Effect of Pentoxifylline on Sperm Motion

Fuse, Hideki; Sakamoto, M; Katayama, Takashi

doi:10.3109/01485019308988374

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…A similar effect was also observed in the 2 samples with asthenozoospermia. The increase in relative escape force in normospermic samples contrasts with observations (Lewis et al, 1993;Yovich et al, 1994) that pentoxifylline had no effect on progressively motile sperm in normal samples; yet, tends to agree with reports stating that pentoxifylline does increase sperm velocity and vigor (Fuse et al, 1993;Tournaye et al, 1994;Tarlatzis et al, 1995). Each sperm sample reached maximal stimulation potential relative escape force within 30 minutes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Effect of Pentoxifylline on the Intrinsic Swimming Forces of Human Sperm Assessed by Optical Tweezers

PATRIZIO,

LIU,

SONEK

et al. 2000

Journal of Andrology

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It is still controversial whether in vitro exposure of sperm to pentoxifylline increases sperm motility and force, which is defined as the product of velocity by beat frequency of the tail. Laser optical tweezers have been successfully used in the past to evaluate sperm force in basal conditions. The aim of this prospective study was to determine whether exposure of human sperm to pentoxifylline has any effect on sperm intrinsic forces. Twelve healthy subjects undergoing routine semen analysis were enrolled in the study. Ten exhibited normal semen parameters, 2 exhibited asthenozoospermia. Each semen specimen was washed and, after swim‐up, resuspended in human tubal fluid (HTF) and divided into 2 aliquots. One aliquot was incubated with pentoxifylline for 30 minutes (final concentration = 3.6 mM); the second aliquot, without pentoxifylline, served as a control. After 30 minutes the pentoxifylline‐treated aliquot was divided into 2 portions, 1 of which was washed to remove the pentoxifylline, the other was left in prolonged coincubation with the chemical. The main outcome was the measurement of sperm intrinsic force in milliwatts (mW), which was assessed by means of a noninvasive infrared laser optical trap created by a continuous wave, 1064‐nm Nd:YAG laser beam directed in an inverted microscope. Exposure of sperm to pentoxifylline consistently increased sperm relative escape force from the laser optical trap. The increase ranged from 33% to 154% over baseline force compared with controls. The average absolute increase in sperm force rose from 37 mW to 79 mW (P < .05). Specimens with sperm having an initial low relative escape force gained the highest relative increase. The effect of pentoxifylline on sperm force, already apparent after 5 minutes, reached a peak at 30 minutes and persisted for up to 3 hours in sperm that were left in coincubation and in those on which the pentoxifylline had been washed off. In conclusion, pentoxifylline significantly increases sperm intrinsic relative force in normozoospermic and asthenozoospermic samples. This experiment confirms that optical tweezers can provide an accurate determination of sperm force in in vitro conditions. Clinical data must now establish whether a documented increase in sperm force is an important parameter for assessing sperm fertilizing capacity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Effect of Pentoxifylline on the Intrinsic Swimming Forces of Human Sperm Assessed by Optical Tweezers

PATRIZIO,

LIU,

SONEK

et al. 2000

Journal of Andrology

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“…As pentoxifylline stimulates motility without altering the sperm membrane [238] it appeared as an ideal substance to initiate motility in immotile spermatozoa. This method was successfully used to identify live testicular and epididymal spermatozoa and live births are reported [155,156,239].…”

Section: In Vitro Treatment Of Spermatozoamentioning

confidence: 99%

Sperm preparation for ART

Henkel

Schill

2003

Reprod Biol Endocrinol

415

175

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The onset of clinical assisted reproduction, a quarter of a century ago, required the isolation of motile spermatozoa. As the indication of assisted reproduction shifted from mere gynaecological indications to andrological indications during the years, this urged andrological research to understand the physiology of male germ cell better and develop more sophisticated techniques to separate functional spermatozoa from those that are immotile, have poor morphology or are not capable to fertilize oocytes. Initially, starting from simple washing of spermatozoa, separation techniques, based on different principles like migration, filtration or density gradient centrifugation evolved. The most simple and cheapest is the conventional swim-up procedure. A more sophisticated and most gentle migration method is migration-sedimentation. However, its yield is relatively small and the technique is therefore normally only limited to ejaculates with a high number of motile spermatozoa. Recently, however, the method was also successfully used to isolate spermatozoa for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Sperm separation methods that yield a higher number of motile spermatozoa are glass wool filtration or density gradient centrifugation with different media. Since Percoll® as a density medium was removed from the market in 1996 for clinical use in the human because of its risk of contamination with endotoxins, other media like IxaPrep®, Nycodenz, SilSelect®, PureSperm® or Isolate® were developed in order to replace Percoll®. Today, an array of different methods is available and the selection depends on the quality of the ejaculates, which also includes production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by spermatozoa and leukocytes. Ejaculates with ROS production should not be separated by means of conventional swim-up, as this can severely damage the spermatozoa. In order to protect the male germ cells from the influence of ROS and to stimulate their motility to increase the yield, a number of substances can be added to the ejaculate or the separation medium. Caffeine, pentoxifylline and 2-deoxyadenosine are substances that were used to stimulate motility. Recent approaches to stimulate spermatozoa include bicarbonate, metal chelators or platelet-activating factor (PAF). While the use of PAF already resulted in pregnancies in intrauterine insemination, the suitability of the other substances for the clinical use still needs to be tested. Finally, the isolation of functional spermatozoa from highly viscous ejaculates is a special challenge and can be performed enzymatically to liquefy the ejaculate. The older method, by which the ejaculate is forcefully aspirated through a narrow-gauge needle, should be abandoned as it can severely damage spermatozoa, thus resulting in immotile sperm.

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“…Since the late 1970s, it has been known that methylxanthine derivates act as motility stimulants in mammalian spermatozoa of various species [5,12,22,28]. These compounds are gaining wider clinical use [15], but information about their effects on the main sperm functional parameters has remained sparse [29].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Pentoxifylline on Sperm Membrane Functional Integrity

Ponce¹,

M²,

Rd³

et al. 1999

Archives of Andrology

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In epididymal mouse spermatozoa, the effects of dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate 1 mmol/L (dbcAMP), pentoxifylline 5 mmol/L (PX), and/or mastoparan 50 mumol/L (MT) were evaluated for the following parameters: percentage of motile cells and response to hypoosmotic shock (HOS). The gametes were incubated during 80 min (A) or 200 min (B) in Tyrode's medium, and the drugs were added during the last 20 min. In A, dbcAMP + PX (61.5 +/- 5.4%; n = 10) enhanced and MT decreased significantly the population of motile cells (13.4 +/- 5.4%; n = 6) (control: 47.6 +/- 3.9%; n = 11). In B, PX significantly increased this parameter and MT plus PX also exerted a significant detrimental effect. Responses to HOS dropped significantly in the presence of PX + MT in A or in B; in this latter condition a similar decrease was evoked by MT alone. A positive correlation between percentages of swollen and motile spermatozoa was detected in A or in B in samples incubated with PX (r = .58, n = 11 and r = .76, n = 10; p < .05, respectively). These results that support that, in mouse sperm tail, PX would preserve functional membrane integrity, a relevant condition for adequate motility.

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Effect of Pentoxifylline on Sperm Motion

Cited by 16 publications

References 20 publications

Effect of Pentoxifylline on the Intrinsic Swimming Forces of Human Sperm Assessed by Optical Tweezers

Effect of Pentoxifylline on the Intrinsic Swimming Forces of Human Sperm Assessed by Optical Tweezers

Sperm preparation for ART

Influence of Pentoxifylline on Sperm Membrane Functional Integrity

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