THE EFFECT OF PENTOXIFYLLINE ON SPERM MOTILITY, OOCYTE FERTILIZATION, EMBRYO QUALITY, AND PREGNANCY OUTCOME IN AN IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION PROGRAM

Objective: To study the effect of pentoxifylline on sperm motility, oocyte fertilization, embryo cleavage, and quality as well as pregnancy outcome on asthenospermic patients participating in an IVF program. Design: Prospective randomized study. Setting: Private IVF unit. Patients: Ninety-seven couples, 24 of whom were repeating IVF. Two semen specimens were obtained from each patient and each specimen was divided equally into two parts, nontreated (control semen) and pentoxifylline-treated (treated semen). Main Outcome Measure: Sperm progressive motility, oocyte fertilization. Results: Overall and progressive motility did not differ significantly between the two semen specimens. There was a significant increase in the progressive motility of the pentoxifylline-treated semen compared with control semen. No significant difference was noticed between control and treated semen in fertilization rate, cleavage rate, embryo quality, and pregnancy rate. The percentage of patients who fertilized only with control semen (9.3%) was not significantly different from that of patients who fertilized only with treated semen (10.3%). Couples who were repeating IVF did not show significant difference in fertilization between the present study and previous attempts. Conclusion: Our results showed that although the sperm progressive motility is improved after pentoxifylline treatment, it is doubtful whether this effect is of any clinical significance.