Efficacy of alpha-lipoic acid combined with tamoxifen citrate in the treatment of oligoasthenospermia.
- Author:
Hang ZHANG
1
;
Ya-Xuan WANG
1
;
Jing-Dong LI
1
;
Xue-Liang CHANG
1
;
Zhi-Hai TENG
1
;
Yan-Ping ZHANG
1
;
Shu-Wen YANG
1
;
Wei LI
1
Author Information
1. Department of Urology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050000, China.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
L-carnitine;
oligoasthenospermia;
oxidative stress;
tamoxifen citrate;
lipoic acid
- MeSH:
Antioxidants;
Asthenozoospermia;
drug therapy;
Biomarkers;
analysis;
Carnitine;
therapeutic use;
Drug Therapy, Combination;
Female;
Humans;
Male;
Oligospermia;
drug therapy;
Oxidative Stress;
Pregnancy;
Pregnancy Rate;
Semen Analysis;
Sperm Count;
Sperm Motility;
Spermatozoa;
drug effects;
Tamoxifen;
therapeutic use;
Thioctic Acid;
therapeutic use
- From:
National Journal of Andrology
2017;23(10):899-902
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To investigate the effect of alpha-lipoic acid (α-LA) combined with tamoxifen citrate (TC) in the treatment of oligoasthenospermia.
METHODS:From June to November 2016, we treated 60 patients with oligoasthenospermia in our Department of Andrology, 30 (the trial group) with oral α-LA (0.6 g, qd) + TC (20 mg, qd) and the other 30 (the control group) with oral L-carnitine (1g, bid) + TC (20 mg, qd). Before and after 3 months of medication, we examined the semen parameters of the patients and the levels of their seminal oxidative stress biomarkers, including methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in the seminal plasma. We also compared the pregnancy rate and adverse reactions between the two groups.
RESULTS:Totally, 57 of the patients completed the treatment, 28 in the trial group and 29 in the control. Compared with the baseline, the patients of the trial group showed significant improvement after 3 months of medication in the semen volume (［2.50 ± 0.71］ vs ［3.37 ± 0.70］ ml, P <0.05), sperm concentration (［12.00 ± 1.65］ vs ［19.34 ± 2.04］ ×10⁶/ml, P <0.05), percentage of progressively motile sperm (PMS) (［18.01 ± 3.01］% vs ［35.41 ± 6.49］%, P<0.05), MDA level (［14.96 ± 2.76］ vs ［10.04 ± 1.04］ nmol/ml, P <0.05), and TAC in the seminal plasma (［9.83 ± 1.02］ vs ［12.25 ± 1.11］ U/ml, P <0.05), and so did the controls in the semen volume (［2.76 ± 0.67］ vs ［3.36 ± 0.93］ ml, P <0.05), sperm concentration (［11.47 ± 1.10］ vs ［17.77 ± 3.56］ ×10⁶/ml, P <0.05), percentage of PMS (［19.22 ± 1.41］ vs ［36.01 ± 5.22］ %, P <0.05), MDA level (［14.66 ± 2.75］ vs ［10.14 ± 1.01］ nmol/ml, P <0.05), and TAC in the seminal plasma (［9.84 ± 0.90］ vs ［11.14 ± 0.84］ U/ml, P <0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the above post-medication parameters between the trial and control groups (P >0.05) except in TAC, which was markedly more improved in the former than in the latter (P <0.05), nor in the percentage of morphologically normal sperm before and after treatment in either of the two groups (P >0.05). After 3 months of treatment, 3 pregnancies were achieved in the trial group and 1 in the control (10.7% vs 3.45%, P >0.05). No obvious adverse events occurred during the treatment.
CONCLUSIONS:Alpha-lipoic acid combined with tamoxifen citrate can evidently improve semen parameters in oligoasthenospermia patients by relieving oxidative stress injury.
