Male Fertility

Question 1

Alcohol animals (4)

Answer 1

Ethanol is spermatotoxic in animals
Reduce testosterone production
Loss of Sertoli cell functions
Low LH and FSH secretion

Question 2

Alcoholic humans (4)

Answer 2

Low semen volume
Low sperm count
Reduced sperm motility
Fewer sperm with normal morphology

Question 3

Obesity and male fertility mechanism (5)

Answer 3

Obesity / insulin resistance
Reduced androgen secretion and transport
Impaired hormone action
Subfertility / increased adipogenesis

Question 4

What is male fertility defined by?(3)

Answer 4

Sperm count
Sperm motility
Sperm morphology

Question 5

Hormone disrupters (2)

Answer 5

Hormone mimics: Bind oestrogen receptor and induce estrogenic responses
Anti hormones: oppose a tins of androgens

Question 6

Environmental endocrine disruptors (4)

Answer 6

Phthalates
Food contaminants
Oral contraceptives
Cosmetics

Question 7

What are phthalates?(2)

Answer 7

Used in the production of flexible plastics and cleaning products
Reduces testosterone production

Question 8

Phytoestrogens (2)

Answer 8

Plant derived compounds with estrogenic activity

Populations with high intakes show no deficit of male fertility

Question 9

Zinc and male infertility (5)

Answer 9

Zinc deficiency linked to infertility
Zinc is a cofactor for the synthesis of DNA and RNA
Boys in Middle East with zinc deficiency exhibit delayed onset spermatogenesis
Semen zinc concentrations found to be 50% lower in sub-fertile men than in fertile men
However zinc supplementation has little impact on fertility

Question 10

Body fat and male fertility (4)

Answer 10

Lower LH
Reduced testosterone transport
Fall in number of Sertoli cells
Sub fertile men 3 times more likely to be obese than normal fertile men

Question 10

Selenium in animal male fertility (2)

Answer 10

Essential for spermatogenesis

Restriction or selenoproteins limits fertility

Question 10

Selenium and human male fertility (3)

Answer 10

GPx4 defects linked to infertility in some men
No benefits shown supplementation
No relationship between intake and fertility

Question 11

Antioxidants and male fertility sperm (6)

Answer 11

Oxidative damage to sperm may reduce fertility
Antioxidants hypothesised to improve fertility
Has been shown to increase conception rates in culture media
No association between AOX nutrients and fertility
No benefits of supplementation
High doses of supplements have shown greater sperm damage