Introduction: Seminal fluid viscosity is a key parameter to achieve fertilization. Viscosity is more frequently increased in patients with infertility. However, the mechanism by which hyperviscosity causes infertility is still poorly understood. As an increased blood viscosity is associated with diseases caused by oxidative stress, it can be supposed that there is a relationship between seminal fluid viscosity and oxidative stress in male infertility. Therefore, this systematic review aims to investigate the relationship between hyperviscous seminal fluid and oxidative stress.
Materials and methods: We performed a systematic search on the following databases Pubmed, MEDLINE, Cochrane, and Scopus from the earliest available date to 10 January 2021, using Medical Subjects Headings (MeSH) indexes and keywords searches. The study included all the articles that evaluated the relationship between increased seminal fluid viscosity and oxidative stress. Article reviews even though dealing with seminal fluid hyperviscosity were excluded.
Results: 5 articles were included in this systematic review. The results demonstrated an important impairment of antioxidant systems and increased oxidative stress in patients with high seminal fluid viscosity.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that a careful assessment of oxidative stress in patients with hyperviscosity may be very useful in clinical practice. Infertile patients with seminal fluid hyperviscosity could benefit from the treatment with antioxidants to protect sperm cells from oxidative damage and to improve their functional properties.
Keywords: antioxidants; idiopathic male infertility; male infertility; oxidative stress; seminal fluid viscosity.