Comparison of the effect of a combination of eight micronutrients versus a standard mono preparation on sperm parameters

Table 1 Semen parameters before and after 3 months according to each treatment group

	Mono treatment n = 156				Combined treatment n = 143
	Basal	3 months	Absolute change^a	Relative change (%) ^b	Basal	3 months	Absolute change^a	Relative change (%) ^b
Sperm volume (ml)	3.0 ± 1.2	3.5 ± 1.5^*	0.5 ± 1.6	35.2 ± 75.3	2.9 ± 1.2	3.6 ± 1.4^*	0.7 ± 1.4	41.5 ± 74.3
Sperm density (mio/ml)	28.5 ± 19.0	34.2 ± 21.7^*	5.7 ± 21.3	63.7 ± 158.0	24.9 ± 16.2	32.8 ± 20.0^*	7.9 ± 23.5	157.7 ± 400.4^**
Overall progressive motility (%)	35.7 ± 15.8	44.9 ± 19.9^*	9.2 ± 18.6	44.0 ± 90.3	33.4 ± 14.6	48.6 ± 17.6^*	15.2 ± 17.9^**	80.3 ± 142.5^**
fast progressive motility (%)	16.7 ± 10.6	23.0 ± 14.0^*	6.3 ± 16.0	87.4 ± 184.0	10.3 ± 9.4^**	20.4 ± 13.1^*	10.1 ± 15.0^**	259.3 ± 389.1^**
slow progressive motility (%)	19.2 ± 12.7	22.2 ± 13.1^*	2.9 ± 12.8	125.9 ± 384.9	23.1 ± 12.9^**	28.3 ± 12.2^{, *}	5.1 ± 12.7	102.9 ± 261.5
Normal morphology (%)	17.9 ± 14.0	27.5 ± 16.1^*	9.6 ± 17.8	230.3 ± 668.1	26.2 ± 15.6^**	35.9 ± 16.1^{, *}	9.7 ± 19.4	307.1 ± 1,012.2

Data are presented as mean ± standard deviations
^* p value < 0.001 as compared to basal as determined with the paired Student’s T test
^** p value < 0.05 as compared to mono treatment as determined with the non paired Student’s T test
^a Absolute change for each variable and case was calculated subtracting third month value minus basal one
^b relative change is the percent expression of each calculated absolute value

ISSN: 1477-7827