The success of repeated microdissection sperm retrieval (M-TESE) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) following a conventional testicular biopsy in men with nonobstructive azoospermia

Abstract

Method ROC area Wicken’s P value MATERIALS AND METHODS: Linear regression models estimated by least-squares with robust (heteroscedasticity-consistent) variance estimators were used to examine the associations between the study variables. RESULTS: There was no correlation between vitamin D and total testosterone. There was, however a highly statistically significant inverse association of vitamin D and LH with a slope of -0.05 (P1⁄40.008). Vitamin D was also seen to be inversely correlated with the percent motile sperm (slope of -0.28; P1⁄40.05) and percent normal morphology (slope of -0.22; P1⁄40.001) in semen analyses. CONCLUSION: In this population of men, referred for infertility, vitamin D is not correlated with total testosterone. It does however correlate indirectly with LH. As LH regulates the production of testosterone, these two findings together appeared contradictory. We observed inverse correlations between vitamin D and percent normal morphology and percent motile sperm. Taken together, these finding suggest that any role which vitamin D plays in male infertility is complex and may indicate that the role of Vitamin D is dependent upon level. The ideal range of Vitamin D for optimum fertility remains to be determined.