Acupuncture can treat unexplained male infertility

A randomised controlled trial that evaluated the ultramorphologic sperm features of idiopathic infertile men after acupuncture therapy.

A total of 40 men with idiopathic oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia, or teratozoospermia took part.

Twenty eight of the patients received acupuncture twice a week over a period of 5 weeks.

The samples from the treatment group were randomised with semen samples from the 12 men in the untreated control group and evaluated by transmission electron microscopy. The data showed a significant increase after acupuncture in the percentage and number of sperm without ultrastructural defects.

However, specific sperm pathologies in the form of apoptosis, immaturity, and necrosis showed no statistically significant changes between the control and treatment groups before and after treatment.

The researchers concluded that idiopathic male infertility could benefit from acupuncture treatment, and result in a general improvement of sperm quality, specifically in the ultrastructural integrity of spermatozoa.

Reference

Pei, et al. (2005) Quantitative evaluation of spermatozoa ultrastructure after acupuncture treatment for idiopathic male infertility. Fertility and Sterility; 84: 141-7.