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Effects of vitamin E and vitamin C on male infertility: a meta-analysis

  • Urology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Purpose

The efficacy of the antioxidants vitamin E (VitE) and vitamin C (VitC) on male infertility is uncertain. Therefore, this research systematically assessed the influences of VitE and VitC on male infertility.

Methods

We did a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to analyze semen parameters, pregnancy rate, and adverse effects (AEs) between VitE and VitC groups and control groups by searching Cochrane Library, Excerpta Medica Database (Embase), PubMed, China Biology Medicine disc (CBMdisc), and Web of Science up to June 2020.

Results

We screened 11 studies (832 patients) that met the inclusion criteria. The evidence quality ranged from moderate to low. The pregnancy rate was obviously better in the VitE group than in the control group (relative risk (RR) 1.86, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–3.41). Compared with the control group, VitE and VitC significantly improved progressive motility (standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.38, 95% CI 0.22–0.55), sperm concentration (SMD 0.21, 95% CI 0.09–0.34), sperm morphology (SMD 0.32, 95% CI 0.09–0.55), and total sperm number (SMD 0.28, 95% CI 0.12–0.43) without AEs.

Conclusion

This study suggests that VitC and VitE can improve the spousal pregnancy rate and semen parameters in infertile men without AEs.

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Data availability statement

The data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

VitE:

Vitamin E

VitC:

Vitamin C

AE:

Adverse effect

RCT:

Randomized controlled trial

Embase:

Excerpta Medica Database

CBMdisc:

China Biology Medicine disc

RR:

Relative risk

CI:

Confidence interval

SMD:

Standardized mean difference

WHO:

World Health Organization

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

IVF:

In vitro fertilization

PRISMA:

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis

PROSPERO:

International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews

MeSH:

Medical subject headings

SD:

Standard deviation

GRADE:

Grading of recommendations assessment, development and evaluation

SE:

Standard error

ES:

Effect size

I 2 :

I-squared

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Bureau of Guangdong Province (No. 20203005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nephrology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Xianling Zhou & Heng Shi

  2. Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, 613 Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, 510630, Guangdong, China

    Shiping Zhu, Haixia Wang & Shengyun Sun

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  1. Xianling Zhou
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  2. Heng Shi
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  3. Shiping Zhu
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Contributions

Xianling Zhou conceived and designed the plan; Shengyun Sun provided administrative support; Shiping Zhu and Haixia Wang provided study materials; Xianling Zhou and Heng Shi collected and compiled the data; Xianling Zhou and Heng Shi analyzed and interpreted the data; all the authors wrote the manuscript; all the authors finally approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shengyun Sun.

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Zhou, X., Shi, H., Zhu, S. et al. Effects of vitamin E and vitamin C on male infertility: a meta-analysis. Int Urol Nephrol 54, 1793–1805 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-022-03237-x

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