Asthenozoospermia: possible association with long-term exposure to an anti-epileptic drug of carbamazepine

Int J Urol. 2005 Jan;12(1):113-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1442-2042.2004.00982.x.

Abstract

Little attention has been paid to infertility in men with epilepsy and little information exists about the mechanisms by which anti-epileptic drugs affect spermatogenesis or sperm function. We report a case of a male infertility patient with asthenozoospermia during long-term treatment with anti-epileptic drugs. A 29-year-old man had continued treatment with anti-epileptic drugs under the diagnosis of epilepsy for 13 years. He and his wife had been examined and treated as an infertile couple for 3 years. The patient was found to have no motile sperm with a normal sperm count, while taking a dose of 400 mg/day of carbamazepine. On suspicion of an adverse effect of carbamazepine, he was switched to phenytoin monotherapy. One month after that, sperm motility was vastly improved (65%) and they conceived a child 5 months after that. One must be cautious in extrapolating from a case report, but these findings strongly suggest a direct effect of carbamazepine on spermatic function.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anticonvulsants / adverse effects*
  • Carbamazepine / adverse effects*
  • Epilepsy / drug therapy
  • Humans
  • Infertility, Male / chemically induced*
  • Male
  • Sperm Motility / drug effects*

Substances

  • Anticonvulsants
  • Carbamazepine