The effect of oral administration of Pentoxifylline on sperm motility of asthenozoospermic ejaculates from men with or without testicular varicoceles

Background: Pentoxifylline (PX) is a methyxanthin derivative that influences the sperm motion characteristics. In general, PX has been reportedly effective in preserving sperm motility in vitro, also when administered orally to the asthenozoospermic patients. Objective: The main objective of this prospective clinical trial study was to rule out the effect of oral administration of PX on sperm progressive motility of asthenozoospermic ejaculates obtained from men with or without mild testicular varicoceles. In addition, the role of patient’s age on sperm motility following PX administration was investigated. Materials and Methods: A total of 68 infertile men with asthenozoospermia were allocated to this study. Following physical examination, 20 cases were found with mild varicocele of testis. A dosage of 400 mg PX/ twice daily for duration of 3 months was administered to each patient. Two semen samples (one before and one after the PX therapy) were evaluated under blind condition. Semen parameters of sperm concentration, total and fast progressive motility (%) and morphology (%) were analyzed for each sample. Also, the sperm motion characteristics of asthenozoospermic patients with testicular varicocele were compared with cases lacking varicocele. The subjects were divided into two age groups of <30 and ≥30 years old. Results: PX was significantly effective on the fast progressive motility of sperm (p<0.01). Also, total progressive motility was enhanced from 26.82±16.8 to 29.60±22.2 with PX therapy. However, PX did not have any negative effect on other semen parameters. Oral therapy of PX was also effective in improving the fast progressive motility of sperm of samples from cases with or without mild testicular varicocele (p<0.01). Fast progressive motility was also significantly enhanced in ejaculates of men from both age groups. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that low dose of oral therapy of PX is significantly useful in enhancing fast progressive motility of sperms from infertile men with asthenozoospermia. Also, testicular varicocele did not interfere with enhancing effect of PX on sperm motility.