thyroxin is useful to improve sperm motility

objective: the aim of this study was to evaluate the non-genomic action of thyroxin on sperm kinetic and its probable use to improve sperm recovery after applying an enrichment method like “swim-up” in comparison with the available one, pentoxifylline. materials and methods: this is an experimental study. a total of 50 patients were recruited, followed by infertility consultation. conventional sperm assays were performed according to world health organization criteria-2010 (who-2010). a computer aided semen analysis system was employed to assess kinetic parameters and concentrations. number of the motile sperm recovered after preparation technique was calculated. results: addition of t4 (0.002 μg/ml) to semen samples increased hypermotility at 20 minutes (control: 14.18 ± 5.1% vs. 17.66 ± 8.88%, p<0.03, data expressed as mean ± sd) and remained unchanged after 40 minutes. significant differences were found in the motile sperm recovered after swim-up (control: 8.93×106 ± 9.52× 06 vs. 17.20×106 ± 21.16×106, p<0.03), achieving all of the tested samples a desirable threshold value for artificial insemination outcome, while adding pentoxifylline increased the number of recovered sperm after swim-up in 60% of the studied cases. no synergism between two treatments could be determined. conclusion: we propose a new physiological tool to artificially improve insemination. the discussion opens windows to investigate unknown pathways involved in sperm capacitation and gives innovative arguments to better understand infertility mechanisms.