Isotretinoin Administration Improves Sperm Production in Men with Infertility from Oligoasthenozoospermia: A Pilot Study

摘要

There is currently no effective medical therapy for men with infertility due to oligoasthenozoospermia (OA). As men with abnormal sperm production have lower concentrations of 13-cis-retinoic acid in their testes, we hypothesized that men with infertility from OA might have improved sperm counts when treated with isotretinoin (13-cis-retinoic acid).We conducted a single-site, single-arm, pilot study to determine the effect of therapy with isotretinoin on sperm indices in 19 infertile men with OA. Subjects were men between 21 and 60 years of age with infertility for longer than 12 months associated with sperm concentrations below 15 million sperm/ml. All men received isotretinoin 20 mg by mouth twice daily for 20 weeks. Subjects had semen analyses, physical examinations and lab tests every four weeks during treatment. Nineteen men enrolled in the study. Median (25th, 75th) sperm concentration increased from 2.5 (0.1, 5.9) million/ml at baseline to 3.8 (2.1, 13.0) million/ml at the end of treatment (p=0.006). No significant changes in sperm motility were observed. There was a trend towards improved sperm morphology (p=0.056). Six pregnancies (three spontaneous and three from ICSI) and five births occurred during the study. Four of the births, including all three of the spontaneous pregnancies, were observed in men with improvements in sperm counts with isotretinoin therapy. Treatment was well tolerated. Isotretinoin therapy improves sperm production in some men with OA. Additional studies of isotretinoin in men with infertility from OA are warranted.