Male diabetes mellitus and assisted reproduction treatment outcome

The long-held view that diabetes has little effect on male reproductive function has been challenged by findings that the condition influences fertility in numerous previously undetected ways. This retrospective chart review of 3000 couples determined the incidence of couples with a male diabetic seeking assisted reproduction treatment and assessed any relationship between male diabetes and IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcome. Eight (2.7%) couples were found with a diabetic male partner, of which 18 couples underwent assisted reproduction treatment (five IVF, 12 ICSI, one both), with fertilization rates (IVF 68%, ICSI 62%) similar to non-diabetic patients (IVF 70%, ICSI 71%) and no difference in embryo quality. Two men had retrograde ejaculation and two were azoospermic. Other than reduced sperm motility, the remaining 14 had normal World Health Organization semen parameters. Embryo transfers produced one pregnancy (5% combined IVF/ICSI pregnancy rate/cycle) giving a lower-than-expected rate (28.8%). The pregnancy rate from seven FETs (29%) was comparable to the expected (21.3%). Compared with non-diabetics, approximately three times more couples with diabetic men sought treatment, with a larger percentage having 'unexplained' infertility. Fertilization rates and embryo quality did not differ but pregnancy rates were lower in couples with a diabetic male.