The Effect of Mitochondria-Targeted Antioxidant on Human Sperm Function and Dna Fragmentation

Background and aim: oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species (ros) is associated with an impaired fertilization ability of spermatozoa. in spite of a large number of clinical studies that claimed the beneficial effects of antioxidant oral administration on sperm physiology and fertility, only a few studies were addressed to evaluate their effects on spermatozoa in vitro. in sperm cells, the majority of co-enzyme q10, an energy promoting agent and antioxidant, is concentrated in the mitochondria of the midpiece, so that the energy for movement and all other energy-dependent processes in the sperm cell also depend on the availability of co-enzyme q10. mitoq is a shortened coq10 derivative with an added positive charge, which helps it pass into the negatively charged mitochondrial. we investigated the effects of adding targeted- antioxidant to a sperm preparation medium on the functional parameters of the spermatozoa.methods: semen samples, obtained from 40 asthenozoospermia patients were enrolled in this study. spermatozoa were washed with ham’s f-10 media containing 10% human serum albumin and the antioxidant, mitoq, mitochondrial targeted-antioxidant , and then the motility, viability and dna fragmentation of the spermatozoa were assessed.results: the addition of this antioxidant to the sperm preparation medium significantly improved the motility and viability of the spermatozoa compared with the control group. moreover, mitoq also decreased the dna fragmentation rate of the spermatozoa. main results declared that in specimen, total and progressive sperm motility is maintained by in vitro treatment with mitoq whereas a significant decrease of these parameters occurs in parallel samples incubated in medium alone.conclusion: supplementing sperm preparation medium with mitochondria targeted-antioxidant significantly improved the overall functional parameters of the spermatozoa.