Improvement of semen quality by nocturnal scrotal cooling and moderate behavioural change to reduce genital heat stress in men with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia
- PMID: 11277880
- DOI: 10.1530/rep.0.1210595
Improvement of semen quality by nocturnal scrotal cooling and moderate behavioural change to reduce genital heat stress in men with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia
Abstract
A questionnaire assessing factors that might cause an increase in scrotal temperature was completed by patients with reproducible oligoasthenoteratozoospermia of idiopathic nature or caused by varicocele. Evaluation by means of a grading scale revealed increased scrotal heat stress in oligoasthenoteratozoospermic patients compared with normozoospermic men (P < 0.01). In addition, long-term determination of 24 h scrotal temperature profiles showed that compared with semen donors, oligoasthenoteratozoospermic patients frequently had scrotal temperatures above 35.5 degrees C despite the same environmental temperatures (P < 0.05). In 88% of cases, maximum scrotal temperatures were measured during rest or sleep phases, whereas minimum values were recorded during physical activity or frequent change of position. Nocturnal scrotal cooling by means of an air stream resulted in a decrease in scrotal temperature of approximately 1 degrees C. Furthermore, a highly significant increase in sperm concentration (P < 0.0001) and total sperm output (P < 0.0001) was achieved after nocturnal scrotal cooling for 12 weeks together with a moderate decrease in factors leading to genital heat stress. A significant improvement in sperm motility (P < 0.05) and sperm morphology (P < 0.05) was also observed, but this improvement was markedly less pronounced than the changes in sperm concentration. This study shows the importance of genital heat stress as a cofactor in fertility impairment in men and indicates nocturnal scrotal cooling as a therapeutic option.
Similar articles
-
Improvement of semen quality by nocturnal scrotal cooling in oligozoospermic men with a history of testicular maldescent.Int J Androl. 2005 Apr;28(2):93-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2605.2004.00517.x. Int J Androl. 2005. PMID: 15811070
-
Influence of genital heat stress on semen quality in humans.Andrologia. 2007 Dec;39(6):203-15. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0272.2007.00794.x. Andrologia. 2007. PMID: 18076419 Review.
-
A study of the effect of the FertilMate™ Scrotum Cooling Patch on male fertility. SCOP trial (scrotal cooling patch) - study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.Trials. 2012 Apr 27;13:47. doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-13-47. Trials. 2012. PMID: 22540417 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
-
Varicocele testis and testicular temperature.Br J Urol. 1996 Jul;78(1):113-5. doi: 10.1046/j.1464-410x.1996.05122.x. Br J Urol. 1996. PMID: 8795412
-
Review: Testicular vascular cone development and its association with scrotal thermoregulation, semen quality and sperm production in bulls.Animal. 2018 Jun;12(s1):s133-s141. doi: 10.1017/S1751731118001167. Animal. 2018. PMID: 29882506 Review.
Cited by
-
Evaluation of patient compliance with the use of scrotal cooling devices.F S Rep. 2021 Jun 30;2(3):289-295. doi: 10.1016/j.xfre.2021.06.007. eCollection 2021 Sep. F S Rep. 2021. PMID: 34553153 Free PMC article.
-
Impact of environmental toxin exposure on male fertility potential.Transl Androl Urol. 2020 Dec;9(6):2797-2813. doi: 10.21037/tau-20-685. Transl Androl Urol. 2020. PMID: 33457251 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Proteomic Analysis Reveals that Topoisomerase 2A is Associated with Defective Sperm Head Morphology.Mol Cell Proteomics. 2020 Mar;19(3):444-455. doi: 10.1074/mcp.RA119.001626. Epub 2019 Dec 17. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2020. PMID: 31848259 Free PMC article.
-
Type of underwear worn and markers of testicular function among men attending a fertility center.Hum Reprod. 2018 Sep 1;33(9):1749-1756. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dey259. Hum Reprod. 2018. PMID: 30102388 Free PMC article.
-
Investigating the Glycating Effects of Glucose, Glyoxal and Methylglyoxal on Human Sperm.Sci Rep. 2018 Jun 13;8(1):9002. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-27108-7. Sci Rep. 2018. PMID: 29899461 Free PMC article.
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical