The Role of Oxidative Stress in Male Infertility

Dear Colleagues,

Male factor issues are responsible for 50% of infertility cases in couples desiring children. Increasing evidence suggests that oxidative stress due to elevated seminal reactive oxygen species levels plays an independent and important role in the etiology of male infertility. Seminal oxidative stress is one of the major factors that adversely affect the normal physiological aspects of sperm, such as motility and progression, DNA fragmentation, hyperactivation, capacitation, acrosome reaction, and zona pellucida penetration prior to fertilization, resulting in male infertility. In addition, reactive nitrogen species (RNS), like reactive oxygen species (ROS), are useful for sustaining reproductive processes such as cell signaling, the regulation of hormonal biosynthesis, sperm capacitation, hyperactivation, and acrosome reaction. However, endogenous levels of RNS beyond physiological limits can impair fertility by disrupting testicular function, reducing gonadotropin production, and compromising semen quality. Although the use of antioxidants to reduce oxidative stress across a range of etiologies and risk factors of male infertility has gained increasing attention, there are no standard guidelines that may ensure the reversal of such infertility. In this Special Issue, we plan to focus on research in and clinical aspects of oxidative stress that affect male fertility and success with selective antioxidants alone or in various combinations. Listed below are a few guidelines:

• Introduction to male infertility.
• Why is oxidative stress (OS) related to clinical practice of male infertility?
• How does OS affect sperm function?
• Mechanistic issues, e.g., role of DNA fragmentation, proteomics, and metabolomic aspects of such interactions.
• Presence of molecular and genetic differences.
• How can oxidative stress be evaluated in clinical practice?
• What are antioxidants and how do they affect sperm function?
• What is the future of such evaluation in the clinical practice of andrology?
• Focus on well-designed, multicenter, placebo-controlled clinical trials needed to establish the clear role and candidate for AO therapy.

For this issue, we invite you and your colleagues to submit original research manuscripts, or comprehensive review articles related to these aspects of oxidative stress and male infertility.

Dr. Suresh C. Sikka
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• male infertility
• seminal reactive oxygen species
• sperm
• reactive nitrogen species
• antioxidant