A study of the effects of testosterone undecanoate and folate on semen quality in the infertile men

Abstract

Introduction: Problems of infertility of the couples at present is increasing and 40 percents of which the problems are caused by male factors. Although sex hormones and vitamins have been used to treat male infertility, the results are still controversial. Therefore, we are interested to study the efficacy of Testosterone undecanoate (TU) and Folate on improving the sperm quality.

Method: 60 infertile male volunteers were divided into 4 groups given placebo drugs (control), TU 40 mg 3 times/day, Folate 5 mg/day and TU plus Folate for continuous 3 months. The result at treatments semen and blood were obtained for evaluated at baseline, the end of drugs treatment (3 months) and 3 months after discontinuation of treatment (6 months).

Results: TU alone caused an increase of sperm concentration but a decrease in quantity of normal sperm morphology. Folate alone and Folate plus TU increased sperm quality i.e. concentration, motility, normal morphology and vitality including sperm DNA integrity as seen by and increase in DNA grade A and
decrease in DNA grade D where TU alone caused a decrease in DNA grade A with statistically significance.

Discussion and Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that Folate alone and Folate in combination with TU could improve sperm quality at all clinical parameters including sperm DNA integrity.

Key words: Infertility, Semen quality, Semen analysis, Testosterone undecanoate, Folate