The effects of oral administration of prostaglandin E2 on the human ejaculate

A single 1 mg dose of prostaglandin (PG) E2 was given orally to 19 men. Ejaculates were obtained 90 minutes and 24 and 48 hours thereafter. Before treatment, each man delivered another three semen samples with the same time intervals as during the study period. PGE2 was also administered to seven men during naproxen treatment and ejaculates were sampled as above. PGE2 did not influence the 90 minutes' posttreatment ejaculates, but after 24 hours there was a significant (P less than 0.05) decrease in sperm counts as compared to the control samples. The change in sperm count was suggested to be due to an effect of PG on the contractile elements in the deferent duct. Sperm motility, viability, and morphology as well as semen volume and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content remained unchanged. The total semen PGE content was increased 24 hours after treatment from 169 micrograms/ejaculate to 213 micrograms/ejaculate (P = 0.02). In the combined PGE2/naproxen treatment the PGE levels were significantly (P less than 0.05) elevated in the ejaculate 48 hours after treatment. The increase may indicate an increased de novo synthesis of prostaglandins. Based on the results from the analysis of the composition of the 19-hydroxy PGF-isomers with and without naproxen treatment, it is speculated that oral PGE2 influences the cyclo-oxygenase activity.