Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35265037›Full record

SynthesisFrontiers in endocrinology2022

The Effect of Antioxidants on Sperm Quality Parameters and Pregnancy Rates for Idiopathic Male Infertility: A Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Kun-Peng Li, Xue-Song Yang, Tao Wu

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readSystematic ReviewNetwork Meta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Frontiers in endocrinology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06339996 (To Investigate Supplements for Improving Male Sperm Quality and Combating Aging), which is not on this map. Cited by 36 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
36citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
11.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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.

NCT06339996 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2024, after this paper: background citation

To Investigate Supplements for Improving Male Sperm Quality and Combating Aging

TypeinterventionalSponsorKaohsiung Veterans General Hospital.Ran2024 to 2025Enrolled50ConditionsUnrecognized ConditionArmsMale supplement
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

36 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Observational
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. The Potential of Superoxide Dismutase-RichInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Review
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

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Kun-Peng LiDepartment of Urology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China.
Xue-Song YangDepartment of Urology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China.
Tao WuDepartment of Urology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China.
Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Purpose: Male infertility is a global public health issue recognized by the WHO. Recently, antioxidants are increasingly used to treat idiopathic male infertility. However, the lack of available evidence has led to the inability to rank the effects of antioxidants on the sperm quality parameters and pregnancy rate of infertile men. This network meta-analysis studied the effects of different antioxidants on the sperm quality and pregnancy rate of idiopathic male infertility. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The weighted mean difference (WMD) and odds ratio (OR) were applied for the comparison of continuous and dichotomous variables, respectively, with 95% CIs. The outcomes were sperm motility, sperm concentration, sperm morphology, and pregnancy rate. Results: A total of 23 RCTs with 1,917 patients and 10 kids of antioxidants were included. l-Carnitine, l-carnitine+l-acetylcarnitine, coenzyme-Q10, ω-3 fatty acid, and selenium were more efficacious than placebo in sperm quality parameters. l-Carnitine was ranked first in sperm motility and sperm morphology (WMD 6.52% [95% CI: 2.55% to 10.05%], WMD 4.96% [0.20% to 9.73%]). ω-3 fatty acid was ranked first in sperm concentration (WMD 9.89 × 10 Conclusions: l-Carnitine was ranked first in sperm motility and sperm morphology. ω-3 fatty acid was ranked first in sperm concentration. Coenzyme-Q10 had better effective treatment on sperm motility and concentration. Furthermore, high-quality RCTs with adequate sample sizes should be conducted to compare the outcomes of different antioxidants.

Indexed as

Fatty Acids, Omega-3Infertility, MaleAntioxidantsCarnitineCoenzymesFemaleHumansMalePregnancyPregnancy RateRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicSpermatozoaAntioxidantsCarnitineCoenzymesFatty Acids, Omega-3antioxidantsidiopathic male infertilitynetwork meta-analysispregnancy raterandomized controlled trialssperm quality parameters

Identifiers

PMID35265037
PMCPMC8898892
OpenAlexW4213264790

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.