PQQ Application: Aiding Reproductive Health and Solving Fertility Problems

Nowadays, fertility issues are gradually becoming the focus of people's attention, and the importance of reproductive health is becoming increasingly prominent. With the acceleration of the pace of life, the increase of environmental pressure and changes in people's lifestyles, the fertility crisis is quietly approaching, bringing troubles to countless families.

Part 1. The Fertility Crisis is Prominent, and Reproductive Health Attracts Attention

According to a report published online by the internationally authoritative medical journal The Lancet, the incidence rate of infertility in China has risen from 12% to 18% between 2007 and 2020. Similarly, data from Frost & Sullivan predicts that the number of infertile couples in China will increase from about 48 million in 2018 to about 50 million in 2023, and more and more people will suffer from infertility.

  New Trends in the Women's Health Market, Ovarian Management Becomes the Focus

In the field of women's health, concepts are undergoing profound changes. In the past, women paid more attention to their external image such as beauty, but now their attention to personal health has shifted to comprehensive physical health management, covering multiple aspects such as full-cycle nutrition, exercise, reproduction, and mental health.

The female reproductive system, especially the ovaries, is one of the earliest aging organ systems in the human body. It is not only an important part of the female reproductive system but also a key organ that regulates female hormones and affects overall health. Under normal circumstances, female ovarian function reaches its peak at the age of 25, accelerates aging at 35, and almost "retires" around the age of 50, when women enter menopause. In recent years, the search rate of the term "premature ovarian failure" has increased by 330%, and the content of related topics has shown a surge trend. China's ovarian health market is also growing at an annual rate of 20%.

Image source: China Women's Health: Ovarian Health and Aging

 Awakening of Male Awareness, Couples Prepare for Pregnancy Synchronously

A study published in Fertility and Sterility, which conducted a 20-year research on 3,729 male partners, showed that during these 20 years, sperm motility parameters and quantity decreased significantly, which undoubtedly brought greater challenges to fertility.

According to the 2024 China Imported Maternity Industry Consumption Trend Report, in the past two years, men's awareness of preparing for pregnancy has awakened rapidly, especially men aged 25-29 will make more adequate preparations during pregnancy preparation, such as taking nutritional supplements to achieve the best state for pregnancy preparation and welcome the arrival of a new life together.

Image source: 2024 China Imported Maternity Industry Consumption Trend Report

Part 2. Anti-aging Dark Horse PQQ, May Be Beneficial to Reproductive System Health

In the process of exploring solutions for reproductive health, pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ for short) has gradually come into people's vision.

   Nutritional Growth Factor

Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is considered an important nutritional growth factor. Studies have found that PQQ can improve the reproductive performance of BALB/c mice and promote the growth of newborns [1]. Adding PQQ·Na2 to the diet of sows during pregnancy and lactation has a positive impact on their reproductive performance, significantly increasing the total number of piglets born, the number of live piglets born, and the weight of the living litter [2], providing strong evidence for the application of PQQ in the field of reproductive health.

  Anti-oxidative Stress, Protecting Follicle and Sperm Health

Increased oxidative stress and DNA damage may lead to accelerated reproductive aging of the reproductive system. Supplementation of exogenous antioxidant pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) can largely reverse the reproductive aging phenotype.

During follicular development, a high level of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (mt-OXPHOS) is required to provide the ATP necessary for FSH-induced granulosa cell proliferation, which may generate excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and adversely affect follicle health. PQQ treatment not only reduces ROS and oxidative stress levels but also improves mtDNA damage, accelerates FSH-/ecg-induced ATP production, and increases mitochondrial membrane potential, as well as the expression levels of mitochondrial genes (Nd1, Cytb, Cox1, ATPase6) and mt-ND1 protein. Therefore, the proliferation and viability of granulosa cells, the number of healthy preovulatory follicles and ovulated oocytes, and serum estrogen levels are significantly increased, and the apoptosis of granulosa cells is reduced [3], thus providing a strong guarantee for the healthy development of follicles.
 

Image source: Literature 3

Similarly, the linear movement of sperm from the uterus to the fallopian tube requires ATP to maintain, and reactive oxygen species can cause stress and damage sperm quality. PQQ is a useful tool for maintaining the linear movement of sperm. PQQ treatment increases the stability of mt-DNA, reduces damage to TFAM and POLRMT, leading to high expression of mitochondrial genes. In addition, it also increases mitochondrial activity and maintains the linear movement of sperm under low glucose conditions [4], which helps to improve the quality and motility of sperm.
 

Image source: Literature 4

  Enhancing Mitochondrial Dynamics, Restoring Ovarian Function

Natural ovarian aging is one of the main reasons for the decline in fertility in female animals. Supplementing PQQ to reproductive elderly mice effectively improves their fertility by balancing hormone secretion, coordinating the estrous cycle, and eliminating ovarian fibrosis. In addition, the quality of oocytes in elderly mice is also improved. Its target pathway may be to restore mitochondrial dynamics and lysosomal function to remove excessive reactive oxygen species and inhibit the apoptosis of elderly oocytes [5], providing new ideas and methods for solving women's premature ovarian failure.

Image source: Literature 5
 

Part 3. From Her to Him, the Market in the Field of Reproductive Health is Vast

Although there are already some nutritional supplements related to reproductive pregnancy preparation on the market, compared with other health fields, pregnancy preparation products are still relatively scarce. In the future, the field of reproductive health has huge market potential and needs more family health solutions.

In the field of reproductive health, Magic Health has always been committed to providing consumers with high-quality products and services. Combining the health needs of both men and women, designing supplementary schemes that meet different genders and different health conditions is the future development trend. Men can take products that help improve sperm quality, while women can take nutrients that are beneficial to ovarian health and fetal development, helping both couples to carry out pregnancy preparation supplements synchronously.

Magic Health will continue to give full play to its own advantages. It has a rich product line applying PQQ in the field of reproductive health, covering different nutritional supplements for women and men, to provide consumers with more and better reproductive health products and services, help more families realize their fertility dreams, and protect the happiness of every family.

References:
[1]Steinberg FM, Gershwin ME, Rucker RB. Dietary pyrroloquinoline quinone: growth and immune response in BALB/c mice. J Nutr. 1994 May;124(5):744-53.
[2]Zhang B, Wang C, Yang W, Zhang H, Meng Q, Shi B, Shan A. Transcriptome analysis of the effect of pyrroloquinoline quinone disodium (PQQ·Na2) on reproductive performance in sows during gestation and lactation. J Anim Sci Biotechnol. 2019 Aug 7;10:62.
[3]Hoque SAM, Umehara T, Kawai T, Shimada M. Adverse effect of superoxide-induced mitochondrial damage in granulosa cells on follicular development in mouse ovaries. Free Radic Biol Med. 2021 Feb 1;163:344-355.
[4]Zhu Z, Kawai T, Umehara T, Hoque SAM, Zeng W, Shimada M. Negative effects of ROS generated during linear sperm motility on gene expression and ATP generation in boar sperm mitochondria. Free Radic Biol Med. 2019 Sep;141:159-171.
[5]Zhang K, Xu R, Ma J, Zheng L, Zhang H, Li Z, Weng H, Yang X, Hu Y, Chen X, Shu J. Pyrroloquinoline-quinone supplementation restores ovarian function and oocyte quality in a mouse model of advanced maternal age†. Biol Reprod. 2025 Feb 14;112(2):346-360.