[The treatment of oligozoospermia with tamoxifen does not improve sperm quality]

As contradictory results have been obtained previously concerning the usefulness of tamoxifen in treatment of male infertility, we reevaluated its effects on 29 men presenting with idiopathic oligozoospermia. To determine whether a possible increase in sperm concentration might be correlated with an improvement of sperm quality, the hamster ovum penetration (HOP) test and the hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) test were including as additional tests of sperm function. Patients were treated with tamoxifen (20mg/day) for 3 months. After already 4 weeks and continuing until the end of the study, tamoxifen had a significant effect (P less than 0.001) on blood levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), testosterone (T), and estradiol (E2). Prolactin (PRL) concentrations were not altered significantly (P greater than 0.05) after 3 months. There was no significant improvement (P greater than 0.05) of conventional semen parameters (volume, concentration, motility, morphology), and of HOP and HOS test results. Due to this lack of correlation between a rise in hormone levels and improvement of sperm quality, tamoxifen treatment of patients with idiopathic oligozoospermia is of questionable value.