Association of dietary total antioxidant capacity, alternative healthy eating index, and dietary inflammatory index with semen quality in men seeking infertility treatment

BackgroundSince the association between dietary quality scores and semen quality remains unclear, we carried out a hospital-based cross-sectional study to investigate the association of Dietary Total Antioxidant Capacity (dTAC), Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), and Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) scores with semen quality in men seeking infertility treatment.MethodsThis study enrolled 210 men with unexplained or idiopathic infertility. Semen samples were collected and analyzed according to the WHO 2010 criteria. Dietary data was collected using a 168-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) developed for Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the relationship between dTAC, AHEI, and DII scores with abnormal semen in crude and adjusted models.ResultsThere were no significant differences across quartile categories of the dTAC, AHEI, and DII scores regarding semen parameters. There was a trend toward a significant direct association between DII and abnormal semen risk (p = 0.01). Infertile men in the highest quartile of DII had a 2.84 times higher risk of abnormal semen in the crude model (OR: 3.84; 95% CI: 1.64–8.95); such that remained after adjusting for several potential confounders. There was no significant association between dTAC or AHEI and the risk of abnormal semen in infertile men, either before or after adjusting for potential confounders. Total energy (p = 0.05), fat (p = 0.02), saturated fat (p = 0.02), mono-saturated fat (p = 0.009), Thiamine (Vitamin B1) (p = 0.02), Niacin (Vitamin B3) (p = 0.03), Calcium (p = 0.01), and Selenium (p = 0.01) were inversely associated with semen normality.DiscussionThe study suggests that certain dietary factors may affect semen quality, and the mechanisms underlying the observed associations are likely multifactorial, involving complex interactions between diet, oxidative stress, inflammation, and hormone levels. Further research is required to confirm the results, fully elucidate the mechanisms underlying the associations, and identify specific dietary interventions that may improve male fertility outcomes

Synthesis, functionalization, characterization, and: in vitro evaluation of robust pH-sensitive CFNs-PA-CaCO3

The preparation, characterization, and application of Papain (PA) conjugated CaCO3-coated cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CFNs-PA-CaCO3) is reported. Papain was covalently attached onto silanized cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CFNs-APS) and then coated with robust pH sensitive CaCO3. It was characterized by FTIR, XRD, TEM, FESEM, and TGA. The release behaviour of PA from functionalized nanoparticles in acidic and physiological pH was investigated. However, the rate of PA release was slow and enhanced with time at physiological pH; the results illustrate that acidic conditions disassembles the coating, which caused a rapid release of PA. The biocompatibility evaluation of CFNs/CFNs-CaCO3 and the cytotoxicity of free PA/CFNs-PA was carried out in vitro on human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) and human skin fibroblast cells (HSF 1184) by performing an MTT assay. An improved cytotoxic effect was obtained for PA conjugated cobalt ferrites in comparison with free PA. The synthesized delivery system was perfectly tolerable to the blood and cells in concentrations below 200 μg mL-1. Investigations were followed out to measure the time and dose dependent cellular uptake of functionalized nanoparticles via the Prussian blue staining method under an inverted microscope, which indicated that functionalized nanoparticles showed internalization properties. The results conveyed that the synthesized system is a promising biomaterial for future biomedical applications, mainly cancer therapy. The present in vitro findings require comparison with those of in vivo studies