Photobiomodulation therapy for male infertility
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Photobiomodulation therapy for male infertility Luisa Zupin 1
&
Lorella Pascolo 1 & Stefania Luppi 1 & Giulia Ottaviani 2 & Sergio Crovella 1,2 & Giuseppe Ricci 1,2
Received: 31 March 2020 / Accepted: 17 May 2020 # Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Male infertility is a worldwide critical condition that affects about the 7.5% of males in Europe leading to an increment of the couples referring to reproductive medicine units to achieve pregnancy. Moreover, in the recent years, an increased number of patients have required to freeze their gametes in order to preserve their fertility. Photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy is a potential treatment that has been used for different clinical application basically aimed at biostimulating cells and tissues. Here, we report a deep overview of the published studies, focusing on PBM mechanism of action, with the aim of expanding the knowledge in the field of laser light for a rational utilization of irradiation in the clinical practice. In the field of reproductive science, PBM was employed to increment spermatozoa’s metabolism, motility, and viability, due to its beneficial action on mitochondria, leading to an activation of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and to the ATP production. This treatment can be particularly useful to avoid the use of chemicals in the spermatozoa culture medium as well as to promote the spermatozoa survival and movement especially after thawing or in largely immotile sperm samples. Keywords Photobiomodulation therapy . Male infertility . Spermatozoa
Male infertility Male infertility is a clinical issue with a global burden that has been increasing in the recent years. The modern medicine is trying to challenge this problem through the exploiting of assisted reproductive techniques [1], but, despite the great
* Luisa Zupin [email protected]
effort arranges to defeat infertility, a resolutive cure is still lacking for most of the cases; moreover, a high proportion of infertile men presents a diagnosis of idiopathic infertility where no cause is defined [1]. Male infertility affects approximately 35% of the couples with a diagnosis of infertility, i.e., “the inability of a sexually active, non-contracepting couple to achieve spontaneous pregnancy in one year” accordingly with the definition by World Health Organization [2].
Lorella Pascolo [email protected]
Etiology
Stefania Luppi [email protected]
The etiology of this condition is due to different factors both congenital and acquired. Obstruction of ejaculatory ducts or epididymis, cryptorchidism (the inability of testes to descend in the scrotum), testicular torsion, varicocele (dilatation of scrotal veins), testicular trauma, hormonal imbalance, and autoimmunity (with production of anti-sperm antibodies) can decrease the fertility of an individual [3]. Genetic factors can also play a role, especially the chromosome abnormalities. Severe impaired sperm production is frequently associated with higher frequ
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