Impact of Folates in the Care of the Male Infertility

Summary

Unexplained male infertility is increasing, and, nowadays, the investigators only can propose palliative treatment, as In VITRO Fertilization (IVF). The folate metabolism is a key for the maintenance of genome integrity. A dysfunction in this pathway can be responsible of spermatogenesis defects, and further, of infertility. Few assays have shown that folate treatment can improve sperm parameters and fertility, till 30% in some of theses studies. The purpose of the investigators study is to demonstrate the impact of folates treatment on improvement of sperm parameters and on the rate of success of in VITRO fertilization procedures.

Timeline

Start

2011-11

Primary completion

2016-04

Completion

2016-04

Publications

• Background Bentivoglio G, Melica F, Cristoforoni P. Folinic acid in the treatment of human male infertility. Fertil Steril. 1993 Oct;60(4):698-701. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(16)56225-6.
• Background Bezold G, Lange M, Peter RU. Homozygous methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T mutation and male infertility. N Engl J Med. 2001 Apr 12;344(15):1172-3. doi: 10.1056/NEJM200104123441517. No abstract available.
• Background Blount BC, Mack MM, Wehr CM, MacGregor JT, Hiatt RA, Wang G, Wickramasinghe SN, Everson RB, Ames BN. Folate deficiency causes uracil misincorporation into human DNA and chromosome breakage: implications for cancer and neuronal damage. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Apr 1;94(7):3290-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.94.7.3290.
• Background Boxmeer JC, Smit M, Weber RF, Lindemans J, Romijn JC, Eijkemans MJ, Macklon NS, Steegers-Theunissen RP. Seminal plasma cobalamin significantly correlates with sperm concentration in men undergoing IVF or ICSI procedures. J Androl. 2007 Jul-Aug;28(4):521-7. doi: 10.2164/jandrol.106.001982. Epub 2007 Feb 7.
• Background Boxmeer JC, Macklon NS, Lindemans J, Beckers NG, Eijkemans MJ, Laven JS, Steegers EA, Steegers-Theunissen RP. IVF outcomes are associated with biomarkers of the homocysteine pathway in monofollicular fluid. Hum Reprod. 2009 May;24(5):1059-66. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dep009. Epub 2009 Feb 15.
• Background Boxmeer JC, Smit M, Utomo E, Romijn JC, Eijkemans MJ, Lindemans J, Laven JS, Macklon NS, Steegers EA, Steegers-Theunissen RP. Low folate in seminal plasma is associated with increased sperm DNA damage. Fertil Steril. 2009 Aug;92(2):548-56. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.06.010. Epub 2008 Aug 22.
• Background Chen J, Ma J, Stampfer MJ, Palomeque C, Selhub J, Hunter DJ. Linkage disequilibrium between the 677C>T and 1298A>C polymorphisms in human methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene and their contributions to risk of colorectal cancer. Pharmacogenetics. 2002 Jun;12(4):339-42. doi: 10.1097/00008571-200206000-00011.
• Background Choi SW, Mason JB. Folate and colorectal carcinogenesis: is DNA repair the missing link? Am J Gastroenterol. 1998 Nov;93(11):2013-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1572-0241.1998.02013.x. No abstract available.
• Background Doerksen T, Benoit G, Trasler JM. Deoxyribonucleic acid hypomethylation of male germ cells by mitotic and meiotic exposure to 5-azacytidine is associated with altered testicular histology. Endocrinology. 2000 Sep;141(9):3235-44. doi: 10.1210/endo.141.9.7661.
• Background Ebisch IM, van Heerde WL, Thomas CM, van der Put N, Wong WY, Steegers-Theunissen RP. C677T methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism interferes with the effects of folic acid and zinc sulfate on sperm concentration. Fertil Steril. 2003 Nov;80(5):1190-4. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(03)02157-5.
• Background Eskenazi B, Kidd SA, Marks AR, Sloter E, Block G, Wyrobek AJ. Antioxidant intake is associated with semen quality in healthy men. Hum Reprod. 2005 Apr;20(4):1006-12. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deh725. Epub 2005 Jan 21.
• Background Goyette P, Sumner JS, Milos R, Duncan AM, Rosenblatt DS, Matthews RG, Rozen R. Human methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase: isolation of cDNA mapping and mutation identification. Nat Genet. 1994 Aug;7(4):551. No abstract available.
• Background Heijmans BT, Gussekloo J, Kluft C, Droog S, Lagaay AM, Knook DL, Westendorp RG, Slagboom EP. Mortality risk in men is associated with a common mutation in the methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase gene (MTHFR). Eur J Hum Genet. 1999 Feb-Mar;7(2):197-204. doi: 10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200283.
• Background Kelly TL, Li E, Trasler JM. 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine induces alterations in murine spermatogenesis and pregnancy outcome. J Androl. 2003 Nov-Dec;24(6):822-30. doi: 10.1002/j.1939-4640.2003.tb03133.x.
• Background Kelly TL, Neaga OR, Schwahn BC, Rozen R, Trasler JM. Infertility in 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR)-deficient male mice is partially alleviated by lifetime dietary betaine supplementation. Biol Reprod. 2005 Mar;72(3):667-77. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod.104.035238. Epub 2004 Nov 17.
• Background Kim YI, Pogribny IP, Basnakian AG, Miller JW, Selhub J, James SJ, Mason JB. Folate deficiency in rats induces DNA strand breaks and hypomethylation within the p53 tumor suppressor gene. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Jan;65(1):46-52. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/65.1.46.
• Background Koury MJ, Horne DW, Brown ZA, Pietenpol JA, Blount BC, Ames BN, Hard R, Koury ST. Apoptosis of late-stage erythroblasts in megaloblastic anemia: association with DNA damage and macrocyte production. Blood. 1997 Jun 15;89(12):4617-23.
• Background Kundu TK, Rao MR. CpG islands in chromatin organization and gene expression. J Biochem. 1999 Feb;125(2):217-22. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jbchem.a022276.
• Background Lengauer C, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B. DNA methylation and genetic instability in colorectal cancer cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Mar 18;94(6):2545-50. doi: 10.1073/pnas.94.6.2545.
• Background Ma J, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci E, Artigas C, Hunter DJ, Fuchs C, Willett WC, Selhub J, Hennekens CH, Rozen R. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism, dietary interactions, and risk of colorectal cancer. Cancer Res. 1997 Mar 15;57(6):1098-102.
• Background Matsushita S, Muramatsu T, Arai H, Matsui T, Higuchi S. The frequency of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase-gene mutation varies with age in the normal population. Am J Hum Genet. 1997 Dec;61(6):1459-60. doi: 10.1086/301640. No abstract available.
• Background Oliva A, Dotta A, Multigner L. Pentoxifylline and antioxidants improve sperm quality in male patients with varicocele. Fertil Steril. 2009 Apr;91(4 Suppl):1536-9. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.09.024. Epub 2008 Nov 5.
• Background Ravel C, Chantot-Bastaraud S, Chalmey C, Barreiro L, Aknin-Seifer I, Pfeffer J, Berthaut I, Mathieu EE, Mandelbaum J, Siffroi JP, McElreavey K, Bashamboo A. Lack of association between genetic polymorphisms in enzymes associated with folate metabolism and unexplained reduced sperm counts. PLoS One. 2009 Aug 6;4(8):e6540. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006540.
• Background Rosenberg N, Murata M, Ikeda Y, Opare-Sem O, Zivelin A, Geffen E, Seligsohn U. The frequent 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism is associated with a common haplotype in whites, Japanese, and Africans. Am J Hum Genet. 2002 Mar;70(3):758-62. doi: 10.1086/338932. Epub 2002 Jan 4.
• Background Rozen R, Fraser FC, Shaw G. Decreased proportion of female newborn infants homozygous for the 677 C-->T mutation in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. Am J Med Genet. 1999 Mar 12;83(2):142-3. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1096-8628(19990312)83:23.0.co;2-y. No abstract available.
• Background Skjelbred CF, Svendsen M, Haugan V, Eek AK, Clausen KO, Svendsen MV, Hansteen IL. Influence of DNA repair gene polymorphisms of hOGG1, XRCC1, XRCC3, ERCC2 and the folate metabolism gene MTHFR on chromosomal aberration frequencies. Mutat Res. 2006 Dec 1;602(1-2):151-62. doi: 10.1016/j.mrfmmm.2006.08.009. Epub 2006 Sep 25.
• Background Stegmann K, Ziegler A, Ngo ET, Kohlschmidt N, Schroter B, Ermert A, Koch MC. Linkage disequilibrium of MTHFR genotypes 677C/T-1298A/C in the German population and association studies in probands with neural tube defects(NTD). Am J Med Genet. 1999 Nov 5;87(1):23-9.
• Background Szymanski W, Kazdepka-Zieminska A. [Effect of homocysteine concentration in follicular fluid on a degree of oocyte maturity]. Ginekol Pol. 2003 Oct;74(10):1392-6. Polish.
• Background Wong WY, Merkus HM, Thomas CM, Menkveld R, Zielhuis GA, Steegers-Theunissen RP. Effects of folic acid and zinc sulfate on male factor subfertility: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Fertil Steril. 2002 Mar;77(3):491-8. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(01)03229-0.
• de Ligny W, Smits RM, Mackenzie-Proctor R, Jordan V, Fleischer K, de Bruin JP, Showell MG. Antioxidants for male subfertility. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022 May 4;5(5):CD007411. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007411.pub5.

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