By Chris D. Meletis, N.D. The results of a recent study1 on recurrent pregnancy loss suggest that we may have been overlooking a common cause of miscarriage – poor sperm quality. The study, published in January 2019 in Clinical Chemistry, adds to a growing amount of research showing good quality sperm may play a role in supporting a healthy pregnancy—not just in helping a woman conceive in the first place. If you’ve had at least two or three back-to-back pregnancy losses before 20 weeks’ gestation, you suffer from recurrent miscarriages. Previously, you needed to suffer from three consecutive miscarriages to fall into this category, but recently the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology changed the qualifications to two miscarriages.2 Under the old qualifications, this condition affected 1% to 2% of couples.3 If you’ve gone through this, you know it’s heartbreaking. What Causes Miscarriages? Determining the exact cause of miscarriage is difficult. But, in the past, when trying to discover the cause of these multiple miscarriages, doctors focused only on the woman. And we do know that certain maternal health conditions are associated with a higher risk of miscarriage, including untreated hypothyroidism, low progesterone production, uncontrolled diabetes, uterine abnormalities, infections, autoimmune problems, and antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS).3 Current guidelines don’t include the routine investigation of male partners as a possible cause of recurrent pregnancy loss.1 However, more and more studies are pointing to damaged sperm as the cause of many recurrent miscarriages. The problem? Too much DNA damage caused by free radicals, otherwise known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Too many free radicals lead to oxidative stress, a process that can damage sperm DNA. New Study Sheds Light on the Man’s Role Scientists at the Imperial College in London published the most recent study on this topic in a journal called Clinical Chemistry in January 2019.1 The researchers compared the sperm quality of 50 men whose partners suffered from recurrent pregnancy loss with sperm quality from men whose partners didn’t experience any miscarriages. The result? There are twice as much DNA damage in the sperm from the men whose partners had multiple miscarriages compared with sperm from men whose partner had a healthy pregnancy. Compared to the controls, the sperm from men whose partners suffered from recurrent pregnancy loss also had four times the amount of ROS. The study authors suggested several possible reasons for the increased ROS. One could be bacteria from a past infection remaining in the prostate gland, which makes semen, the fluid that contains sperm. The men with faulty sperm were also older and more overweight than their counterparts in the control group. Age and weight could both cause higher ROS levels. Can Antioxidant Male Fertility Supplements Protect Sperm? This study suggests that supplementing with antioxidants can reduce ROS damage to sperm. Antioxidants protect against ROS-caused oxidative stress. Although the study didn’t investigate the effects of antioxidant supplementation, past studies have shown that taking antioxidants can keep DNA in sperm healthy. For example, in 101 infertile men who had abnormal semen, an antioxidant supplement (FH PRO for Men from Fairhaven Health) containing L-carnitine, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), vitamin E, lycopene, N-acetyl L-cysteine, vitamins A, D3, C, and K, B-complex vitamins, iodine, selenium, zinc, copper, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, grape seed extract, benfotiamine, and L-arginine led to 20% less DNA damage, among other benefits.4 The Takeaway Damaged sperm are far more involved in recurrent pregnancy loss than we ever thought before. Protecting them from too many reactive oxygen species can not only help you get pregnant in the first place—it may help you carry your baby to term. Dr. Chris Meletis Dr. Chris Meletis is an educator, international author and lecturer. His personal mission is “Changing World’s Health One Person at a Time.” Dr Meletis has authored 18 books and over 200 national scientific articles in journals including Natural Health, Alternative and Complementary Therapies, Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Life Extension, Natural Pharmacy, and PubMed.gov articles. Dr. Meletis served as Dean of Naturopathic Medicine and Chief Medical Officer for 7 years for the National College of Naturopathic Medicine (now the National University of Natural Medicine). He was awarded the 2003 Physician of the Year by the American Association of Naturopathic Physician of the Year by the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. He has a deep passion for helping the underprivileged and spearheaded the creation of 16 free natural medicine healthcare clinics in the Portland metropolitan area of Oregon. References: Jayasena CN, Radia UK, Figueiredo M, et al. Reduced Testicular Steroidogenesis and Increased Semen Oxidative Stress in Male Partners as Novel Markers of Recurrent Miscarriage. Clinical Chemistry. Published Online January 2019. http://clinchem.aaccjnls.org/content/65/1/161 Bender R, Christiansen OB, Elson J, et al. ESHRE guideline: recurrent pregnancy loss. Human Reproduction Open. 2018 Apr 6;2018(2):1-12. Ford HB, Schust DJ. Recurrent Pregnancy Loss: Etiology, Diagnosis, and Therapy. Rev Obstet Gynecol. 2009 Spring;2(2):76-83. Arafa M, Majzoub A, Agarwal A, et al. Is there a role for oral antioxidants in the treatment of infertile men with high sperm DNA fragmentation? Presented at the Foundation of Reproductive Medicine annual conference, New York, November 2018
