Today, accumulating evidence highlights the impact of oxidative stress (OS) on semen quality. It is considered to be a key factor contributing to the decline in male fertility. OS is detected in 30–80% of men with infertility, highlighting its strong association with impaired reproductive function and with clinical outcomes following the use of assisted reproductive technologies. Spermatozoa are particularly vulnerable to oxidative damage due to their high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and limited antioxidant defense abilities. OS arises from an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species and the capacity to neutralize or repair their adverse effects. Evidence indicates that OS leads to lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and genomic instability. Micronutrient–antioxidant therapies can play a key role in infertility improvement by neutralizing free radicals and preventing cellular damage. Many different micronutrients, including L-carnitine, L-glutathione, coenzyme Q10, selenium, and zinc, as well as vitamins complexes, are proposed to improve sperm parameters and male fertility potential. This study aims to review the impact of antioxidant supplementation on semen parameters, including sperm volume, motility, concentration, morphology, genome integrity (maturity and fragmentation), and in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes. Antioxidant intake and a balanced lifestyle reduce oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, enhancing the spermatogenesis and spermiogenesis processes, improving sperm quality, and protecting DNA integrity.

Objective(s): Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), affecting 1% of women, is characterized by the loss of ovarian activity with amenorrhea or oligomenorrhea and increased gonadotropins occurring before the age of 40 years. Iatrogenic, autoimmune, and genetic causes are known to be involved in POI, but nearly 70% of all forms remain unexplained. Recent and new genetic analyses promote the identification of new candidate genes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of array-CGH and next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the diagnosis of POI. Study design: Twenty-eight idiopathic POI patients with primary or secondary amenorrhea underwent genetic screening by array-CGH and NGS using a custom capture design of 163 genes known or suspected to be involved in ovarian function. The clinical, biological, and ultrasound characteristics of the patients were also recorded. Results: Four of the twenty-eight patients had primary amenorrhea (14.3%), and twenty-four (85.7%) had secondary amenorrhea, with an average age at diagnosis of 27.7. Eleven patients (39.3%) had a family history of POI. Our study identified a genetic anomaly in 16 of 28 patients (57.1%): one patient carried a causal copy number variation (CNV), eight patients carried a causal single nucleotide variation (SNV)/indel variation (28.6%), and seven other patients carried variants of uncertain significance. Conclusions: Our study was the first to combine genetic analyses by using both array-CGH and NGS in the same patients. It confirmed the usefulness of both analyses in the identification of pathogenic variations responsible for idiopathic POI. Early genetic diagnosis plays a major role in the management of complications and the screening of relatives.

We aim to study the semen carriage of human papillomavirus (HPV) and evaluate its association with patient characteristics. We conduct a single-center cohort study at Amiens University Hospital Center (Amiens, France). From May 1 to October 31, 2021, 461 men consulting for infertility and with semen analysis data were included. Each participant gave his written informed consent for the use of laboratory, demographic, clinical, and lifestyle data. A proportion of the semen samples were sent to a virology laboratory for HPV screening in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. In univariate and multivariate analyses with a logistic regression model, HPV⁺ and HPV⁻ groups were compared with regard to semen characteristics (including the DNA fragmentation index and the sperm decondensation index) and demographic, clinical, and lifestyle variables. Semen HPV carriage was detected in 22.3% of the patients. High-oncogenic-risk HPV genotypes were predominant (57.6%). Multivariate analysis showed that HPV carriage was significantly associated with the presence of at least one abnormal spermogram dinging (according to the 6^th World Health Organization criteria), with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 4.10 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.32–7.25, P < 0.001). A statistically significant association was also found for the type of infertility (OR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.00–2.57, P = 0.05), the presence of varicocele (OR: 3.99, 95% CI: 1.48–10.71, P = 0.01), and a history of cryptorchidism, testicular ectopia, or monorchidism (OR: 3.54, 95% CI: 1.07–11.66, P = 0.04). Infection with a single HPV genotype or multiple HPV genotypes was significantly associated with at least one abnormal spermogram finding for all HPV oncogenic risk groups (OR: 3.93, 95% CI: 2.08–7.41, P < 0.001; and OR: 4.11, 95% CI: 1.58–10.68, P = 0.01, respectively). The association between sperm HPV carriage and the risk of infertility was statistically significant in a multivariate analysis (OR: 5.63, 95% CI: 3.16–10.01, P < 0.001) and after adjustment for the propensity score (OR: 6.10, 95% CI: 3.33–11.21, P < 0.001). Our results suggest that semen HPV carriage has an impact on male fertility. Sperm screening for HPV might be a useful addition to the work-up for male infertility.

A link between idiopathic male infertility and viral infections exhibiting seminal carriage has emerged recently. In this respect, human papillomavirus (HP