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Homeostatic relevance of vitamin D in maintaining male fertility in human: Downregulation of oxidative stress and up-regulation of anti-oxidative defense and steroidal hormones
Authors: Fahad Hussain, Arif Malik, Muhammad Saeed Qureshi, Muhammad Imran, Sulayman Waquar, Hassan Shafique, Zohaib Rana, Hnin Ei Thu, Zahid Hussain
Number of views: 310
Objective: To evaluate correlation between the levels of vitamin D and male infertility as well
as to determine the efficacy of vitamin D in improving the male fertility by up-regulating the
levels of testosterone and spermatogenesis. Methods: In the present study, 130 male patients
(aged 25-70 years) having fertility defects were screened and 145 healthy individuals were
taken as control. All human subjects were screened for 4-hydroxynonenal, isoprostane-F2α,
8-hydroxy-2´-deoxyguanosine, vitamin D, luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone,
testosterones, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase,
and nitric oxide. Results: The screening analysis revealed that the levels of luteinizing
hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, and testosterone were lower in male infertile subjects
compared to healthy subjects. Similarly, the levels of vitamin D [(17.17 ± 2.30) ng/mL] and
calcium[(6.29 ± 0.31) mg/dL] were significantly lower in infertile groups compared to the
normal healthy groups. Moreover, the study revealed that the levels of superoxide dismutase,
catalase, and glutathione peroxidase were significantly higher in healthy subjects compared
to the infertile subjects. Conclusions: Vitamin D exhibits strong relevance to male fertility by
maintaining the levels of sex hormones (luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone,
and testosterone), up-regulating the antioxidant defense (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and
glutathione peroxidase), and down-regulating the oxidative stress (malondialdehyde, nitric
oxide, and inducible nitric oxide synthase species).