GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS INVOLVED IN HUMAN MALE INFERTILITY: A REVIEW

As a World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, infertility is the couple's inability to conceive after 2 years of regular unprotected intercourse. Theinvestigation in male infertility is assuming greater importance because approximately half of all infertility cases caused by male factors. Althoughprevious studies suggest that many cases with male infertility have a genetic and environmental etiology to the condition, and the majority of cases areidiopathic. About 10-20% of azoospermic patients are showing the microdeletion in Y-chromosome. In this deleted region, azoospermia factor (AZF)locus which is located in the Yq11 divided into the four regions as AZFa, AZFb, AZFc, and AZFd. In each of these regions a particular testicular histologyand candidate genes have been found. The deleted in azoospermia gene family is also the most frequently deleted in AZFc region. Recently, not only Ychromosome, but X chromosome and some autosomal genes are also found in respect to male infertility. Frequent attacks on the naked mitochondrialDNA of sperm will responsible for oxidative damage or mutation to the mitochondrial genome and lead to male infertility. The introduction ofmolecular techniques, such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection, genomics, proteomics, metabolamics, has provided great perception into the geneticsof infertility. Still our understanding to find a correlation between genotype and phenotype in male infertility remains limited.Keywords: Infertility, Azoospermia factor, Deleted in azoospermia, Mitochondrial DNA, Intracytoplasmic sperm injection, Genomics, Proteomics,Metabolamics

Phytomedicinal therapeutics for male infertility: critical insights and scientific updates.

Infertility is a significant cause of anxiety, depression, and social stigma among couples and families. In such cases, male reproductive factors contribute widely to the extent of 20-70%. Male infertility is a multifactorial disease with several complications contributing to its diagnosis. Although its management encompasses both modern and traditional medicine arenas, the first line of treatment, adopted by most males, focuses on the reasonably successful medicinal plant-based conventional therapies. Phyto-therapeutics, which relies on active ingredients from traditionally known herbs, influences sexual behavior and male fertility factors. The potency of these phyto-actives depends on their preparation methods and forms of consumption, including decoctions, extracts, semi-purified compounds, etc., as inferred from in vitro and in vivo (laboratory animal models and human) studies. The mechanisms of action therein involve the testosterone pathway for stimulation of spermatogenesis, reduction of oxidative stress, inhibition of inflammation, activation of signaling pathways in the testes [extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK)/protein kinase B(PKB)/transformation of growth factor-beta 1(TGF-β1)/nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells NF-kB signaling pathways] and mediation of sexual behavior. This review critically focuses on the medicinal plants and their potent actives, along with the biochemical and molecular mechanisms that modulate vital pathways associated with the successful management of male infertility. Such intrinsic knowledge will significantly further studies on medicinal plants that improve male reproductive health. [Abstract copyright: © 2022. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to The Japanese Society of Pharmacognosy.