Alterations in Semen Parameters in Men with Epilepsy Treated with Valproate or Carbamazepine Monotherapy.
Abstract number :
3.132
Submission category :
Year :
2001
Submission ID :
951
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Dec 1, 2001, 06:00 AM
Authors :
L.S. Roste, MD, Department of Neurology, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway; E. Tauboll, MD, Ph.D., Department of Neurology, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway; T.B. Haugen, Ph.D., Department of Gynecology, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway; T. Bjornenak, RN, Department o
RATIONALE: In men with epilepsy, recent studies have indicated drug-specific effects of antiepileptic drugs (AED) on fertility. The mechanisms involved are still unknown. We therefore studied the effect of long-term treatment with carbamazepine (CBZ) or valproate (VPA) monotherapy on semen parameters.
METHODS: Men with epilepsy, 20 to 40 years old, having used either VPA (n=16) or CBZ (n=19) for at least 2 years were included. The semen data of healthy fertile men without epilepsy in the same age group (n=95), were used as controls. The semen was examined according to WHO (1999).
RESULTS: A significant reduction in the percentage of rapidly progressive spermatozoa was found in semen from epilepsy patients (VPA + CBZ) compared to controls. The reduction was 30% (p=0.005) after VPA and 26% (p=0.012) after CBZ treatment. The semen from both patient groups were equally significantly different from the controls regarding head and neck abnormalities. Only samples from the VPA treated group differed from the controls with regard to tail abnormalities (p=0.006).
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with epilepsy treated with either VPA or CBZ have reduced sperm motility and morphology compared to fertile non-epileptic males. The only significant difference between VPA and CBZ treated patients was a higher amount of sperm tail abnormalities in the VPA treated group.