Coenzyme Q10 supplementation improves sperm quality in infertile men. According to an Indonesian meta-study, the effect may even be significant enough to increase the chance of pregnancy by a factor of six.

Study
Syarif Bakri, an Indonesian andrologist affiliated with Hasanuddin University, traced eight trials in the scientific literature in which researchers had treated infertile men with Q10. The 781 men who participated in the trials had idiopathic male infertility. This means they were healthy but produced too few sperm - or abnormal sperm.

In five trials, men received only Q10 in doses of 100-200 milligrams per day. In the other four trials, the men received 20-90 milligrams of Q10 per day - but also other substances, such as L-carnitine, L-arginine, zinc, vitamin C, folic acid, and vitamin B12.

The duration of the trials varied. Some trials lasted three months, while others lasted longer than six months.

Results
Q10 supplementation had statistically significant positive effects on the men's semen quality. Their ejaculate volume increased by 10 percent, sperm concentration increased by 35 percent, and the percentage of active and healthy sperm improved by 10-15 percent. These last two effects were most evident in trials lasting longer than three months.

Click on the table and figure below for a larger version.

In two trials, Bakri found data on the effect of Q10 supplementation on the chances of men's partners becoming pregnant. When Bakri aggregated the data, he calculated that supplementation increased that chance by a factor of six.

In those two trials, the men had received a relatively small amount of Q10, in combination with other substances. The most convincing study of the two, published in Andrologia in 2018, concerned the supplement Proxeed Plus. [Andrologia 2018;50:e12927.]

A daily dose of Proxeed Plus provides 40 milligrams of Q10, 1000 milligrams of L-carnitine, 500 milligrams of acetylcarnitine, 725 milligrams of fumarate, 1000 milligrams of fructose, 90 milligrams of vitamin C, 10 milligrams of zinc, 200 micrograms of folic acid, and 1.5 milligrams of vitamin B12. The trial lasted six months.

The manufacturer of Proxeed Plus, Sigma-Tau HealthScience, sponsored the trial.

In the control group, the men's partners became pregnant in 4.3 percent of cases. In the supplementation group, this was 21.3 percent. Pregnancies were therefore almost five times more common in the supplementation group than in the control group.

Conclusion
"While further research is warranted to refine dosing strategies and confirm long-term outcomes, the findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that CoQ10 is a promising therapeutic option for men with idiopathic male infertility", Bakri writes.