Department of Crop Sciences and Agroforestry, Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague 6, Czech Republic.
Department of Science, University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy.
Phytother Res. 2021 Nov;35(11):6359-6368. doi: 10.1002/ptr.7287. Epub 2021 Sep 28.
Male infertility refers to the inability to conceive a natural pregnancy in a fertile female, and approximately 15% of reproductive-aged couples worldwide face this problem. Several plants were used to treat fertility disorders and, among them, Lepidium meyenii, a folk medicament of Andean regions, is still used to enhance vitality and treat sterility in humans and domestic animals. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of L. meyenii Walpers on infertile patients by a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Fifty patients suffering from various reproductive-related problems were enrolled for 16 weeks to evaluate the effect of yellow maca on semen quality and serum hormone levels. Treatment with maca improved the percentage of sperm concentration by 40%, whereas the placebo improved by 76% after 8 and 16 weeks of treatment, but the results were statistically non-significant. No statistically significant change in hormone levels was reported by using maca, except a decrease in the level of free testosterone. Results are not sufficient to assess the efficacy of maca on male fertility. Further investigation and trials are required to obtain conclusive results.
男性不育是指在有生育能力的女性中无法自然受孕，全球约有 15%的育龄夫妇面临这个问题。有几种植物被用于治疗生育障碍，其中安第斯地区的民间药物 Lepidium meyenii，仍被用于提高活力和治疗人类和家畜的不育症。本研究旨在通过随机、双盲、安慰剂对照试验评估 Lepidium meyenii Walpers 对不育患者的影响。50 名患有各种生殖相关问题的患者入组 16 周，以评估黄马卡对精液质量和血清激素水平的影响。马卡治疗 8 周和 16 周后，精子浓度的百分比提高了 40%，而安慰剂组提高了 76%，但结果无统计学意义。使用马卡后，除游离睾酮水平下降外，激素水平没有统计学意义的变化。结果不足以评估马卡对男性生育能力的疗效。需要进一步的调查和试验来获得结论性的结果。
