Comparative evaluation of the effects of Withania somnifera with pentoxifylline on the sperm parameters in idiopathic male infertility: A triple-blind randomised clinical trial.

In this triple-blind randomised clinical trial, we compared the effects of Withania somnifera and pentoxifylline on the sperm parameters in idiopathic male infertility. One hundred infertile male patients were randomly allocated into either W. somnifera or pentoxifylline groups. Patients in the herbal group received six capsules containing 5 g/daily of W. somnifera root, and subjects in the pentoxifylline group received six capsules containing 800 mg/daily of pentoxifylline and placebo for 90 days. Sperm parameters were analysed at the beginning and end of the study. W. somnifera increased mean sperm count (12.5%) and progressive motility (21.42%) and improved sperm morphology (25.56%) compared to the baseline (p = .04, p = .001 and p = .000 respectively). Moreover, pentoxifylline increased mean semen volume (16.46%), progressive motility (25.97%) and improved sperm morphology (13.28%) versus the baseline (p = .02, p = .003 and p = .01 respectively). Intergroup comparison showed no significant differences between the two groups regarding semen volume (p = .11), sperm count (p = .09), morphology (p = .12) and progressive motility (p = .77) after treatment. No major complication was reported in either of the two groups. W. somnifera, a traditional medicine remedy, improves sperms parameters in idiopathic male infertility without causing adverse effects. Therefore, this medication can be considered to be an alternative to pentoxifylline in this regard.

Features of premature ejaculation in infertile men.

Premature ejaculation (PE) is the most common form of sexual dysfunction and is one of the causes of male factor infertility. The aim of this study was assay of frequency and features of PE in a group of infertile men. This cross-sectional study was carried out since December 2006 to January 2008 on a sequential sample of 300 male patients complaining of infertility referring to the only infertility research center of Tabriz al-Zahra hospital. Data were collected by a designed questionnaire in which there were questions about age, age of marriage, history of sexual transmitted disease, drug use, previous sexual contacts, systemic diseases, masturbation, erectile dysfunction and frequency of intercourse. The mean age of studied patients was 30.39 +/- 5.76 and 43% of patients had PE, that in 74.4% primary PE and in 25.6% secondary PE seen. The most common form of ejaculation latency time was about less than 1 min that was seen in 51.2% of patients with PE. Mean of masturbation times was 5.13 +/- 3.19 times per month, and there is significant relation between the age of patients and type of PE, (p = 0.001) and ejaculation latency time and type of PE (p = 0.035). The high frequency rate of PE in Iranian men with complaint of infertility and also relatively lower age of these patients reflects the necessity of attention and management of this imperative psycho-organic disorder.

Non-obstructive lower urinary tract symptoms versus prostate volume in benign prostatic hyperplasia.

This study was aimed to determine the relation between sonographically measured prostate volume and the severity of non-obstructive Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). This was an analytic-descriptive, cross-sectional and prospective study which was carried out on a sequential sample of 60 male patients since 2006 to 2008. The patients were divided to three groups (prostate volume < 40 cc; 40 cc < or = prostate volume < or = 59 cc; prostate volume > or = 60 cc) based on the ultrasonographic volume of the prostate. The American Urological Association scores of frequency, urgency, nocturia and dysuria were compared between three groups. The mean age and the mean total score of non-obstructive symptoms of BPH of the patients were 71.18 +/- 8.74 and 13.38 +/- 2.96, respectively. According to our findings there was no statistical significant difference between three groups in the scores of frequency (p = 0.369), dysuria (p = 0.85) and nocturia (p = 0.861). A statistically significant difference between three groups was found in urgency score (p = 0.037). Only a significant correlation between urgency and the prostate volume was found (p = 0.024, r = 0.291). According to our findings in this work on relation between the non-obstructive symptoms and prostate volume in BPH patients we found that urgency was the only non-obstructive symptom that may be associated with prostate volume. Prospective studies are required in this regard to elucidate the symptom-related causes of LUTS in the patients with BPH.