Oligozoospermic Patients Research Articles

The effect of clomiphene citrate on sex hormone binding globulin in normospermic and oligozoospermic men.

The effect of clomiphene citrate (CG) on sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) was studied in 10 oligozoospermic patients with varicocele and 6 normospermic men. Plasma SHBG, testosterone (T), oestradiol (E2), FSH, LH, Prolactin (Prl), thyroxine (T4) and 17-OH-progesterone (17-OH-P) were determined before and during medication. SHBG concentration rose from 38.1 +/- 18.3 to 54.3 +/- 16.0 nmol/l (P less than 0.01), while T and E2 showed significant increases from 31.2 +/- 10.8 nmol/l and 24.6 +/- 5.4 pg/ml to 52.0 +/- 3.6 and 43.3 +/- 14.9, respectively in the oligozoospermic patients, with similar rises noted in the normospermic men. FSH, LH and 17-OH-P were markedly elevated while on CC, but Prl and T4 remained unchanged. The findings of this study indicated the CC causes an increase of SHBG concentration, which is probably related to the rise of E2 concentration. This SHBG change, combined with the intrinsic oestrogenic activity of CC might be one of the factors responsible, through a decrease of free T and a T to E2 imbalance, for the lack of significant effect on parameters of seminal quality in so treated patients.

Hyperandrogenism and the fertility/sterility problem in couples with oligozoospermic patients

Hyperandrogenism and the fertility/sterility problem in couples with oligozoospermic patients

Bradykininase and Protease Inhibitors in Seminal Plasma of Fertile and Infertile Men

The level of protease acrosin in the seminal plasma of oligozoospermic men was significantly higher than that of normozoospermic men. The amount of bradykininase in the seminal plasma was very high in both normozoospermic and oligozoospermic patients. When the acrosin and kininase content was referred to one million spermatozoa, seminal plasma kininase was significantly enhanced in oligozoospermic men, while the acrosin activity was similar in normozoospermic fertile men and infertile men. Human seminal plasma inhibitor I (HUSI I) increased along with sperm count. Human seminal plasma inhibitor II (HUSI II) showed no change. The motility of spermatozoa was depressed in oligozoospermic patients.

Serum and seminal gonadotropins in normal and infertile men: correlations with sperm count, prolactinemia, and seminal prolactin.

Serum and seminal gonadotropins were evaluated in 30 normozoospermic and 30 oligozoospermic patients. Mean values of basal serum gonadotropins were higher in the oligozoospermic group than in the normozoospermic group: 3.8 versus 1.8 ng/ml and 3.3 versus 2.2 ng/ml for FSH and LH, respectively. Seminal FSH levels were comparable in the normozoospermic and oligozoospermic groups (0.8 versus 0.8 ng/ml, respectively) and were constantly lower than serum FSH levels in both groups. Seminal LH values were constantly higher than serum LH values in the normozoospermic group, whereas in the oligozoospermic group seminal LH values were higher, similar, or lower than serum LH values. However, no significant difference was noted between the two groups for seminal LH values: 3.6 (normozoospermic group) versus 4.1 ng/ml (oligozoospermic group).

Effect of Two Methylxanthine Derivatives and Four Prostaglandins on the Motility of Spermatozoa from Volunteers and Oligozoospermic Patients

Caffeine has a dose dependant effect in vitro on the motility of human spermatozoa obtained from volunteers. In doses of 6 mM and 60 mM it delayed the fall in motility with time of spermatozoa when added within an hour of ejaculation. 6 mM caffeine had similar effects on the motility of spermatozoa obtained from oligozoospermic patients. However, 6 mM caffeine was ineffective in modifying the motility of previously cryopre‐served spermatozoa. In vitro theophylline 6 mM was effective in delaying the fall in motility with time of human spermatozoa obtained from volunteers and oligozoospermic patients within one h of ejaculation. In the doses used (prostaglandin E1, 25 μg/ml, E2, 25 μg/ml, F1α. 5 μg/ml and F2α, 5 μg/ml) none of the prostaglandins delayed the fall in in vitro motility with time of human spermatozoa obtained from volunteers or oligozoospermic patients, in fact prostaglandins E1, E2, and F2α caused an inhibition of the motility of spermatozoa obtained from volunteers.

Immunological studies of testicular tissue in oligozoospermic and azoospermic patients.

Testicular biopsies from 6 oligozoospermic and 12 azoospermic patients were examined histologically and immunohistologically. Evidence of maturation arrest and of Type II allergic reactions involving tubular basement membranes was found in all oligozoospermic patients. No evidence of an immune reaction was found in 9 azoospermic patients with maturation arrest. Unilateral or bilateral germ cell aplasia with evidence of mixed Type II and III or Type III and IV reactions was present in 2 oligozoospermic and 2 azoospermic patients. The findings have been interpreted to indicate that maturation arrest and germ cell aplasia may occasionally be linked in a chain of immunological events, initiated possibly by damage to tubular basement membranes. No correlation was demonstrable between the histological and immunohistological findings and indirect immunofluorescent tests for sperm antibodies. It is suggested that testicular biopsy is a potentially hazardous procedure in the investigation of infertility, and that prepubertal testicular tissues as well as sperm be used as antigens in the immunological investigation of infertility.

Value of a testicular biopsy rating for prognosis in oligozoospermia.

Testicular biopsies of 142 oligozoospermic men were used to obtain a testicular biopsy score count. These scores were clearly related to the chance of fertility, in contra-distinction to data on hormone concentrations and from analysis of semen. In 36 patients with a score of 9-10 there were 15 pregnancies; in 59 patients with a score of 8-9, 12; and in 47 patients with scores below 8 there was only one successful pregnancy, though this last group also contained an additional three patients whose wives' pregnancies ended in miscarriages. Rating of testicular biopsies is more useful for proper evaluation of oligozoospermic patients than are data on hormone concentrations and from semen analysis. Proper evaluation of new treatments should be based on trials where experimental and control groups are matched on these ratings.