title: Does L-carnitine therapy add any extra benefit to standard inguinal varicocelectomy in terms of deoxyribonucleic acid damage or sperm quality factor indices: a randomized study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate if addition of L-carnitine therapy to standard varicocelectomy adds any extra benefit in terms of improvement in semen parameters or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred patients enrolled in this study and were randomly divided into 2 groups (50 patients in each group). In group 1, standard inguinal varicocelectomy and, in group 2, standard inguinal varicocelectomy plus oral antioxidant therapy (oral L-carnitine, 250 mg 3 times a day) were performed for 6 months. For all patients, routine semen analysis and DNA damage test of spermatozoa (by 2 methods of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling and protamine damage assay) were performed at baseline and at 3 and 6 months postoperatively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both groups, the improvement in semen analysis parameters and DNA damage was observed, but there was not any statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in these parameters, although the slope of improvement in DNA damage was slightly better in group 2 (that was not statistically significant).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We observed that addition of 750 mg of L-carnitine orally daily to standard inguinal varicocelectomy does not add any extra benefit in terms of improvement in semen analysis parameters or DNA damage.
authors.affiliation: Urology Research Center, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pourmand
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mansooreh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Movahedin
authors.affiliation: Urology Research Center, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Sanaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dehghani
authors.affiliation: Urology Research Center, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Abdolrassul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mehrsai
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Center, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ayat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.affiliation: Urology Research Center, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pourhosein
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Marzieh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoseini
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Marzieh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ziloochi
authors.affiliation: Urology Research Center, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fariba
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Heidari
authors.affiliation: Urology Research Center, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Laleh
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Beladi
authors.affiliation: Urology Research Center, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: m_noori560@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noori
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002331:Carnitine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004249:DNA Damage; D006801:Humans; D007264:Inguinal Canal; D008297:Male; D055101:Semen Analysis; D013521:Urologic Surgical Procedures, Male / Q000379:methods; D014646:Varicocele / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D002331:Carnitine