Thyroxine is useful to improve sperm motility

Gabriela Ruth Mendeluk. Ph.D.; Mónica Rosales M.D.

Laboratory of Male Fertility. Hospital de Clínicas “José de San Martín”. Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry. University of Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires. Argentina; Laboratory of Endocrinology. Hospital de Clínicas “José de San Martín”. Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry. University of Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires. Argentina.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the non-genomic action of thyroxine on sperm kinetic and its probable use to improve sperm recovery after an enrichment method like “swim-up” in comparison to the available one pentoxifylline.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 50 patients consulting for infertility were recruited. Conventional sperm assay were performed according to WHO criteria- 2010. A CASA system was employed to assess kinetic parameters and concentration. The number of motile sperm recovered after the preparation technique was calculated.
RESULT(S): Addition of T4 (0.002ug/ml) to semen samples increased hypermotility at 20 min(control: 14.18 ± 5.1% Vs. 17.66 ± 8.88 % ; p<0.03; data expressed as mean ± SD )and remained unchanged after 40 min. Significant differences were found in the motile sperm recovered after “swim-up” (control: 8.93 x 106 ± 9.52 x 106 Vs. 17.20 x 106 ± 21.16 x106; p<0.03), achieving all the tested samples the desired threshold value for artificial insemination outcome, while addition of pentoxifylline increased the number of recovered sperm after swim-up in 60% of the studied cases. No synergism between treatments could be proved.
CONCLUSION(S): We are proposing a new and physiologic tool to improve artificial insemination. The discussion opens our minds to think in unknown pathways involved in sperm capacitation and gives innovative arguments to understand infertility.