Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21857689›Full record

ArticleAsian journal of andrology2011

Folate and vitamin B12 in idiopathic male infertility.

Laurel E Murphy, James L Mills, Anne M Molloy, Cong Qian, Tonia C Carter, Helena Strevens, Dag Wide-Swensson, Aleksander Giwercman, Richard J Levine

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Asian journal of andrology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
3.7field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

34 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Association between MTHFR A1298C polymorphism and male infertility: A meta-analysis.Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Medical sciences = Hua zhong ke ji da xue xue bao. Yi xue Ying De wen ban = Huazhong keji daxue xuebao. Yixue Yingdewen ban · 2017
    Pooled it
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  10. Association ofAmerican journal of men's health
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

Laurel E MurphyDivision of Epidemiology, Statistics and Prevention Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
James L Mills
Anne M Molloy
Cong Qian
Tonia C Carter
Helena Strevens
Dag Wide-Swensson
Aleksander Giwercman
Richard J Levine
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development · USSkåne University Hospital · SEGlotech (United States) · USLund University · SETrinity College Dublin · IE

Funding

NICHD Health Research Board Of Ireland Neural Tube Defects StudyZIAHD002502 · NICHD · EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT · PI MILLS, JAMES · 2009 to 2022
$2.9M
Intramural NIH HHS ZIA HD002502
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, a folate enzyme gene, has been associated with idiopathic male infertility, few studies have examined other folate-related metabolites and genes. We investigated whether idiopathic male infertility is associated with variants in folate, vitamin B(12) (B12) and total homocysteine (tHcy)-related genes and measured these metabolites in blood. We conducted a case-control study that included 153 men with idiopathic infertility and 184 fertile male controls recruited at the Fertility Center and Antenatal Care Center, University Hospital, Malmö and Lund, Sweden. Serum folate, red cell folate (RCF), serum B12, plasma tHcy and semen quality were measured. Subjects were genotyped for 20 common variants in 12 genes related to folate/B12/homocysteine metabolism. Metabolite concentrations and genotype distributions were compared between cases and controls using linear and logistic regression with adjustment for covariates. The phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT) M175V and TCblR rs173665 polymorphisms were significantly associated with infertility (P=0.01 and P=0.009, respectively), but not with semen quality. Among non-users of supplements, infertile men had lower serum folate concentrations than fertile men (12.89 vs. 14.73 nmol l(-1); P=0.02), but there were no significant differences in RCF, B12 or tHcy. Folate, B12 and tHcy concentrations were not correlated with any semen parameters. This study provides little support for low folate or B12 status in the pathogenesis of idiopathic male infertility. Although additional data are needed to confirm these initial findings, our results suggest that PEMT and TCblR, genes involved in choline and B12 metabolism, merit further investigation in idiopathic male infertility.

Indexed as

AdultCase-Control StudiesFolic AcidHomocysteineHumansInfertility, MaleMaleMiddle AgedSwedenVitamin B 12Folic AcidHomocysteineVitamin B 12

Identifiers

PMID21857689
PMCPMC3372894
OpenAlexW2119468950

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.