Comparison of L-Carnitine vs. Coq10 and Vitamin E for idiopathic male infertility: a randomized controlled trial

L. Ma, Y. Sun

Department of Andrology, Zaozhuang Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Zaozhuang, Shandong Province, China. sunyong0623@163.com

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• Andrology

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at comparing sperm parameters and hormonal levels with L-carnitine vs. CoQ10 and Vitamin E therapy for patients with asthenozoospermia and teratozoospermia.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A single-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) was designed wherein patients were randomly allocated to receive L-carnitine complex nutrient treatment (study group – 15 g/bag, orally one bag at a time, twice a day) or CoQ10 (control group – 10 mg tablet orally, thrice daily) with Vitamin E (100 mg tablet orally, thrice daily) for three months. Outcome variables were sperm concentration, progressive sperm motility, normal sperm morphology, testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone (LH), and prolactin levels.

RESULTS: 143 patients were analyzed (73 in study and 70 in control group). Compared to baseline, sperm count, progressive sperm motility, and morphology improved significantly in the study group, but only progressive sperm motility and morphology improved in the control group. Serum testosterone levels significantly increased both in the study and control groups, while LH increased only in the study but not in the control group. All sperm parameters showed significantly better improvement in the study group, compared to the control group. Testosterone and LH levels were also higher in the study group compared to the control group.

CONCLUSIONS: L-carnitine significantly improves sperm motility, morphology, and concentration, while also improving testosterone and LH levels. Use of CoQ10 and Vitamin E resulted in improvement of only sperm motility, morphology, and testosterone levels. L-carnitine was found to be superior to the combination of CoQ10 and Vitamin E in improving sperm parameters. Further studies examining clinical pregnancy rates are needed to strengthen the evidence.

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