ABSTRACT
Background: although the effectiveness of ginger as an antioxidant agent has been exploited, little human research has been conducted on its activity on male reproductive functions
Objective: this study was designed to investigate the effects of ginger [Zingiber officinale] on sperm DNA fragmentation [SDF] in infertile men
Materials and Methods: this randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with a 1:1 allocation was performed on 100 infertility treatment candidates who were admitted to Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, Tehran, Iran. Patients were randomly assigned to receive one of two treatments: ginger and placebo. Patients were given a 3-month oral treatment [members received capsules containing 250 mg of ginger powder twice a day in ginger and a placebo in other group]. Before and after treatment, standardized semen samples were obtained to determine sperm concentration, motility, and SDF according to World Health Organization
Results: there was no significant difference between two groups regarding SDF at baseline [53.48. 95%CI: 37.95-69.02] in cases and [56.75, 95%CI: 40.01-73.5] in controls. The average positive percentage of SDF in patients receiving ginger [17.77, 95%CI: 6.16-29.39] was lower compared with placebo [40.54, 95%CI: 23.94-57.13] after three month of treatment [p=0.02]. In multivariate analysis, SDF was significantly lower in patients receiving ginger compared with placebo [mean difference: 3.21, 95%CI: 0.78-5.63, p=0.009]. There were no significant differences between two groups regarding to semen parameters
Conclusion: the present study has demonstrated that ginger in a controlled study of efficacy was effective in decreasing SDF in infertile men