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Classification, causes, diagnosis and treatment of male infertility: a review

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Abstract

Infertility refers to the biological inability of an individual to contribute to conception over the course of one year. Male infertility refers to a male’s incapability to cause pregnancy in a fertile female. Approximately 15% of couples are affected by infertility and among them 40–50% cases are attributed to male infertility. Male infertility is mainly categorized into Azoospermia (AS) and Coital infertility (CI). Many studies have supported that different factors such as varicocele, testicular failure, endocrine dysfunction, genital tract infection, testicular disturbances, testicular cancer, hormonal disturbances, retrograde ejaculation, prolonged exposure to heat, obesity, older age, smoking, alcohol, heavy metals, pesticides, oxidative stress, genetic factors and different environmental and nutritional factors reversibly or irreversibly influence male fertility. Male infertility can be diagnosed by different tools. Diagnosing male infertility problems usually involves physical examination, semen analysis, hormone tests, testicular biopsy, urine test etc. There are different pharmacological, non-pharmacological, combination and ethno-pharmacological treatment options for male infertility. The infertility of known etiology has considerable treatment success rate. However, genetic or idiopathic male infertility has optimized and empirical approach. This review summarizes classification, causes, diagnosis and treatment of male infertility. The article is based on English peer-reviewed articles located on Scopus, Pubmed, ScienceDirect etc.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for all the help provided by Dr. Talha Jawaid, Assistant Professor, Dar Al Uloom University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box No. 173, Al-Kharj, 11942, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Mamuna Naz

  2. Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box No. 173, Al-Kharj, 11942, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Mehnaz Kamal

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  1. Mamuna Naz
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  2. Mehnaz Kamal
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Correspondence to Mehnaz Kamal.

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Naz, M., Kamal, M. Classification, causes, diagnosis and treatment of male infertility: a review. Orient Pharm Exp Med 17, 89–109 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13596-017-0269-7

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