Abstract:  A variety of metabolism-related courses are involved in spermatogenesis and sperm maturation. Any metabolic abnormality will damage the sperm motility and fertilization, which eventually leads to male infertility. For example, the oxidative stress caused by the excessive production of reactive oxygen in sperm impairs the sperm motility and capacitation. In clinic, the metabolic profiling of seminal plasma in the infertile patients was different from that in the normal male, suggesting the abnormality of sperm development and maturation. This study indirectly showed that there is a potential relevancy between the abnormal metabolism of sperm and male infertility. In this review, we discussed sperm metabolism and the related pathways, sperm metabonomics and tests, the relationship between sperm metabolism and sperm motility, and male infertility.

Key words: Spermatozoa, Metabolism, Metabonomics, Sperm motility, Infertility, Male