[CLINICAL OUTCOMES OF COENZYME Q10 SUPPLEMENTATION IN PATIENTS WITH HIGH SPERM DNA FRAGMENTATION]

(Objective) It is well known that sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) affects not only natural conception but also in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes, and the importance of sperm quality has received renewed attention. In this study, we investigated the effects of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which is thought to have potent antioxidant properties, on SDF and IVF outcomes. (Materials and methods) Patients whose SDF was measured at our clinic and diagnosed as high (>16%) were given a supplement containing CoQ10 as the main ingredient (MySeed^®) for 3 months, and then SDF, general semen analysis, and semen oxidation-reduction potential (sORP) were reanalyzed. In addition, in cases where IVF including intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) was performed before and after supplementation, laboratory results including fertilization rate, blastocyst development rate before and after supplementation were analyzed. (Results) Of the 46 patients who consented to participate in this study, 35 patients who completed to the second semen analysis were included. SDF improved significantly from 31.6% to 25.3% (p<.05) before and after supplementation. Sperm concentration, motility rate, sperm motility index (SMV) and sORP showed no statistically significant difference. When restricted to cases with high sORP (≥1.38), the differences were more pronounced as follows. SDF decreased significantly from 34.0% to 26.1% (p<.05). Similarly, there was a significant improvement in sperm concentration and SMV from 12.5 million/ml to 24.3 million/ml (p<.05) and from 73.6 to 114.4 (p<.05) respectively. When IVF outcomes were compared before and after supplementation, the blastocyst rate (42.4% vs. 51.2%) and good blastocyst rate (45.5% vs. 54.5%) showed a trend towards improvement, but no significant differences were observed due to the small sample size. (Conclusion) Myseed^® Supplementation significantly reduced SDF, which was more pronounced in patients with higher sORP levels, suggesting that SDF and sORP may serve as clinical indicators for antioxidant use.