Table 1.
Coenzyme Q10 and male fertility (monotherapy), characteristics of suitable studies.
| Author(s) | Design | Sample Size | Age | Target Population | Daily Dosage | Consumption | Length of Follow-up | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balercia et al., 2004 [14] | Open, uncontrolled | 22 | 31 (25–39) | Idiopathic asthenozoospermia | CoQ10 200 mg/day | Twice daily orally | 6 months | Imrprovement in the forward (a + b) motility of sperm cells (p < 0.05), improvement in computer-assisted determination of kinetic parameters (p < 0.05) and increase in seminal coQ10 levels (p < 0.05) after treatment. |
| Balercia et al., 2009 [15] | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled | 60 | 32 (27–39) | Idiopathic asthenozoospermia | CoQ10 200 mg/day | Twice daily orally | 6 months | Improvement in the forward (p < 0.0001) and total (p < 0.0003) motility of sperm cells, improvement in computer-assisted determination of kinetic parameters and increase in seminal coQ10 and ubiquinol levels (p < 0.0001) after treatment. Lower baseline value of motility and levels of coQ10 had higher probability to be responders to the treatment. |
| Safarinejad, 2009 [16] | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled | 212 | 28 (21–42) | iOAT | CoQ10 300 mg/day | Once daily orally | 26 weeks | Improvement in sperm density and motility (p = 0.01) after coQ10 treatment. Positive correlation between treatment duration and sperm count (p = 0.01), sperm motility (p = 0.01) and sperm morphology (p = 0.02). Decrease in FSH and LH levels (p = 0.03) and increase in inhibin levels and acrosome reaction (p = 0.03) after coQ10 treatment. |
| Nadjarzadeh et al., 2011 [17] | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled | 60 | 34 (25–46) | iOAT | CoQ10 200 mg/day | - | 3 months | Non-significant changes in semen parameters of CoQ10 group. Increase in total antioxidant capacity of seminal plasma (p = 0.017) and significant reduction in concentration of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (p = 0.013) in the CoQ10 group. |
| Safarinejad et al., 2012 [18] | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled | 228 | 25–44 | iOAT | Ubiquinol 200 mg/day | Once daily orally | 26 weeks | Improvement in sperm density (p = 0.005), motility (p = 0.008) and morphology (p = 0.01) after ubiquinol treatment. Positive correlation between treatment duration, seminal plasma antioxidant capacity and semen parameters. Decrease in FSH (p = 0.02) and LH levels (p = 0.03) and increase in inhibin levels (p = 0.01) after ubiquinol treatment. |
| Safarinejad et al., 2012 [19] | Open, uncontrolled | 287 | 32 (26–43) | iOAT | CoQ10 300 mg/day | Twice daily orally | 12 months | Improvement in sperm density, motility and morphology after CoQ10 treatment (p < 0.05). Decrease in FSH and LH levels and increase in inhibin levels after CoQ10 treatment (p < 0.05). Improvements remained significant 12 months after CoQ10 discontinuation. Beneficial effect on pregnancy rate. |
| Festa et al., 2014 [20] | Open, uncontrolled | 38 | 19–40 | Varicocele-related infertility | CoQ10 100 mg/day | Twice daily orally | 3 months | Increase in sperm density (p = 0.03), forward motility (p = 0.03) and seminal plasma total antioxidant capacity (p < 0.01). |
| Nadjarzadeh et al., 2014 [21] | Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled | 60 | 34 (25–40) | iOAT | CoQ10 200 mg/day | Twice daily orally | 3 months | Increase in forward and total motility (p < 0.05) in the treatment group. Increase in seminal CoQ10 (p = 0.0001) and positive correlation with normal sperm morphology (p = 0.037) and CAT (p < 0.05) and SOD activity (p < 0.05) after treatment. Higher catalase and SOD activity and lower seminal 8-isoprostane concentration (p < 0.05) in the CoQ10 group after treatment. |
| Cakiroglu et al., 2014 [9] | Retrospective | 62 | 32 (23–50) | Normo- or mild oligospermic patients with asthenoteratozoospermia | Ubiquinol 200 mg/day | Twice daily orally | 6 months | Increase in normal morphology and sperm motility (a + b) (p < 0.001) after ubiquinol supplementation. |
| Thakur et al., 2015 [22] | Open, uncontrolled | 60 | 20-40 | Oligospermia | Ubiquinol 150 mg/day | Once daily orally | 6 months | Increase in total sperm count and total sperm motility (p < 0.05) and reduction of number of immobile and sluggish motile sperm (p < 0.05). |
| Alahmar, 2019 [13] | Prospective, randomized | 65 | 27 | iOAT | CoQ10 200 mg/day versus CoQ10 400 mg/day |
Once daily orally | 3 months | Increase in seminal parameters (sperm concentration, sperm motility and sperm morphology) and seminal antioxidant activity in both groups after treatment (p < 0.05). Higher increase in kinetic parameters in subjects treated with 400 mg CoQ10. Correlation between sperm parameters and seminal antioxidant activity after treatment (p < 0.05). |
| Alahmar et al., 2021 [23] | Prospective, randomized | 70 | 25 | iOAT | CoQ10 200 mg/day Versus Selenium 200 mcg/day |
Once daily orally | 3 months | Increase in sperm density, total sperm motility and progressive sperm motility (p < 0.01) and improvement of antioxidant capacity of seminal fluid (p < 0.05) after CoQ10 administration. |
CoQ10 = coenzyme Q10; iOAT = idiopathic oligoasthenozoospermia; SOD = superoxide dismutase.