Reversible azoospermia: anabolic steroids may profoundly affect human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive men undergoing assisted reproduction.
BACKGROUND
In vitro fertilization (IVF) with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has recently been offered to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-serodiscordant couples where the man is seropositive and the woman seronegative to achieve pregnancy while minimizing the risk of HIV transmission. Anabolic steroids are commonly prescribed medications for adjunctive treatment of HIV disease to prevent muscle wasting.


METHODS
An HIV-serodiscordant couple presented for fertility care and evaluation. The man was found to be azoospermic. Further evaluation attributed his azoospermia to his treatment with testosterone and oxandrolone. After these agents were discontinued, his azoospermia resolved within 3 months. Normal sperm were then cryopreserved for future use, and his medications were resumed. Later the couple conceived by IVF-ICSI using the cryopreserved sperm.


CONCLUSIONS
The popular use of anabolic steroids in HIV-infected men may predispose them to abnormal sperm production.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA.
Joseph E
JE
Peña
Melvin H
MH
Thornton
Mark V
MV
Sauer
D000328:Adult; D045930:Anabolic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018908:Muscle Weakness / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D009845:Oligospermia / Q000139:chemically induced*; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic
D045930:Anabolic Agents