[Baihe Yuzi Prescription improves asthenospermia by up-regulating the expression of CFTR in the sperm].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic efficacy of Baihe Yuzi Prescription (BYP) in the treatment of clinical syndrome-free asthenospermia and its effects on semen parameters, sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) and the expression of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in the sperm. METHODS: We randomly divided 112 patients with clinical syndrome-free asthenospermia into a control group (n = 55) and an experimental group (n = 57), the former treated orally with L-carnitine liquid combined with vitamin E capsules and the latter with BYP in addition, both for 3 months. After treatment, we obtained the total sperm count, sperm motility, percentages of progressively motile sperm (PMS) and morphologically normal sperm (MNS), sperm DFI and expression of CFTR in the sperm, and compared the above parameters between the two groups of patients before and after medication. RESULTS: The total effectiveness rate was significantly higher in the experimental group (82.46%) than in the control (65.45%) (P < 0.05). Compared with the baseline, the patients in the experimental group showed significant improvement after treatment in the total sperm count (��53.5��3.5�� vs ��86.5��3.9�� ��106, P < 0.05), sperm motility (��23.5��3.5��% vs ��38.8��3.7��%, P < 0.05), PMS (��20.1��3.2��% vs ��30.3��3.3��%, P < 0.05), MNS (��2.3��0.3��% vs ��3.9��0.4��%, P < 0.05), sperm DFI (��37.3��3.1��% vs ��25.2��3.4��%, P < 0.05) and the expression of CFTR (P < 0.05), and even better improvement than the controls in sperm motility (��23.8��3.7��% vs ��30.2��3.4��%, P < 0.05), PMS (��19.6��3.1��% vs ��25.3��2.9��%, P < 0.05), MNS (��2.4��0.4��% vs ��3.1��0.3��%, P < 0.05), and sperm DFI (��36.6��3.3��% vs ��30.3��3.1��%, P < 0.05). The total sperm count and the expression of CFTR, however, were not significantly improved in the control group after treatment (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Baihe Yuzi Prescription can increase sperm count and motility, improve sperm morphology and DFI in patients with clinical syndrome-free asthenospermia, which may be related to the up-regulated expression of CFTR in the sperm.