US01 - Efficacy of Commonly Available Male Fertility Supplements

Introduction/Purpose: There are many supplements readily available for purchase that claim to boost male fertility, or even cure male infertility. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the ingredients in these supplements through literature review.

Methods or Case Description: The popular consumer website Amazon.com search engine was queried with the terms "Male Fertility Supplements" with default search settings. The products were filtered by average user reviews, and the individual ingredients of the top 5 supplements were noted. A literature review was conducted for the 10 most common ingredients in these supplements, noting efficacy and safety.

Outcomes: The most common ingredients were zinc, vitamin D, chromium, iodine, manganese, niacin, selenium, vitamin B12, vitamin B6 and vitamin C. 29 articles in total were reviewed of which 7 included human subjects, 5 animal models, and 17 were case reports or review articles. Of the articles involving human subjects 5 showed an increase in fertility factors such as semen volume or motility, and two demonstrated a significant effect. None of the articles showed a harmful effect on male fertility.

Conclusion: Fertility boosters are readily available through popular consumer websites such as Amazon.com. Our review demonstrated that there is limited high-level evidence supporting the use of over the counter supplements to treat male infertility, thus patients should be cautioned before utilizing these supplements in lieu of the standard of care.