Oxidative Stress and Reproductive Inefficiencies: The Science, Evidences, and Solutions Oxidative Stress and Reproductive Inefficiencies: The Science, Evidences, and Solutions

Abstract

Oxidative stress is a metabolic process causing imbalance between prooxidants and antioxidants favouring abundance and overbearing effects of the prooxidants. When it occurs, there is disruption in redox signals, biochemical pathways, and control leading to impaired systemic functions. It is an implicated biological mechanism behind pathological development and diseases conditions including reproductive inefficiency, cardiovascular diseases, aging, alcohol-related diseases, adult respiratory distress, atherosclerosis, and inborn error of metabolism. In animal production poor reproductive performance currently, threaten livestock productivity. Several efforts toward overcoming this challenge (poor reproductive performance) have culminated to identification of oxidative stress as the culprit because animals’ productivity is impaired either directly or indirectly by oxidative stress. In this paper, we reviewed oxidative stress as a biochemical process affecting reproduction and also hypothesized that oxidative stress is a nexus between functional biochemical process and improved productivity. Therefore, the study concluded that the abatement of oxidative stress is possible by exploring natural sources of antioxidants for the promotion of productivity through optimized reproductive index.