According to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, infertility is a disease of the male or female reproductive system, which refers to a normal sexual life without any contraceptive measures for more than one year without a successful pregnancy (WHO, 2019). It is estimated that 8–12% of couples worldwide are affected by infertility, and about half of couples are primarily or contributed to by male factors (Agarwal et al., 2021). Oligoasthenospermia is one of the leading causes of male infertility, affecting approximately 5% of couples of reproductive age worldwide (Sheng et al., 2022). WHO defines oligoasthenospermia as a reduction in the total number (<33 × 106 per ejaculate or <12 × 106/mL) or concentration of spermatozoa and low or nil sperm motility (<32%) (WHO, 2021).

The causes of oligoasthenospermia are complex, and the pathogenesis is not yet fully understood. The main causative factors currently considered include environmental, endocrine, genetic, varicocele, infectious, lifestyle, and other factors such as micronutrient and zinc ion deficiency (Patel and Niederberger, 2011). Current clinical treatments for oligoasthenospermia include pharmacotherapy, surgical treatment, and assisted reproduction. Drug therapy is widely used in clinical practice, and certain drugs do have a positive therapeutic effect on patients, improving the success rate of natural pregnancy or assisted reproduction, and is the preferred treatment for the vast majority of patients. Still, it is primarily an empirical treatment, and the effect is not precise. Surgical treatment requires strict indications for surgery. Commonly used assisted reproductive techniques include in vitro sperm processing, artificial insemination, and in vitro fertilization, but assisted reproductive techniques may pass on potential genetic defects to the next generation (Jungwirth et al., 2017). Therefore, we combine the traditional theoretical ideas of TCM with the cutting-edge research of modern medicine, and it is more worthwhile to explore and promote the characteristic advantages of TCM to treat oligoasthenospermia.

As a traditional animal-based medicine, antler glue has been used in China for over 2000 years and has strong therapeutic and preventive effects on various diseases, including osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, anemia, andrological problems, and mammary gland hyperplasia (Li et al., 2021). The processing of TCM is not only a vital link in the system of TCM system but also the intangible requirement of the characteristics of syndrome, differentiation, and complexity of TCM. Vinegar-processing has a wide range of applications and a large number of applications. According to statistics, 251 kinds of vinegar varieties of traditional Chinese medicine in the past dynasties, including 17 vinegar-processed methods. It can be seen that vinegar-processing is one of the essential methods in the processing of traditional Chinese medicine. Modern pharmacological studies have found that vinegar-processing can improve the efficacy of TCM, reduce the toxicity of TCM and improve the dissolution of the active ingredient of TCM (Zhang et al., 2022). Vinegar-processed antler glue was first recorded in Lei Gong Pao Zhi Lun (Master Lei′s Discourse on Medicinal Processing) (Lei, 1986). Still, until now, there has been no relevant research on the differences in chemical composition and pharmacological effects between vinegar-processed antler glue and water-processed antler glue.

This study used an amino acid analyzer and proteomics to analyze the chemical composition differences between the two kinds of antler glue. Sperm Analyzer and transcriptomics were used to analyze the differences in the pharmacological effects of the two types of antler glue and the related mechanisms in treating oligoasthenospermia.