BROMOCRIPTINE TREATMENT OF OLIGOSPERMIA: A DOUBLE BLIND STUDY

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Abstract
A double blind controlled study of bromocriptine treatment of oligospermia was carried out. Out of 51 men who originally volunteered to the study there were 4 who took the drug for 12 wk as requested. All the partners of these men had failed to conceive, and in each case the pretreatment sperm count had been below 40 million/ml on 2 or several occasions. The pretreatment serum prolactin [PRL] concentrations were similar in patients given bromocriptine (N = 20) and placebo (N = 20). There were 3 men in either group whose pretreatment serum PRO concentration was in excess of 30 .mu.g/l, the highest value being 96 .mu.g/l. While bromocriptine effectively decreased the serum PRO concentration, it had no significant effect over placebo on sperm volume, motility and morphology. In the bromocriptine group, sperm count increased to or above 40 million/ml in 5 out of 20 men, while in the placebo group this occurred in 9 out of 20 patients. The plasma testosterone and dihydrotestosterone levels increased slightly during treatment in both groups, but no significant difference was observed between bromocriptine and placebo treated patients. One wife of a bromocriptine-treated man and 2 wives of placebo-treated men became pregnant during treatment. In this study bromocriptine was no more effective than placebo in the treatment of oligospermia.