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Review
. 2021 Dec 17;9(12):1933.
doi: 10.3390/biomedicines9121933.

Towards Personalized Antioxidant Use in Female Infertility: Need for More Molecular and Clinical Studies

Jan Tesarik  1
Affiliations
Review

Towards Personalized Antioxidant Use in Female Infertility: Need for More Molecular and Clinical Studies

Jan Tesarik. Biomedicines. .

Abstract

Treatment with antioxidants is increasingly used to slow down aging processes in different organs of the human body, including those implicated in female fertility. There is a plethora of different natural, synthetic or semi-synthetic medicines available on the market; most of them can be purchased without medical prescription. Even though the use of antioxidants, even under conditions of auto-medication, was shown to improve many functions related to female infertility related to oxidative stress, the lack of medical control and supervision can lead to an overmedication resulting in an opposite extreme, reductive stress, which can be counterproductive with regard to reproductive function and produce various adverse health effects in general. This paper reviews the current knowledge relative to the effects of different antioxidants on female reproductive function. The persisting gaps in this knowledge are also highlighted, and the need for medical supervision and personalization of antioxidant prescription is underscored.

Keywords: aging; antioxidant; female fertility; ovary; oxidative stress; personalization; pregnancy; reductive stress; uterus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of the cellular redox status under the conditions of oxidative stress (A), adequate redox balance (B), and reductive stress (C).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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