Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, MAHSA University, Jalan SP2, Bandar Saujana Putra, 42610 Jenjarom, Selangor, Malaysia; American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, 10681 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
  • 2 American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, 10681 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA. Electronic address: agarwaa@ccf.org
  • 3 American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, 10681 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA; Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, 11100 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
  • 4 American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, 10681 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA; Department of Life Science and Bioinformatics, Assam University, Silchar 788011, India
  • 5 Discipline of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh Campus, Jalan Hospital, 47000 Sungai Buloh, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 6 Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Bellville 7535, Cape Town, South Africa
Reprod Biomed Online, 2018 Mar;36(3):311-326.
PMID: 29277366 DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2017.11.007

Abstract

To manage male infertility caused by hormonal imbalance, infections and other predicaments, multifarious treatment strategies are emerging worldwide. Contemporary treatments, such as assisted reproductive techniques, are costly with low success rates of only 10-30%; however, herbal remedies are gaining more attention as an alternative or supplementary therapeutic modality for male infertility. The beneficial effects induced by oral intake of the roots of a small evergreen shrub, Withania sominifera (Ashwagandha) on semen quality of infertile men have previously been studied. Oral intake of Ashwagandha roots has been found to inhibit lipid peroxidation, improve sperm count and motility, and regulate reproductive hormone levels. The molecular mechanisms of these effects, however, are yet to be unveiled. In this review, we will discuss the role of herbal medicines in male infertility; provide a detailed analysis of various human and animal studies involving Withania somnifera; describe a proposed direct oxidative mechanism involving mitigation of oxidative stress as well as an indirect mechanism consisting of a gamma-aminobutyric acid-like-mimetic pathway ameliorating hormonal balance through crosstalk among different endocrine glands to improve male fertility; and how Withania somnifera supplementation mitigates risk factor-induced male infertility as well as ameliorates male fertility.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.