Improve Men's Health
Infertility in men is caused by various factors, including irregular development of the testicles, low mobility of sperm, irregular growth of veins around the testicles, and lack of sperm development among others. However, research suggests a potential new factor affecting male fertility is the damage caused by reactive oxygen species that could play a very large factors in male infertility.
Oxidative stress damages the cell membrane of sperm, which could decrease sperm motility and its ability to connect with an oocyte. Besides, oxidative stress also cause damage to the DNA of sperm, and this will cause the sperm to lose its function in general.
Astaxanthin is proved to be the strongest antioxidant that can reduce oxidative stress by reducing damage brought by free radicals to the DNA and cell membranes. Thirty infertile men who had suffered infertility for 12 or more months were administered 16mg/day of Astaxanthin for three months. The researchers noted, the reactive oxygen species reduced, with a significant increase in the sperm velocity. Total pregnancies and pregnancies per cycle increased in the Asataxanthin group (54.3% and 23.17%) than in the placebo group (10.5% and 3.6%). Hence, the researchers concluded that the Astaxanthin could potentially be a new method of treatment for male infertility.