ArticleMedicine2019
Effect of oral alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) on the treatment of male infertility: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in Medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dietary Supplements for Male Infertility: A Critical Evaluation of Their Composition.Nutrients · 2020Pooled it
- Alpha-Lipoic Acid in Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy: Addressing the Challenges and Complexities Surrounding a 70-Year-Old Compound.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Review
- Molecular and Therapeutic Insights of Alpha-Lipoic Acid as a Potential Molecule for Disease Prevention.Revista brasileira de farmacognosia : orgao oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Farmacognosia · 2023Review
- Effect of oral alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) on sperm parameters: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Basic and clinical andrology · 2022Review
- Dietary Antioxidants in the Treatment of Male Infertility: Counteracting Oxidative Stress.Biology · 2021Review
- The Effect of α-lipoic Acid on C-Reactive Protein Level: A Meta-analysis of Randomized, Double-Blind, and Placebo-Controlled Studies.Dose-response : a publication of International Hormesis SocietyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMale fertility has gradually become a worldwide problem. Because of the limitation of treatment, many drugs have been used for improving sperm quality. Among them, alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), as a treatment of diabetic neuropathy, has been applied to improve the quality of sperm in clinical practice, with satisfactory effect. However, there is still no systematic review on the field of male infertility treating with oral ALA.
methodsThe databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Clinicaltrials.org., China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), China Biology Medicine Database (CBM), Wan fang Database, VIP Science Technology Periodical Database, and Cochrane Library were retrieved. Grey literature will be searched in OpenGrey. Related Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) will be collected and selected before December 30, 2019. We will search English literature and Chinese literature using search terms including "male infertility", "semen", "sperm", "alpha-lipoid acid", " alpha lipoid acid", "lipoid acid". We will start to search database in November 20, 2019. Sperm concentration, motility and morphology, sperm DNA fragmentation index, sperm number of per ejaculate, sperm viability and adverse events will be evaluated. RevMan 5.3 and Stata 14.0 will be used for Systematic review and Meta-analysis. This protocol reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA-P) statement, and we will report the systematic review by following the PRISMA statement.
resultsThrough systematic review, and meta-analysis when necessary, we can obtain the effect of ALA on sperm quality, including sperm motility, concentration, morphology and other indicators. CONCLUSION AND DISSEMINATION: Efficacy and safety of oral ALA on male sperm quality in infertile men will be assessed. The results will be published in a public issue journal to provide evidence-based medical evidence for urologists and andrologists to make better clinical decisions.
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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.