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Correlation of Dietary Macro- and Micro-Mineral Intake with Seminal Plasma Quality/Quantity and Oxidant/Antioxidant Status in Infertile Compared to the Normal Men: a Case-Control Study

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Abstract

Male infertility is a global public health issue, but studies on the correlation between the dietary components and sperm quality showed inconclusive results due to the heterogeneous population with different dietary habits and environmental stimuli. Herein, the correlation of dietary macro- and micro-mineral intake was evaluated with quality/quantity and oxidant/antioxidant status of seminal fluid in infertile compared to the healthy men. One hundred twenty men attending to the infertility clinic of Ayatollah Mousavi Hospital in Zanjan City were enrolled. Seminal fluid was extracted, and groups were categorized into the infertile (non-standard) and normal (standard) groups based on the WHO, 2020 criteria. Food frequency questionnaire was completed. Seminal malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were measured by ELISA kit based on the manufacture’s instruction. An independent sample t-test was used to determine differences between the two groups, and linear regression model was used to determine the effect of each dietary macro/micro mineral intake on these parameters. Adjusting for all parameters, dietary selenium increased 3.7-folds the seminal TAC level (p=0.04) and decreased sperm with non-progressive motility by 2.4-folds (p=0.04). Higher manganese intake increased the sperm count by 7.8-folds (p=0.005). Dietary copper decreased sperm vitality and increased sperm with slow motility (OR= −1.7, 95% CI= −59.8, −9.9; p=0.007). Dietary zinc (OR=1.24, p=0.01) and iron (OR=1.5, p=0.02) showed a positive effect on sperm vitality. None of macro and micro minerals showed a significant effect on the seminal MDA level. Daily intake of adequate amounts of micro and macro minerals improves sperm quality and increases the antioxidant capacity of the seminal fluid; however, copper showed a negative correlation that must be evaluated in future studies.

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Data Availability

Data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are very thankful to the participants of the present study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zanjan Metabolic Diseases Research Center, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

    Hossein Chiti, Elham Hosseini, Vahid Ebrahimi & Seyedeh Neda Mousavi

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ayatollah Mousavi Hospital, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

    Elham Hosseini

  3. Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

    Seyedeh Neda Mousavi

Authors
  1. Hossein Chiti
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  2. Elham Hosseini
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  3. Vahid Ebrahimi
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  4. Seyedeh Neda Mousavi
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Seyedeh Neda Mousavi, Elham Hosseini, Hossein Chiti, and Vahid Ebrahimi. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Seyedeh Neda Mousavi, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seyedeh Neda Mousavi.

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Ethics Approval

The ethics committee of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences (ZUMS), Zanjan, Iran (IR.ZUMS.REC.1400.233).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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The present manuscript is extracted from a thesis of a student in internal medicine.

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Chiti, H., Hosseini, E., Ebrahimi, V. et al. Correlation of Dietary Macro- and Micro-Mineral Intake with Seminal Plasma Quality/Quantity and Oxidant/Antioxidant Status in Infertile Compared to the Normal Men: a Case-Control Study. Biol Trace Elem Res 202, 1991–1997 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-023-03834-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-023-03834-6

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