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Journal of Andrology, Vol 18, Issue 4 439-447, Copyright © 1997 by The American Society of Andrology

JOURNAL ARTICLE

The effect of follicle-stimulating hormone therapy on sperm quality: an ultrastructural mathematical evaluation

E. Strehler, K. Sterzik, M. De Santo, M. Abt, R. Wiedemann, U. Bellati, G. Collodel, P. Piomboni and B. Baccetti
Institute for Reproductive Medicine, Ulm, Germany.

We investigated the effect of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) administration on the ultrastructure of spermatozoa in order to evaluate the potential of FSH therapy for improving sperm quality. Forty-six patients exhibiting idiopathic oligoasthenoterato-zoospermia who attended the intrauterine insemination (IU), in vitro fertilization (IVF), or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) program at our clinic received FSH in daily dosages of 150 IU over a period of 12 weeks. Using transmission electron microscopy, the ultrastructural analysis of spermatozoa was performed prior to the start of FSH therapy, after the treatment had been finished, and 6 weeks posttherapy. Applying a mathematical formula based on submicroscopic characteristics, we calculated the number of morphologically normal spermatozoa. After the FSH treatment, the examined subcellular organelles achieved a higher percentage of integrity. Follicle-stimulating hormone treatment leads to a higher number of morphologically normal spermatozoa. The electron microscopic findings indicate that treatment with pure FSH may be an effective way to improve sperm quality in cases with oligoasthenoterato-zoospermia. Applying the mathematical analysis based on the whole complex of the selected sperm characteristics, we obtained a way to evaluate the success of therapy for the first time.




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Copyright © 1997 by The American Society of Andrology.