Bioactive compounds as potential alternative treatments to prevent cancer therapy-induced male infertility

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024 Jan 18:14:1293780. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1293780. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

About 8-12% of couples experience infertility, with male infertility being the cause in 50% of cases. Several congenital and acquired conditions, including chronic diseases and their treatments, can contribute to male infertility. Prostate cancer incidence increases annually by roughly 3%, leading to an increment in cancer treatments that have adverse effects on male fertility. To preserve male fertility post-cancer survival, conventional cancer treatments use sperm cryopreservation and hormone stimulation. However, these techniques are invasive, expensive, and unsuitable in prepubertal patients lacking mature sperm cells. Alternatively, nutritional therapies enriched with bioactive compounds are highlighted as non-invasive approaches to prevent male infertility that are easily implementable and cost-effective. In fact, curcumin and resveratrol are two examples of bioactive compounds with chemo-preventive effects at the testicular level. In this article, we summarize and discuss the literature regarding bioactive compounds and their mechanisms in preventing cancer treatment-induced male infertility. This information may lead to novel opportunities for future interventions.

Keywords: chemotherapy; curcumin; fertility; radiation; resveratrol; testicular; tumor.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cryopreservation / methods
  • Fertility Preservation* / methods
  • Humans
  • Infertility, Male* / chemically induced
  • Infertility, Male* / prevention & control
  • Male
  • Neoplasms* / complications
  • Neoplasms* / drug therapy
  • Semen
  • Testis

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by ANID FONDECYT iniciación 11230112 (LS), Concurso de Investigación con Colaboración Internacional de la Universidad Finis Terrae (LS), ANID FONDECYT regular 1220097 (MM-C).