Background and purpose: Gold is one of the biochemical compounds in the human body, the effects of which on the activities of some organs has been studied by some researchers. Islam prohibits the use of gold for men, so, this review study investigated the effect of gold on male reproductive system.

Materials and methods: Valid electronic databases were searched using the keywords associated with fertility and gold in English- and Persian and the search was limited to articles  published during 2001-2015. The relevant retrieved articles were included in the study. In addition, reference textbooks were hand-searched and some reliable scientific databases were used.

Results: Out of the 77 retrieved articles, 14 studies that examined the effect of gold on the male reproductive system were included. Most of the findings suggested that the amount of gold in the seminal fluid and sperm might affect the male reproductive system.

Conclusion: This study showed that the amount of gold in male genitals affects fertility. Considering the paucity of scientific studies on this issue, positive or negative effects of gold on male fertility cannot be concluded, hence further studies are required to derive an accurate conclusion.