
| ROS | DCFDA | ||||||||
| LPL (MDA) | TBA | ||||||||
| Zupin et al27 | 2020 | IVCT | 9 SS (ND) | 2 AES | 1 AES | WHO v5 | ND | Morphology | LE-XRF |
| Elemental distribution | |||||||||
| Gabel et al28 | 2018 | IVCT | 3 SS (ND) | 3 AES | 2 AES | ND | SQA IIB analyzer | DFI | SCSA |
| Saeed et al29 | 2014 | IVCT | 100 SS (NS) | 1 AES | 1 AES | WHO v4 | CASA | ND | ND |
| Firestone et al30 | 2012 | IVCT | 33 SS (12 AZ + 10 NZ + 11 AO) | 1 AES | 1 AES | WHO v4 | CASA | DFI | Flow cytometry |
| Shahar et al31 | 2011 | IVCT | 30 SS (ND) | 1 AES | 1 AES | ND | CASA | ROS | DFCDA, SOD, Sodium azide |
| ICC | FCI | ||||||||
| DFI | SCD | ||||||||
| Fekrazad et al32 | 2014 | IVCT | 25 SS (ND) | 2 AES | 1 AES | WHO v4 | CASA | ND | ND |
| Highland et a133 | 2018 | IVCT | 58 SS (ND) | 2 AES of 28 infertile SS | 2 AES of 30 fertile SS | WHO v4 | ND | SMI | HOS |
| STI | PDNAB | ||||||||
| Apoptosis | DSM | ||||||||
| LPL | MDA | ||||||||
| SOD | SPM | ||||||||
| DFI | SCD | ||||||||
Abbreviations: ND, no data; IVCT, in vitro controlled trial; DBRCT; double blind randomized controlled trial; SS, semen sample; AZ, asthenozoospermic; NZ, normozoospermic; AO, asthenospermic and oligospermic; AES, aliquots from each sample; CASA, computer-assisted sperm analysis; SMI, sperm membrane integrity; HOS, hypo osmotic swelling test; SHCC, sperm head chromatin condensation; ANBS, aniline blue staining; DFI, DNA Fragmentation Index; LMqPCR, ligand-mediated quantitative polymerase chain reaction; SCD, sperm chromatin dispersion; ENS, eosin nigrosin staining; LPL, lipid peroxidation level; PRM, gene expression levels of protamine; ADD1, adducin 1 alpha; MMP, mitochondrial membrane potential; ROS, reactive oxygen species; DCFDA, 2’7’ dichlorofluorescein diacetate; MDA, malondialdehyde; TBA, thiobarbituric acid; LE-XRF, low energy X-ray fluorescence; SCSA, sperm chromatin structure assay; SOD, super oxide dismutase; ICC, intracellular concentration of free Ca2 +; FCI, fluorescent calcium indicator; STI, sperm toroid integrity; DSM, dual staining method; SPM, spectrophotometry.