Asthenozoospermia: Cellular and molecular contributing factors and treatment strategies

Abstract

| INTRODUC TI ONIn recent years, many researchers have focused on possible factors leading to male infertility and revealed the existence of many cellular and molecular defects during sperm production and maturation. These defects finally affect the count and structure of spermatozoa and reduce the ability of spermatozoa to reach and fertilise the egg. A decrease in sperm motility, called "asthenozoospermia," is one of these important deficiencies, which is influenced by various cellular and molecular factors. After a brief explanation of the main cellular and molecular factors involved in reducing sperm motility, this review article presents some important treatment strategies to overcome sperm motility reduction. | DEFINITI ON AND PRE VALEN CEAccording to the reports released by the World Health Organization (WHO), about 20% of couples are infertile and infertility can be, at least partly, attributed to the male partner (Petok, 2015). Low sperm count, abnormal morphology and poor sperm motility are the common causes related to male factors. Based on the WHO guideline (2010), asthenozoospermia was defined as total motility <40% and progressive motility <32% in a semen sample (WHO, 2010).Severe asthenozoospermia was also characterised by total sperm immobility or very low motile spermatozoa in the semen sample. It seems that total sperm immobility is related to genetic disorders (Blouin et al., 2000). This will be explained in more detail below.Understating the cellular and molecular processes leading to sperm motility is required to help the researchers to address the subject of reduced sperm motility and produce an accurate diagnosis (Turner, 2003).To diagnose asthenozoospermia in individuals in an andrology laboratory, some important points must be taken into consideration to prevent false asthenozoospermia diagnosis. For instance, semen should not be collected in long abstinence days since the number of immotile spermatozoa is high in abstinence days. Also, semen AbstractSemen sample with poor sperm motility, which called asthenozoospermia, is considered as one of the main factors contributing to male infertility. Recognition of the cellular and molecular pathways contributing to sperm motility reduction may lead to applying novel treatment strategies for overcoming low sperm motility in asthenozoospermia individuals. In this review, we intend to discuss the main causes of sperm motility reduction in asthenozoospermia and some treatment strategies used to overcome low sperm motility. K E Y W O R D Sapoptosis, reactive oxygen species, spermiogenesis

The effects of Vitamin D3 supplementation on Spermatogram and endocrine factors in asthenozoospermia infertile men: a randomized, triple blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

“…Moreover, the exclusion criteria included any acute illness during the study, admission of less than 90% of the supplement, leaving the study based on the personal desire of the participants, attendance at another research study, immigration, and unavailability for follow-up. Additionally, those men with varicocele [ 36 ], epididymo-orchitis [ 37 ], sexually transmitted diseases [ 38 ], and systemic diseases [ 39 ] were excluded based on the proved negative effects of the above-mentioned pathologies on male fertility and sperm motility [ 40 ]. Furthermore, men with endocrinopathies such as hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism were excluded as well, because hyperthyroidism is associated with the reduced semen volume and reduced sperm density, motility, and morphology, and hypothyroidism is associated with the reduced sperm morphology [ 41 , 42 ].…”

Novel Variants in DNAH9 Lead to Nonsyndromic Severe Asthenozoospermia

“…Fourthly, some genetic mutations might have negative effects on sperm immobility. Fifthly, lifestyle risk factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, chemical pesticides exposure, etc [6].…”

Sphingomyelin Synthase 2 Participate in the Regulation of Sperm Motility and Apoptosis

“…A significant proportion of male infertility cases is accompanied by abnormal semen quality including asthenospermia, teratospermia, oligozoospermia, and azoospermia [ 1 ]. However, asthenospermia, which is associated with poor sperm viability and motility, is the leading factor in male infertility [ 1 , 2 ]. Many causes of asthenospermia have been reported so far [ 3 , 4 , 5 ], which include dysplasia of fibrous sheath, defects in the action of cilium, disfunction of energy metabolism, dysplasia of calcium channel [ 3 , 4 ].…”