Review Article

Relevance of Fatty Acids to Sperm Maturation and Quality

Table 1

Sperm fatty acid levels in controls compared to abnormal seminal conditions.

Fatty acid categoryFatty acidControlsInfertile menReferences

SFAsPalmitic acid (C16:0)19 (healthy)26 OAT (mol% of total quantity)Gulaya et al. [63]
0.87 (controls)1.92 AT, 4.44 OAT (nmol/106 sperm)Khosrowbeygi and Zarghami [69]
26.4 (normozoospermic)37 Asthen (nmol/108 sperm)Tavilani et al. [66]

SFAsStearic acid (C18:0)17 (healthy)8 Asthen (mol% of total quantity)Gulaya et al. [63]
13 (normal)17 Asthen, 15.3Oligo (gr%)Aksoy et al. [65]
0.49 (controls)1.05 AT, 2.71 OAT (nmol/106 sperm)Khosrowbeygi and Zarghami [69]
4 (normal)14 Asthen (nmol/108 sperm)Tavilani et al. [66]

MUFAsOleic acid (C18:1)9 (normal)11 Oligo (mol%)Zalata et al. [60]
11 (normozoospermic)13 Asthen (wt% of total)Conquer et al. [62]
10 (normal)11 Oligo, 11 OA (gr%)Aksoy et al. [65]
0.28 (controls)0.41 Asthen, 0.65 AT, 1.67 OAT (nmol/106 sperm)Khosrowbeygi and Zarghami [69]

n-3 PUFAsα-Linolenic acid (C18:3)0.31 (fertile)0.14 OAT (% of total fatty acids)Safarinejad et al. [70]

n-3 PUFAsEicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5)0.62 (fertile)0.31 OAT (% of total fatty acids)Safarinejad et al. [70]

n-3 PUFAsDocosahexaenoic acid (C22:6)9.5 (fertile)6.55 OAT (% of total fatty acids)Safarinejad et al. [70]
21.5 (normal)16 Oligo (mol%)Zalata et al. [60]
14 (normozoospermic)8 Asthen (wt% of total)Conquer et al. [62]
16 (healthy)5.3 Asthen (mol% of total quantity)Gulaya et al. [63]
25 (normal)18 Asthen, 20 Oligo (gr%)Aksoy et al. [65]
0.84 (controls)1.65 AT (nmol/106 sperm)Khosrowbeygi and Zarghami [69]
32 (normal)17 Asthen (nmol/108 sperm)Tavilani et al. [66]
22.4 (normozoospermic)17.5 Asthen, 15.3 Oligo, 13.6 OAMartínez-Soto et al. [41]

n-6 PUFAsLinoleic acid (C18:2)3.1 (fertile)5.22 OAT (% of total fatty acids)Safarinejad et al. [70]
0.2 (controls)0.48 AT (nmol/106 sperm)Khosrowbeygi and Zarghami [69]
8.4 (normal)4.4 Asthen (nmol/108 sperm)Tavilani et al. [66]

n-6 PUFAsArachidonic acid (C20:4)1.76 (fertile)3.18 OAT (% of total fatty acids)Safarinejad et al. [70]
0.2 (controls)0.40 AT, 0.65 OAT (nmol/106 sperm)Khosrowbeygi and Zarghami [69]

SFAs: saturated fatty acids; MUFAs: monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFAs: polyunsaturated fatty acids; Asthen: asthenozoospermia; AT: asthenoteratozoospermia; OAT: oligoasthenoteratozoospermia; OA: oligoasthenozoospermia. Significant difference between the controls and infertile group. Control definition and units of measure are reported as indicated in the related reference sources.