Biomed Pap Med Fac Univ Palacky Olomouc Czech Repub. 2015, 159(1):077-082 | DOI: 10.5507/bp.2013.007

Lycopene improves the distorted ratio between AA/DHA in the seminal plasma of infertile males and increases the likelihood of successful pregnancy

Radka Filipcikovaa#, Ivana Obornab#, Jana Brezinovaa, Jiri Novotnyc, Gabriella Wojewodkad, Juan Bautista De Sanctise, Lenka Radovaf, Marian Hajduchf, Danuta Radziochd
a Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic
b Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc and University Hospital Olomouc
c Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc
d Departments of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
e Institute of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela
f Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc
# The authors contributed equally to the work

Aims: Male infertility has been associated with imbalance in the polyunsaturated fatty acids arachidonic acid/docosahexaenoic acid (AA/DHA) ratio. This study aimed to assess whether use of the potent antioxidant, lycopene, would affect this imbalance in seminal plasma and to test whether modulation of the AA/DHA ratio correlates with male fertility.

Methods: The study included 44 males from infertile couples who were treated with lycopene for three months before scheduled IVF treatment. The control group was 13 fertile males who were also treated with lycopene for three months. AA and DHA levels were measured in seminal plasma before and after treatment. The outcome of IVF treatment after lycopene use in of males from infertile couples was recorded.

Results: The subjects were subdivided into 21 normozoospermic males from couples with idiopathic infertility and 23 males with semen abnormalities. Prior to the treatment with lycopene, the AA/DHA ratios in both subgroups of patients were significantly higher than in fertile controls and improved following treatment with lycopene. Improvement was more marked in the normospermic males. Seven spontaneous pregnancies (16%) occurred before the scheduled IVF treatment and 15 couples (42%) achieved pregnancy after IVF.

Conclusions: Three months of treatment with lycopene led to a significant improvement in the AA/DHA ratio in seminal plasma of males from infertile couples and facilitated the spontaneous as well as IVF conception.

Keywords: lycopene, oxidative stress, male infertility, seminal plasma, DHA, AA

Received: July 22, 2012; Accepted: January 17, 2013; Prepublished online: February 25, 2013; Published: March 9, 2015  Show citation

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Filipcikova, R., Oborna, I., Brezinova, J., Novotny, J., Wojewodka, G., De Sanctis, J.B., ... Radzioch, D. (2015). Lycopene improves the distorted ratio between AA/DHA in the seminal plasma of infertile males and increases the likelihood of successful pregnancy. Biomedical papers, 159(1), 077-082. doi: 10.5507/bp.2013.007
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