Comparison of the effectiveness of medications containing a combination of zinc and arginine for treatment of male infertility

Abstract

The study objective is to perform clinical laboratory evaluation of the effectiveness of Prostatilen® AC and Arginine-zinc in treatment of patients with sperm pathology and concomitant varicocele and chronic nonbacterial prostatitis.Materials and methods. The study included 60 patients between 23 and 46 years of age. The first group included 30 patients (15 patients with varicocele and 15 patients with chronic nonbacterial prostatitis) who received Prostatilen® AC. The second group included 30 patients (15 patients with varicocele and 15 patients with chronic nonbacterial prostatitis) who received Arginine-zinc. Therapy duration was 20 days. Standard clinical and laboratory examination, spermiologic examination as well as measurement of antisperm antibodies, DNA fragmentation, oxidative stress level, cryotest, electron microscopy examination of the ejaculate were performed.Results. Five (5) days after the end of therapy, percentage of progressive motile sperm increased by 62 % in the Prostatilen® AC patient group with chronic nonbacterial prostatitis (р <0.001) compared to the baseline, and by only 10 % in the Arginine-zinc patient group. Administration of Prostatilen® AC lead to a more significant decrease of reactive oxygen intermediates in the ejaculate (р <0.001) and percentage of sperm with fragmented DNA (р <0.001) compared to administration of Arginine-zinc. The applied treatment schemes had no significant effect on the number of sperm with acrosomal hypoplasia. An anti-inflammatory effect of Prostatilen® AC was also identified (decreased number of leukocytes in sperm). During the study, 3 cases of adverse effects were registered: 1 after administration of Prostatilen® AC and 2 after administration of Arginine-zinc.Conclusion. Prostatilen® AC can be considered more effective and safer compared to Arginine-zinc for 20-day administration. In patients with sperm pathology, it more effectively improves sperm characteristics: increases sperm motility, sperm morphology, decreases DNA fragmentation and oxidative stress levels.