Author:
LUBOSHITZKY RAFAEL,SHEN‐ORR ZILLA,NAVE RACHEL,LAVI SCHAHAR,LAVIE PERETZ
Abstract
ABSTRACTThe role of melatonin in the regulation of reproduction in humans is unknown. We conducted a 6‐month, double‐blind, cross‐over study of a daily treatment dose of 3 mg melatonin or placebo given orally at 1700 hours in 8 healthy men. Semen quality (concentration, motility, and morphology), serum and seminal plasma 17‐β‐estradiol (E2), testosterone, melatonin, and serum gonadotropin levels were determined every 3 months throughout the study. In 6 men, there was no change in semen quality or in serum and seminal plasma hormone levels during the study period. In 2 men, during the melatonin treatment period, sperm concentration decreased to 3 × 106/mL and 12 × 106/mL, and motility declined to 32% and 30%. These coincided with a decline in seminal plasma and serum E2 levels and with an increase in testosterone: E2 ratios. Six months after the cessation of melatonin, sperm concentration and motility were normal in 1 man but remained abnormal in the other one with a still elevated testosterone: E2 ratio. Serum gonadotropin levels were unchanged during the study in all 8 men. Our preliminary observations suggest that long‐term melatonin administration is associated with decreased semen quality in a number of healthy men, probably through the inhibition of aromatase at the testicular level.
Subject
Urology,Endocrinology,Reproductive Medicine,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Cited by
9 articles.
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