Antioxidants to enhance fertility: Role of eNOS and Potential Benefits

This paper stems from a lecture given at the “1st World Congress\ud on Oxidative Stress & Infertility: Recent Advances and Controversies”,\ud where part of the data discussed here were presented.This is the authors' post peer review final manuscript as accepted by the publisher. The final version is copyrighted by Elsevier and can be found at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622931/description#descriptionNEWS COVERAGE: A news release based on this journal publication, which is written for a lay audience and has been approved by an author of the study, is available online: http://bit.ly/qWTjZmThe use of antioxidants is now often used as a pharmacological adjunct to limit infertility. Indeed, the\ud lay public rightly perceives oxidative stress and, thus, antioxidant treatment as important modulators\ud of infertility. While the direct effects of antioxidant treatment on the quality of semen and oocytes are\ud still under investigation, a significant body of evidence points to loss of vascular tone as a root-cause of\ud erectile dysfunction and, possibly, alterations to female reproduction.\ud In this article, we will critically review the often neglected link between vascular dysfunction and\ud infertility. A particular emphasis will be on the potential use of antioxidants to increase fertility and\ud promote conception