ABSTRACT
Background: The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of varicocelectomy on serum testosterone levels and semen quality in infertile men who suffer from varicocele
Materials and Methods: This prospective study enrolled 115 subjects with clinical varicocele grades II and III and 240 fertile men as the control group. Total volume of testosterone serum level [ng/dl] and semen quality were com- pared before and after microscopic varicocelectomy. We normalized testosterone serum levels for age, grade, and testis size basis. SPSS 20 software was used to analyze the data. All results of continuous variables were reported as mean +/- SD. Statistical significance was set at a P<0.05
Results: The mean ages of individuals who participated in the treatment [32.2 +/- 5.23] and control [32.8 +/- 5.27] groups were similar. There were similar mean values for adjusted testosterone levels between the varicocele [567 +/- 222 ng/ml] and control [583 +/- 263 ng/ml] groups. In the varicocele group, the adjusted testosterone levels insig- nificantly increased to 594 +/- 243 ng/ml. Among semen parameters, only mean sperm concentration significantly increased after varicocelectomy
Conclusion: Despite increases in sperm concentration, adjusted testosterone levels did not significantly improve after varicocelectomy
ABSTRACT
Background: chlamydia trachomatis [CT] with damaging effects on sperm quality parameters can often cause infertility in men
Objective: the main objective of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of polymerase chain reaction [PCR] and enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay [ELISA] for screening and detecting CT in semen samples of infertile men
Materials and Methods: in this cross-sectional study, 465 men referring to the clinical laboratory of Royan Institute were chosen for primary screening and detection of the presence of CT. 93 samples were normozoospermia with normal sperm parameters i.e. sperm number, motility and morphology [Asymptomatic] and 372 had abnormal sperm parameters [Symptomatic] in semen analysis. ELISA test was performed as the screening test. Samples with optical density [OD] >0.200 were selected as the case and asymptomatic samples with OD <0.200 were selected as the control group for the confirmatory test. PCR assay was used to confirm the serological results
Results: in the case groups [n=62], 4 out of 32 symptomatic samples [12.5%], and 1 out of 30 asymptomatic samples [3.3%] revealed positive results in PCR. No PCR positive sample was observed in the control group [n=34]. The final results revealed that considering OD >0.400 as the ELISA positive, the diagnostic value of CT ELISA positive insymptomatic and asymptomatic infertile patients were 0.019 [7 of 372] and 0.021 [2 of 93], respectively. There was no relationship between the presence of CT infection and different sperm abnormalities
Conclusion: the anti-CT IgA ELISA test may be introduced as an appropriate tool for screening purpose in the seminal plasma to select suspicious samples for PCR confirmatory tests
ABSTRACT
Background: although the effectiveness of ginger as an antioxidant agent has been exploited, little human research has been conducted on its activity on male reproductive functions
Objective: this study was designed to investigate the effects of ginger [Zingiber officinale] on sperm DNA fragmentation [SDF] in infertile men
Materials and Methods: this randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with a 1:1 allocation was performed on 100 infertility treatment candidates who were admitted to Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, Tehran, Iran. Patients were randomly assigned to receive one of two treatments: ginger and placebo. Patients were given a 3-month oral treatment [members received capsules containing 250 mg of ginger powder twice a day in ginger and a placebo in other group]. Before and after treatment, standardized semen samples were obtained to determine sperm concentration, motility, and SDF according to World Health Organization
Results: there was no significant difference between two groups regarding SDF at baseline [53.48. 95%CI: 37.95-69.02] in cases and [56.75, 95%CI: 40.01-73.5] in controls. The average positive percentage of SDF in patients receiving ginger [17.77, 95%CI: 6.16-29.39] was lower compared with placebo [40.54, 95%CI: 23.94-57.13] after three month of treatment [p=0.02]. In multivariate analysis, SDF was significantly lower in patients receiving ginger compared with placebo [mean difference: 3.21, 95%CI: 0.78-5.63, p=0.009]. There were no significant differences between two groups regarding to semen parameters
Conclusion: the present study has demonstrated that ginger in a controlled study of efficacy was effective in decreasing SDF in infertile men
ABSTRACT
To evaluate predictive factors of successful microdissection-testicular sperm extraction [MD-TESE] in patients with presumed Sertoli cell-only syndrome [SCOS]. In this retrospective analysis, 874 men with non-obstructive azoospermia [NOA], among whom 148 individuals with diagnosis of SCOS in prior biopsy, underwent MD-TESE at Department of Andrology, Royan Institute, Tehran, Iran. The predictive values of follicle stimulating hormone [FSH], luteinizing hormone [LH], and testosterone [T] levels, testicular volume, as well as male age for retrieving testicular sperm by MD-TESE were analyzed by multiple logistic regression analysis. Testicular sperm were successfully retrieved in 23.6% men with presumed SCOS. Using receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curve analysis, it was shown that sperm retrieval rate in the group of men with FSH values >15.25% was 28.9%. This was higher than the group of men with FSH