The impact of zinc and folic acid supplementation on sperm DNA methylation: results from the folic acid and zinc supplementation randomized clinical trial (FAZST).

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are teenagers, young adults, adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

A multicenter, double-blind, block randomized, placebo-controlled trial titled "The Folic Acid and Zinc Supplementation Trial (FAZST).".

Male partners (18 years and older) from heterosexual couples (female partners aged 18-45 years) seeking fertility treatment were recruited.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and multicenter.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc could be set against what happens without it.

Running at several centres spread the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study over different clinics and patient groups.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include DNA Methylation, Dietary Supplements, Folic Acid, Infertility, Male, Live Birth, Pregnancy Rate and Semen Analysis.

Author keywords: epigenetics, sperm and zinc.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Results are reported in around 7 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2022 (Fertility and sterility), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.