ArticleJournal of assisted reproduction and genetics2025
Treatment with isotretinoin can improve de novo sperm production in nonobstructive azoospermia or cryptozoospermia.
Article in Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Could isotretinoin be a new therapeutic frontier for male infertility? A systematic review and meta-analysis.International urology and nephrology · 2026Pooled it
- Micro-TESE in Non-Obstructive Azoospermia: Phenotype-Guided Hormonal Optimization and Testosterone Response-Prognostic Biomarker or Therapeutic Target?Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Spontaneous Pregnancy After Isotretinoin Use in a Man After Unsuccessful Microdissection Testicular Sperm Extraction.Cureus · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeRetinoic acid (RA), a metabolite of vitamin A, is required for mammalian spermatogenesis. Clinically, intratesticular RA concentrations are lower in infertile men. In pilot studies, RA treatment is associated with increased ejaculated sperm counts in men with oligospermia and with de novo ejaculated sperm in nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA). We evaluated whether oral isotretinoin could improve sperm production in men with NOA and cryptozoospermia.
methodsSingle-center, prospective, repeated measures analysis of infertile men with NOA or cryptozoospermia who received isotretinoin (20 mg twice daily) and had metabolic and semen evaluations over 3-9 months. All etiologies of infertility were included, as were subjects with prior sperm retrieval procedures. The primary endpoint was attaining reliable motile ejaculated sperm for IVF-ICSI.
resultsAmong n = 30 consecutive men undergoing isotretinoin treatment, 26 (87%) were azoospermic and 4 (13%) were intermittently cryptozoospermic. Among azoospermic men, 24 (92%) had prior testicular procedures and 6 (23%) had a history of cryptozoospermia. Overall, 11/30 (37%) of patients developed reliable, motile ejaculated sperm counts with treatment. When evaluating biopsy histology, those with maturation arrest patterns had the highest response (6/11 or 54%) to therapy. Side effects included 30 (100%) men with dry skin/chapped lips, 4 (13%) rashes, 14 (47%) irritability, and 5 (17%) with altered cholesterol panels.
conclusionIntratesticular retinoic acid deficiency may underlie some forms of severe male factor infertility. Treatment with isotretinoin increases sperm production in some men with NOA or cryptozoospermia to the point of obviating the need for testicular sperm retrieval procedures.
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