Male Infertility and Glutathione

Copyright c 2004 Priya Shah

Are You Half The Man Your Father Was?

It is a well-known fact that sperm counts have dropped by half

in the last 50 years, and that modern men have 20 percent less

semen volume than their fathers (BMJ, 1992, volume 305).

A recent report from researchers in Aberdeen presented

preliminary data that suggests the sperm concentration of the

men seen in their clinic had declined by 29% over the past 14

years. (British Fertility Society; 5 January 2004)

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and endocrine-disrupting

chemicals from normal, everyday plastics are known to cause

reproductive damage, as documented in Theo Colborn's book "Our

Stolen Future."

Damage to sperm caused by exposure to common chemicals like

alcohol, pesticides in food, has been linked to lowered

intelligence and behavioral disorders in children.

Lifestyle risk factors known to decrease sperm quality include

> Cigarette smoking > Alcohol consumption > Chronic stress >

Nutritional deficiencies.

Other reasons for infertility include congenital factors, and

health conditions like prostatitis and diabetes that can affect

sperm production.

Pollution is stealing our future, and there's little anyone can

do to avoid it. There may not be a lot you can do to reduce your

exposure to persistent environmental toxins.

But there are definite measures you can take to reduce the

impact of the environmental pollutants and toxins on your body.

You can prevent and, to a certain extent, repair the damage they

cause to your body, through a better lifestyle and nutrition.

Some nutritional therapies and antioxidants that have proven

beneficial in treating male infertility and improving sperm

counts, sperm morphology and motility include:

> Carnitine > Arginine > Zinc > Selenium > Vitamin B-12 >

Vitamin C > Vitamin E > Glutathione > Coenzyme Q10

Studies show that anti-oxidant supplementation - glutathione in

particular - can improve sperm quality, and possibly increase

your chances of conceiving.

If you smoke, drink, are exposed to stress, chemicals,

radiation, pesticides or take medication or drugs (like

sulfasalazine, ketoconazole, azulfidine, anabolic steroids,

marijuana) that affect fertility, you should consider taking an

antioxidant supplement to reverse some of the damage.

Why are Antioxidants Important for Sperm Quality?

Mammalian spermatozoa are coated by a membrane rich in

polyunsaturated fatty acids. These fatty acids are extremely

susceptible to oxidative damage by free radicals or Reactive

Oxygen Species (ROS) by a process called lipid peroxidation

(LPO).

Lipid peroxidation damages the sperm cell membrane. It is

considered to be the key mechanism of ROS-induced sperm damage

and leads to

> Loss of sperm motility > Abnormal sperm morphology > Reduced

capacity for oocyte penetration > Infertility

To protect sperm from damage, the body depends on powerful

antioxidant enzymes in the body such as superoxide dismutase

(SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase/reductase (GPX/GRD).

Seminal plasma and spermatozoa have several antioxidant enzymes

- glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, superoxide

dismutase.

Some amount of all the antioxidant enzymes, which may protect

spermatozoa from oxidative attack, are also made by the

epididymis during storage.

The glutathione peroxidase/reductase enzymes play a central role

in the defense against oxidative damage in human sperm.

Why is Glutathione important for Sperm Quality and Fertility?

A decrease in levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) during sperm

production is known to disrupt the membrane integrity of

spermatozoa due to increased oxidative stress.

Intracellular glutathione levels of spermatozoa are known to be

decreased in certain populations of infertile men. Compared with

a control group, the infertile men in all groups had

significantly higher levels of ROS and lower levels of total

antioxidants.

There is strong clinical evidence to show that men diagnosed

with infertility have high levels of oxidative stress that may

impair the quality of their sperm.

In some groups, higher levels of ROS were associated with lower

sperm counts and defective sperm structure, while lower

antioxidant levels correlated with reduced sperm movement.

Previous evidence has also shown that oxidative stress can

decrease a sperm's life span, its motility, and its ability to

penetrate the oocyst, or egg cell.

Up to 40% of men with unexplained male infertility have higher

levels of free radical activity in their bodies.

Because men with high levels of ROS have a seven-fold lower

likelihood of inducing a pregnancy than men with lower levels,

researchers recommend that treatment for infertile men should

include strategies to reduce oxidative stress and improve sperm

quality.

How can Glutathione help in the Treatment of Infertility?

Glutathione is not only vital to sperm antioxidant defenses, but

selenium and glutathione are essential to the formation of

"phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase" - an enzyme

present in spermatids - which becomes a structural protein in

the mid-piece of mature spermatozoa.

When either substance is deficient, it can lead to instability

of the mid-piece of the spermatozoa, resulting in defective

motility.

Free radical scavengers - such as glutathione - that restore the

structure and function of poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in

the cell membrane, can be used to treat these cases.

In a double-blind cross-over study of twenty infertile men,

treatment with glutathione led to a statistically significant

improvement of the sperm quality.

The study concerned men in whom the sperm quality was poor due

to unilateral varicocele or germ-free genital tract inflammation

- two conditions in which ROS or other toxic compounds are

indicated as causative factors.

Treatment with glutathione was also found to have a

statistically significantly positive effect on sperm motility

(in particular forward motility) and on sperm morphology.

The findings of these studies indicate that glutathione therapy

could represent a possible therapeutical tool in cases where ROS

or exposure to toxins is the probable cause of infertility.

Read the complete report with references on Male Infertility and

Glutathione

http://www.1whey2health.com/glutathione_infertility_sperm.htm

About the author:

Priya Shah is the Editor of "The Glutathione Report" For regular

updates on the health benefits of glutathione subscribe here

http://www.glutathione-report.com For a free report on

Glutathione in Health and Disease visit

http://www.1whey2health.com

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Male Infertility and Glutathione

Article : Male Infertility and Glutathione