Urology
Volume 75, Issue 1 , Pages 14-19, January 2010

Free Radical Theory of Aging: Implications in Male Infertility

  • Nisarg Desai

      Affiliations

    • Center for Reproductive Medicine, Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
    • Department of Internal Medicine, Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, New York
    • ,
  • Edmund Sabanegh Jr.

      Affiliations

    • Center for Reproductive Medicine, Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
    • ,
  • Taesoo Kim

      Affiliations

    • Center for Reproductive Medicine, Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
    • ,
  • Ashok Agarwal

      Affiliations

    • Center for Reproductive Medicine, Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests: Ashok Agarwal, Ph.D., H.C.L.D., Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Ave, Desk A19.1, Cleveland, OH 44195

Received 25 March 2009; accepted 13 May 2009. published online 17 July 2009.

This review examines the effect of mitochondrial generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and aging on human spermatozoa and seminal antioxidants. We discuss the effect of continuous ROS production on biomarkers of aging, such as germ cell telomeres and telomerase, lipofuscin, and amyloid. These markers may be responsible for telomere shortening and subsequent decrease in sperm count, decline in testosterone concentration, and decline in motility with aging. Excessive ROS can also damage mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid and sperm nuclear DNA, contributing to paternally transmitted diseases. ROS generation has a central role in the pathophysiology of age-related decrease in male fertility.

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 Funded by the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic.

PII: S0090-4295(09)00649-9

doi:10.1016/j.urology.2009.05.025

Urology
Volume 75, Issue 1 , Pages 14-19, January 2010

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