Omega 3 is good for your sperm

Australian researchers have found that omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFA), long recognised for helping to prevent heart disease, have another beneficial role to play: increasing the chance of paternity success.

Writing in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, the team explained, “The dietary intake of n-3 LC-PUFA has also been linked to fertility, and there is abundant evidence that a range of ejaculate traits linked to fertility in humans, livestock and other animals depend on an adequate intake of n-3 LC-PUFA from dietary sources. However, relatively few studies have explored how n-3 LC-PUFA influence reproductive fitness, particularly in the context of sexual selection.”

The researchers studied the guppy Poecilia reticulata, a live-bearing fish with a highly promiscuous mating system in which sperm typically compete for fertilisations. Controlled artificial insemination was used to show that males fed diets with long-chain omega-3 PUFA sired a significantly higher proportion of offspring when competing against sperm from males fed nutritionally impaired diets.

Study co-author Professor Jon Evans, from The University of Western Australia, said the result might have broad implications among a variety of species, where n-3 LC-PUFA is associated with a number of traits linked to reproduction.

“There is already speculation that the global decline in the production of omega-3 fatty acids by marine phytoplankton, which is the world’s primary source of these essential fatty acids, may have important implications for animal health,” Professor Evans said. “Any further decline could see a trend towards impaired diets in modern animals, including humans. This, in turn, may impact health, fertility and ultimately influence future population and community dynamics.”

The results conclude that further investigation is required to determine the effects in other species and the possible implications for patterns of sexual selection in affected populations.

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