Important elements

Important elements and antioxidants for female fertility.

On this page we have gathered a list of independent scientific researches and studies about micronutrients that have can have a positive impact on female fertility.

Zinc
Study:
Maternal Selenium, Copper and Zinc Concentrations in Early Pregnancy and the Association with Fertility

PUBLICATION DATE: 2019
LOCATION: Australia
PATIENTS: 1060
TYPE OF PREGNANCY: natural conception
LINK: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6683068/

  • It took longer to conceive for women who had lower zinc and selenium concentrations.
  • Lower selenium and zinc trace element concentrations, which likely reflect lower dietary intakes, associate with a longer time to pregnancy.
Zinc
Beta carotene
Study:
Female dietary antioxidant intake and time to pregnancy among couples treated for unexplained infertility

PUBLICATION DATE: 2014
LOCATION: US
PATIENTS: 437
TYPE OF PREGNANCY: females with unexplained infertility (IUI/IVF)
LINK: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3943921/

  • Increased intake of β-carotene from dietary supplements was associated with shorter TTP in the overweight/obese women and the younger age-group strata.
Beta carotene
N-acetylcysteine, CoQ10, Melatonin
Study:
“Antioxidants for female subfertility. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews”

PUBLICATION DATE: 2020
PATIENTS: 2655
TYPE OF PREGNANCY: women attending a reproductive clinic
STUDIES INCLUDED: 19 randomised clinical trials
LINK: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8094745/

  • Some of the predominant antioxidants used in female subfertility are N‐acetylcysteine; melatonin; vitamins A, C and E; folic acid; zinc and selenium.
  • Evidence suggests that antioxidants may improve clinical pregnancy rate compared with placebo or no treatment/standard treatment
N-acetylcysteine, Melatonin
N-acetylcysteine (NAC), folic acid
Study:
“N-acetyl cysteine for treatment of recurrent unexplained pregnancy loss”

PUBLICATION DATE: 2008
LOCATION: Egypt
PATIENTS: 106
TYPE OF PREGNANCY: women with unexplained pregnancy loss + conceived naturally
LINK: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18983759/

  • Miscarriage and pregnancy have been associated with a variety of biological phenomena including increased oxidative stress, angiogenesis and apoptosis.
  • NAC + folic acid to patients with unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) significantly increased pregnancy viability to 20 weeks of pregnancy.
  • The incidence of take-home baby is significantly higher in the NAC + folic acid group compared with the folic acid only group.
  • NAC could potentially be clinically useful in the management of unexplained RPL.
N-acetylcysteine (NAC), folic acid
Coenzyme Q10
Study:
“Coenzyme Q10 supplementation of human oocyte in vitro maturation reduces postmeiotic aneuploidies”

PUBLICATION DATE: 2020
LOCATION: China
PATIENTS: 63
TYPE OF PREGNANCY: IVF treatment patients who donated immature oocytes (then oocytes in lab cultured with CoQ10)
LINK: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32646587/

  • In women aged 38–46 years, CoQ10 significantly increased oocyte maturation rates, reduced oocyte aneuploidy rates, and reduced chromosome aneuploidy frequencies.
Coenzyme Q10
Melatonin
Study:
“Impact of Melatonin Supplementation in Women with Unexplained Infertility Undergoing Fertility Treatment”

PUBLICATION DATE: 2016
LOCATION: Iran
PATIENTS: 60
TYPE OF PREGNANCY: PCOS / ICSI
LINK: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6769719/

  • Oxidative stress biomarkers were dramatically higher in follicular fluid of women experiencing Unexplained Infertility than those in fertile women.
  • Melatonin supplementation significantly decreased intrafollicular oxidative stress biomarker‘s levels in those Unexplained Infertility patients who were given 3 mg or 6 mg melatonin/day. .
  • The proportion of mature oocytes and the percentage of fertilized oocytes, were significantly higher in Unexplained Infertility patients treated with melatonin.
Melatonin
N-acetylcysteine (NAC)
Study:
“N-Acetylcysteine improves oocyte and embryo quality in polycystic ovary syndrome patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection: an alternative to metformin”

PUBLICATION DATE: 2019
LOCATION: Spain
PATIENTS: 40
TYPE OF PREGNANCY: unexplained infertility / ICSI
LINK: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25482371/

  • NAC has multiple biological effects, preserving the follicles in the ovary and improving the pregnancy rate.
  • Number of immature and abnormal oocytes decreased significantly in the NAC administered group compared with placebo group.
  • NAC treatment reduces the number of immature oocytes and morphological abnormalities, increases the normality and maturity of oocytes and the number of good embryo formed.
N-acetylcysteine (NAC)
Folic Acid
Study:
Folic Acid Supplementation and Pregnancy: More Than Just Neural Tube Defect Prevention

PUBLICATION DATE: 2011
LOCATION: China
LINK: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3218540/

  • Folate deficiency has been associated with abnormalities in both mothers (anemia, peripheral neuropathy) and fetuses (congenital abnormalities).
  • Periconceptional folic acid supplementation protects against fetal structural anomalies, including neural tube and congenital heart defects.
  • Recent data suggest that it may also protect against preterm birth.
  • In the United States, up to approximately 60% of the population are intermediate metabolizers of folate.
Folic acid