Clinical Evidence for the Importance of 1-Carbon Cycle Support in Subfertile Couples

This study assesses the effect of nutritional support directed towards the 1-C cycle on the fertility of male and female patients attending an ART program. In a first group, female partners of couples having failed at least one ART attempt were administered 1-C nutritional support prior to a further ART cycle. A second group comprised couples who had failed at least 2 assisted reproductive technology (ART) attempts, with male partners having elevated DNA fragmentation index (DFI) or nuclear decondensation index (SDI). The treatment consisted of compounds that play a major role in the 1-C cycle: B vitamins, chelated zinc and N-acetyl cysteine. The first group of 100 treated female patients achieved a clinical pregnancy rate (PR) of 45%, with a high rate of spontaneous conception before ART. This was significantly higher (p=0.0001) than the PR observed in the control group of 73 patients, with PR =13.7%. When the male partners alone (95) were treated, a significant decrease was observed for DFI and SDI vs. control (84), and this was associated with a significant increase in the delivery rates (47.4% vs. 21.4%, p=0.001). Nutritional support of the 1-C cycle improves male and female fertility; this should not be overlooked, especially for women entering ART programs.