ReviewReviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders2017
The role of vitamin D in male fertility: A focus on the testis.
Review in Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 109 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antioxidants for male subfertility.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Vitamin D Deficiency in Testicular Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Pooled it
- Is There an Association Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Erectile Dysfunction? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2020Pooled it
- Antioxidants for male subfertility.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Seven-month wintertime supplementation of 1200 IU vitamin D has no effect on hand grip strength in young, physically active males: A randomized, controlled study.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2022Trial
- Nutritional modulation of male fertility: a molecular-focused scoping review.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2026Article
- Vitamin D levels and biomarkers of male fecundity: A study from the Danish National Birth Cohort.Andrology · 2026Article
- Vitamin D in male reproduction: molecular mechanisms and pharmacological perspectives.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Vitamin D in Endocrine Disorders: A Broad Overview of Evidence in Musculoskeletal, Thyroid, Parathyroid, and Reproductive Disorders.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Effects of hypervitaminosis C and D on spermatogenesis through CDKN1B modulation in adult male mice: biochemical and immunohistochemical studies.Journal of molecular histology · 2025Article
- Vitamin D in Reproductive Health Disorders: A Narrative Review Focusing on Infertility, Endometriosis, and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The Impact of Vitamin D on Androgens and Anabolic Steroids among Adult Males: A Meta-Analytic Review.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Relationship between serum vitamin D concentration and parameters of gonadal function in infertile male patients.Current urology · 2024Article
- Adaptive Evolution and Functional Differentiation of Testis-Expressed Genes in Theria.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Investigation of Vitamin D Levels in Men with Suspected Infertility.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Gut-Gonad Perturbations in Type-1 Diabetes Mellitus: Role of Dysbiosis, Oxidative Stress, Inflammation and Energy-Dysbalance.Current diabetes reviews · 2024Review
- The role of the transsulfuration pathway in spermatogenesis of vitamin D deficient mice.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Article
- Maternal vitamin D levels and male reproductive health: a population-based follow-up study.European journal of epidemiology · 2023Article
- Evidence That Increasing Serum 25(OH)D Concentrations to 30 ng/mL in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates Could Greatly Improve Health Outcomes.Biomedicines · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In the last decade, vitamin D has emerged as a pleiotropic molecule with a multitude of autocrine, paracrine and endocrine functions, mediated by classical genomic as well as non-classical non-genomic actions, on multiple target organs and systems. The expression of vitamin D receptor and vitamin D metabolizing enzymes in male reproductive system, particularly in the testis, suggests the occurrence of vitamin D synthesis and regulation as well as function in the testis. The role of vitamin D in the modulation of testis functions, including hormone production and spermatogenesis, has been investigated in animals and humans. Experimental studies support a beneficial effect of vitamin D on male fertility, by modulating hormone production through genomic and non-genomic actions, and, particularly, by improving semen quality essentially through non-genomic actions. However, clinical studies in humans are controversial. Indeed, vitamin D seems to contribute to the modulation of the bioavailable rather than total testosterone. Moreover, although an increased prevalence or risk for testosterone deficiency was reported in men with vitamin D deficiency in observational studies, the majority of interventional studies demonstrated the lack of effect of vitamin D supplementation on circulating levels of testosterone. The most consistent effect of vitamin D was reported on semen quality. Indeed, vitamin D was shown to be positively associated to sperm motility, and to exert direct actions on spermatozoa, including non-genomic driven modulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis and activation of molecular pathways involved in sperm motility, capacitation and acrosome reaction. The current review provides a summary of current knowledge on the role of vitamin D in male fertility, by reporting clinical and experimental studies in humans and animals addressing the relationship between vitamin D and testis function.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.