| |
Male Infertility
Quantitative evaluation of spermatozoa ultrastructure after
acupuncture treatment for idiopathic male infertility.
Pei J, Strehler E,
Noss U, Abt M, Piomboni P, Baccetti B, Sterzik K.
Longhua Hospital,
Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People's
Republic of China. jianpei99@yahoo.com
OBJECTIVE: To
evaluate the ultramorphologic sperm features of idiopathic infertile men after
acupuncture therapy.
DESIGN: Prospective controlled study.
SETTING:
Christian-Lauritzen-Institut, Ulm, IVF center Munich, Germany, and Department
of General Biology, University of Siena, Siena, Italy. PATIENT(S): Forty men
with idiopathic oligospermia, asthenospermia, or teratozoospermia.
INTERVENTION(S): Twenty eight of the patients received acupuncture twice a week
over a period of 5 weeks. The samples from the treatment group were randomized
with semen samples from the 12 men in the untreated control group.
|
|
|
MAIN OUTCOME
MEASURE(S): Quantitative analysis by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was
used to evaluate the samples, using the mathematical formula based on
submicroscopic characteristics.
RESULT(S): Statistical evaluation of the TEM
data showed a statistically significant increase after acupuncture in the
percentage and number of sperm without ultrastructural defects in the total
ejaculates. A statistically significant improvement was detected in acrosome
position and shape, nuclear shape, axonemal pattern and shape, and accessory
fibers of sperm organelles. However, specific sperm pathologies in the form of
apoptosis, immaturity, and necrosis showed no statistically significant changes
between the control and treatment groups before and after treatment.
CONCLUSION(S): The treatment of idiopathic male infertility could benefit from
employing acupuncture. A general improvement of sperm quality, specifically in
the ultrastructural integrity of spermatozoa, was seen after acupuncture,
although we did not identify specific sperm pathologies that could be
particularly sensitive to this therapy.
PMID: 16009169 [PubMed - in process]
|
|
|
