Reproductive Physiology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana, 136119, India.
Reprod Sci. 2021 May;28(5):1227-1256. doi: 10.1007/s43032-020-00312-5. Epub 2020 Sep 15.
The prevalence of female infertility cases has been increasing at a frightening rate, affecting approximately 48 million women across the world. However, oxidative stress has been recognized as one of the main mediators of female infertility by causing various reproductive pathologies in females such as endometriosis, PCOS, preeclampsia, spontaneous abortion, and unexplained infertility. Nowadays, concerned women prefer dietary supplements with antioxidant properties over synthetic drugs as a natural way to lessen the oxidative stress and enhance their fertility. Therefore, the current review is an attempt to explore the efficacy of various natural antioxidant compounds including vitamins, carotenoids, and plant polyphenols and also of some medicinal plants in improving the fertility status of females. Our summarization of recent findings in the current article would pave the way toward the development of new possible antioxidant therapy to treat infertility in females. Natural antioxidant compounds found in fruits, vegetables, and other dietary sources, alone or in combination with other antioxidants, were found to be effective in ameliorating the oxidative stress-mediated infertility problems in both natural and assisted reproductive settings. Numerous medicinal plants showed promising results in averting the various reproductive disorders associated with female infertility, suggesting a plant-based herbal medicine to treat infertility. Although optimum levels of natural antioxidants have shown favorable results, however, their excessive intake may have adverse health impacts. Therefore, larger well-designed, dose-response studies in humans are further warranted to incorporate natural antioxidant compounds into the clinical management of female infertility.
女性不孕病例的患病率呈惊人的速度增长，全球约有 4800 万女性受到影响。然而，氧化应激已被认为是导致女性各种生殖病理的主要介质之一，如子宫内膜异位症、多囊卵巢综合征、子痫前期、自然流产和不明原因不孕。如今，有生育问题的女性更倾向于选择具有抗氧化特性的膳食补充剂，而不是合成药物，作为减轻氧化应激和提高生育能力的自然方法。因此，本综述试图探讨各种天然抗氧化化合物（包括维生素、类胡萝卜素和植物多酚）以及一些药用植物在改善女性生育能力方面的功效。我们对当前文章中最新发现的总结将为开发新的可能的抗氧化治疗方法来治疗女性不孕铺平道路。在自然和辅助生殖环境中，发现单独或与其他抗氧化剂联合使用的水果、蔬菜和其他膳食来源中的天然抗氧化化合物，可有效改善由氧化应激引起的不孕问题。许多药用植物在避免与女性不孕相关的各种生殖障碍方面显示出有希望的结果，表明可以用植物药来治疗不孕。虽然最佳水平的天然抗氧化剂已显示出良好的效果，但它们的过量摄入可能会对健康产生不利影响。因此，进一步需要进行更大规模、设计更合理、剂量反应的人体研究，将天然抗氧化剂纳入女性不孕的临床管理中。
