Skip to main content
. 2022 May 21;14(10):2150. doi: 10.3390/nu14102150

Table 1.

BFCs and their major outcomes on human sperm quality and function.

Nutritional Factor Major Outcomes References
Vitamin A
  • -

    Normal blood-testis barrier function;

  • -

    Avoids germ-cell aplasia;

  • -

    Fertile men have higher serum concentrations than infertile.

 [36]
Vitamin C
  • -

    Improved sperm cell count, motility, and morphology;

  • -

    Lower levels of vitamin C in seminal plasma of infertile men.

 [37,38]
Vitamin E
  • -

    Higher live-birth rate, and a trend of better results of in vitro fertilization parameters;

  • -

    Decreases the lipid peroxidation of the sperm cell and seminal plasma;

  • -

    Improves sperm cell motility;

  • -

    Lower levels were found in men with oligozoospermia and asthenozoospermia.

 [36,39,40]
Vitamin D
  • -

    The expression of vitamin D receptors and metabolizing enzymes are marked in human testis, ejaculatory tract, and mature sperm cells;

  • -

    Positive association between serum levels and sperm motility;

 [41,42,43]
Vitamin B9
  • -

    Protects against DNA damage.

 [44,45]
Selenium
  • -

    Protects against ROS;

  • -

    Deficiency promotes sperm cell abnormalities, and affects motility and fertility;

 [46,47]
Zinc
  • -

    Important for spermatogenesis: cofactor of enzymes involved in DNA transcription and protein synthesis;

  • -

    Lower zinc levels in the seminal plasma of infertile men;

  • -

    Increased the normal sperm cell morphology, sperm motility, and semen volume.

 [48,49]
N-acetylcysteine
  • -

    Improved the volume, motility, and viscosity of sperm cells;

  • -

    Increased the serum total antioxidant capacity;

  • -

    Reduced the serum peroxide and oxidative stress;

  • -

    Increased sperm cell concentration, motility, and percent normal morphology in infertile men.

 [47,50]
Coenzyme Q10
  • -

    Improved sperm cell density, motility, and percent of normal morphology in infertile men;

  • -

    Increased the seminal plasma and total antioxidant capacity.

 [51,52,53,54]
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid
  • -

    Lower levels of omega-3 and greater oxidative DNA damage were found in sperm cells of infertile than infertile men;

  • -

    Improved sperm cell total count, concentration, motility, and normal morphology;

  • -

    Increased seminal antioxidant status and decreased the percentage of sperm cells with damage.

 [55,56,57,58,59]
Carnitines
  • -

    Increased sperm cell motility;

  • -

    Improved activity toward ROS in the semen.

 [60,61]

Abbreviation: asthenozoospermia, impaired sperm cell motility; oligozoospermia, low sperm cell count; ROS, reactive oxygen species.