Antioxidants modulation of sperm genome and epigenome damage: Fact or fad? Converging evidence from animal and human studies

Publication date: June 2018Source: Middle East Fertility Society Journal, Volume 23, Issue 2Author(s): Fadi Choucair, Elias Saliba, Imad Abou Jaoude, Mira HazzouriAbstractIncreasing evidence suggests that oxidative stress plays a major role in the pathogenesis of sperm DNA damage. Oxidative stress was also recently found to modulate the epigenetic make up of sperm. Along these lines, a growing body of evidence in both experimental and clinical studies has implicated several regimens of antioxidants, by oral administration or in vitro supplementation to sperm-preparation media, in improving various sperm parameters namely DNA damage. While these studies exhibited heterogeneity in treatment regimens, and variability in methodology, there remains a lack of quality evidence on the association between micronutrients and sperm DNA integrity. Another ancillary effect of antioxidants administration on sperm is the shaping of the epigenome. It is beginning to surface that micronutrients function as potent modulators of the sperm epigenome-regulated gene expression through regulation of mainly DNA methylation in humans and experimental models. However, the few promising experimental studies on mice supported the notion that epigenetic marks in spermatogenesis are dynamic and can be modulated by nutritional exposure. More so, the sperm epigenome was proposed to transfer a so-called epigenomic map to the offspring which can influence their development. Here, we review and summarize the c...
Source: Middle East Fertility Society Journal - Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: research