Oxidative Stress Impacts on Male Fertility

Oxidative stress arises when the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the male reproductive tract exceeds the capacity of seminal antioxidants to neutralise them. Under physiological conditions, low levels of ROS contribute to sperm maturation, capacitation and acrosome reaction. However, excessive ROS lead to lipid peroxidation of sperm membranes, fragmentation of paternal DNA, impaired mitochondria function and apoptotic pathways. These changes manifest as reduced sperm concentration, motility, viability and altered morphology, ultimately diminishing fertilisation potential. Both endogenous factors, such as aberrant leukocyte activation and mitochondrial dysfunction, and exogenous influences, including environmental toxins, smoking and poor diet, contribute to oxidative imbalance. Advances in diagnostic approaches aim to quantify redox status in blood and semen, guiding personalised antioxidant interventions and lifestyle modifications. The global burden of male infertility underscores the need for standardised assessment of oxidative markers to inform clinical management and improve reproductive outcomes.

Research from Nature Portfolio

No recent Nature Portfolio content available.

Oxidative Stress Impacts on Male Fertility publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in oxidative stress impacts on male fertility across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS): Highly reactive derivatives of oxygen that at low levels facilitate sperm function but in excess cause cellular damage.

Oxidative Stress (OS): The imbalance between pro-oxidant species and antioxidant defences leading to molecular and cellular injury.

Lipid Peroxidation: Chain-reaction damage to polyunsaturated fatty acids in sperm membranes, compromising motility and viability.

Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP): A quantitative measure of the overall redox balance between oxidants and antioxidants in a biological sample.

F₂-Isoprostanes: Stable end-products of lipid peroxidation used as specific biomarkers of oxidative injury in seminal plasma.

References

1. Blood Leukocyte ROS Production Reflects Seminal Fluid Oxidative Stress and Spermatozoa Dysfunction in Idiopathic Infertile Men. Antioxidants (2023).
2. Oxido-Reduction Potential as a Method to Determine Oxidative Stress in Semen Samples. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (2023).
3. Are F2-isoprostanes a better marker of semen lipid peroxidation than MDA in reproductive pathologies with inflammatory basis?. Cytokine (2025).