Changes in seminal plasma transferrin concentration following administration of clomiphene citrate

This study was designed to investigate the functional changes in Sertoli cells following clomiphene citrate administration to patients with idiopathic infertility. The agent was administered to 44 oligozoospermic patients. Patients with improvement in sperm concentration after treatment (improvement group) showed significantly lower pretreatment follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels in serum. Serum FSH and testosterone levels significantly increased in the improvement group after treatment (both p < 0.05). Seminal transferrin concentration significantly increased in the improvement group after treatment (p < 0.05), although there was no significant difference between pretreatment seminal transferrin concentration in the improvement group and that in patients with no improvement in sperm concentration. Seminal plasma transferrin concentration in patients in whom pretreatment luteinizing hormone level in serum was below 10 mIU/mL, and in those in whom the ratio of post- to pretreatment values was 1.5 or more, tended to increase after treatment. This group also contained a few more patients with improvement in sperm concentration than the other groups. The patients showing low pretreatment FSH levels and a high ratio of post- to pretreatment values demonstrated a significant increase in seminal plasma transferrin concentration after treatment (p < 0.01), and this group contained more patients with improvement than the other groups. It would appear that Sertoli cell stimulation may induce an increase in sperm concentration after clomiphene citrate administration, and the elevated transferrin secretion seems to be associated with the increase of serum FSH level after treatment.