Treatment of idiopathic and postvaricocelectomy oligozoospermia with oral tamoxifen citrate

Objective To identify a subgroup of men who may benefit from tamoxifen citr ate (a widely prescribed drug for male infertility) among those with normog onadotrophic and hypergonadotrophic oligozoospermia, either idiopathic or a fter varicocelectomy. Patients and methods The study included infertile men with oligozoospermia, 136 referred to our outpatient clinic and 84 infertile after varicocelecto my. All patients received tamoxifen citrate (10 mg twice daily); semen anal ysis and hormone tests were repeated at the end of 3 and 6 months of treatm ent, the values being compared with those before treatment, Results The levels of follicle-stimulating hormone. luteinizing hormone and testosterone increased in all groups receiving tamoxifen citrate, Normogon adotrophic patients had a significant increase in sperm count and concentra tion, while the slight increase detected in the hypergonadotrophic group wa s statistically insignificant. Conclusion In patients with normogonadotrophic oligozoospermia, tamoxifen c itrate may be offered as a practical and economic alternative before using any assisted reproduction techniques, However. double-blind placebo-control led trials are needed to confirm the findings of this preliminary study.