Active clinical trials for "Infertility, Male"

BACKGROUND: One couple out of 6 consults for infertility during their sexual life. In 60% of cases a male factor is associated or is the main infertility factor. Inflammatory Syndrome (IS), characterized by the presence of a leukocytospermia is found in 12% of the cases. Leukocyte degranulation causes oxidative stress (OS) through the formation of free radicals attacking the sperm cell functions. HYPOTHESIS: To establish the responsibility of the IS, and OS, in chronicle inflammatory male infertility, the investigators hypothesize that its treatment (as well as its possible cause) must restore or improve the fertilizing capacity of patients sperm. METHODS: This prospective randomized study will test the response to the treatment. The investigators shall measure cellular degradation products due to the OS, thereby certifying that it does have a deleterious effect on sperm cell. Seminal biochemistry will also assess the impact of the syndrome on the genital tract glands and follow its evolution. The patients will be included in the study as soon as the leukocytospermia will be > 0,5*106/ml or as soon as the elastase will be > 500 ng/mL. The examinations will be performed using flow cytometry, CASA (Computer Assisted Semen Analysis). The analysis of sperm morphology will be centralized. Primary endpoint will be a reduction in the percentage of 8OH-dG below 35 %. We anticipate that it should arrive to 20 % of the patients included in the arm treatment by corticosteroid therapy. All in all will thus be needed 50 patients in the group placebo and 50 in the group treated. Secondary endpoint the improvement of the spermatic parameters and the reduction of the fragmentation of the DNA of sperm cells to the treated subjects. All these biological markers will be evaluated 6 month after the treatment: Fragmentation of the spermatic DNA below 37 % during the follow-up in 6 months Leukocytospermia and elastase Seminal biochemistry Other markers of the inflammatory syndrome and oxidative stress (protein carbonyl, 8OHd-Guanosine) Possibly the radiological examinations (Ultrasound and MRI of the genital tract) In addition it would allow us to propose a policy of prevention towards acquired post-infectious male infertility.

The objective of the Males, Antioxidants, and Infertility (MOXI) Trial is to examine whether treatment of infertile males with an antioxidant formulation improves male fertility. The central hypothesis is that treatment of infertile males with antioxidants will improve sperm structure and function, resulting in higher fertilization rates and improved embryo development, leading to higher pregnancy and live birth rates. Findings from this research will be significant in that they will likely lead to an effective, non-hormonal treatment modality for male infertility. An effective treatment for men would also reduce the treatment burden on the female partner, lower costs, and provide effective alternatives to couples with religious or ethical contraindications to ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology). If antioxidants do not improve pregnancy rates, but do improve sperm motility and DNA integrity, they could allow for couples with male factor infertility to use less intensive therapies such as intrauterine insemination. Male fertility specialists currently prescribe antioxidants based on the limited data supporting their use. A negative finding, lack of any benefit, would also alter current treatment of infertile males.

Laser-assisted intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has been suggested as a more effective alterative to conventional ICSI when this method of insemination is indicated for patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Laser-assisted ICSI differs from conventional ICSI in that a laser is used to drill a small hole through the hard outer coating surrounding an egg before the injection needle containing a single sperm is inserted into the egg. The hole eliminates compression of the egg that normally occurs with conventional ICSI, and thus may reduce the chance of damage. Laser-assisted ICSI is hypothesized to result in increased egg survival, and perhaps improved embryo quality, compared to conventional ICSI.

Increased sperm DNA Fragmentation Index implies decreased male fertility in vivo and in vitro. There is need for developing new strategies for improvement of male fertility. The study aims to investigate whether high sperm DNA Integration Index can be treated by use of antioxidants.

Men with infertility and normal hormone levels have few options for fertility treatment. Previous research work has suggested that men with infertility may have low levels of the active form of Vitamin A, called retinoic acid, in their testes. We think that giving men with low sperm counts retinoic acid may increase their sperm counts and improve their chances of fathering a pregnancy. We want to see if retinoic acid administration over twenty weeks can increase sperm production and help infertile men become fathers without the need for In vitro fertilization (IVF) and/or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). We also want to see if adding calcitriol with retinoic acid will improve sperm motility in a sub-set of subjects.

Unexplained male infertility is increasing, and, nowadays, the investigators only can propose palliative treatment, as In VITRO Fertilization (IVF). The folate metabolism is a key for the maintenance of genome integrity. A dysfunction in this pathway can be responsible of spermatogenesis defects, and further, of infertility. Few assays have shown that folate treatment can improve sperm parameters and fertility, till 30% in some of theses studies. The purpose of the investigators study is to demonstrate the impact of folates treatment on improvement of sperm parameters and on the rate of success of in VITRO fertilization procedures.

Today, it is evident that vitamin D (VD) has more widespread effects than the classical actions related to bone mineralization and calcium homeostasis1. VD deficiency results in impaired reproductive performance in various species of animals, and recently the investigators have shown that the VD receptor (VDR), activating (CYP2R1, CYP27A1, CYP27B1) and inactivating (CYP24A1) enzymes are expressed in the human testis, epididymis, seminal vesicle, prostate and spermatozoa. Our following functional studies showed that VD increases intracellular calcium in mature spermatozoa, and hence may be important not only for spermatogenesis but also for sperm maturation. A new, and yet unpublished cross sectional study of 300 young healthy Danish men showed that men with lower levels of serum VD have significantly lower number of normally developed and motile spermatozoa. Hitherto, most cases of male infertility have been classified as "idiopathic", and infertile couples have been referred to symptomatic treatment at infertility clinics. These fertility treatments are often physically demanding for the female partner as well as expensive for the health care system. Any treatment that might improve semen quality of involuntary infertile men would be beneficial both for the infertile couples and the society in general. Our findings that VD may play a role for human semen quality have not yet been tested clinically. However, if VD supplementation proves efficient this opens for the first time for a causal, safe and cheap treatment of at least some cases of "idiopathic" impaired semen quality. The investigators believe our new human data supported by the results from the VD deficient and VDR KO animal studies and the high proportion of VD deficient Danish men provide sufficient evidence to initiate a randomized clinical trial of VD supplementation to infertile men. Infertile men have also have unfavorable altered levels of sex hormones and higher mortality than fertile men. Since VD deficiency is associated with increased mortality, regulation of aromatase, immune system, bone metabolism, glucose metabolism, cardiovascular system etc. our suggested clinical trial may also be able to evaluate several secondary endpoints in addition to the potential effect on semen quality.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the administration of the dietary supplement Spermotrend improves spermatogenesis parameters in subjects with male infertility unrelated to major testicular conditions. The duration of this double-blind placebo controlled phase 3 clinical trial will be 24 weeks. The estimated number of males with infertility to be recruited and randomized for the study is 86.

Oxidative stress related damage to sperm is believed to be a major cause of male infertility. The object of the Menevit study is to investigate the role of a novel anti-oxidant preparation (Menevit) on sperm function, embryo quality and pregnancy rates in an in vitro fertilization (IVF) setting.

To prospectively determine the most appropriate inseminated volume in donor IUI cycles. It is hypothesized that if the procedure is performed with 0.5 mL instead of 0.2, higher clinical pregnancy rates will be achieved by promoting higher sperm densities in the fallopian tubes at the time of ovulation by decreasing the amount of sperm cells lost during preparation and handling.