Assisted Reproduction: Impact of Mitochondrion (Dys)function and Antioxidant Therapy

In the last years, major changes in the biosystem related to the industrial development and envi-ronmental modifications have had a direct impact on human and animal fertility, as well as on biodiversity. It is widely demonstrated that all these changes impair in the reproductive function. Several studies have connected the increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in mito-chondria to the recently identified decline of fertility due to various factors, including heat stress. The study of antioxidants and especially of mitochondria targeted antioxidants, has been ad-dressed to identify more efficient and less toxic therapies that could circumvent the problem of in-fertility in mammals. These antioxidants can be obtained from natural compounds used in the diet and converted into more effective forms to mitochondria, which will be a much more natural therapy. The use of mitochondriotropic diet-based antioxidants in Assisted Reproductive Tech-nologies (ART) may be an important way to circumvent the low fertility, allowing the conserva-tion of biodiversity in animal species, including domestic breeds. This paper provides a concise re-view of the current state of the art on this topic, with a particular focus on antioxidants: Mitoqui-none, AntiOxBEN2, AntiOxCIN4, Urolithin A and the most recent Piperine.