Impact of Folates in the Care of the Male Infertility (FOLFIV)

Study Description

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Study Description Study Design Arms and Interventions Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Brief Summary:

Unexplained male infertility is increasing, and, nowadays, the investigators only can propose palliative treatment, as In VITRO Fertilization (IVF). The folate metabolism is a key for the maintenance of genome integrity. A dysfunction in this pathway can be responsible of spermatogenesis defects, and further, of infertility. Few assays have shown that folate treatment can improve sperm parameters and fertility, till 30% in some of theses studies. The purpose of the investigators study is to demonstrate the impact of folates treatment on improvement of sperm parameters and on the rate of success of in VITRO fertilization procedures.

Condition or disease	Intervention/treatment	Phase
Male Infertility	Drug: Folic acid; Drug: placebo of folic acid	Phase 3

Detailed Description:

The folate impact in the treatment of male infertility will be reviewed by this large multicentric randomized controlled double-blind study comparing 2 parallel groups of 184 patients. In each group: folic acid 15mg/day versus placebo, orally for at least 3 months (duration of a cycle of spermatogenesis). This assay will evaluate the effectiveness of treatment with folic acid compared to its placebo in infertile men with the outcome of IVF+/-ICSI techniques (pregnancy rate). It will also assess the impact of folate therapy on sperm parameters, and further, the impact on abnormal sperm DNA methylation profiles.

Study Design

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Study Type :	Interventional (Clinical Trial)
Actual Enrollment :	162 participants
Allocation:	Randomized
Intervention Model:	Parallel Assignment
Masking:	Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose:	Treatment
Official Title:	Impact of Folates in the Care of the Male Infertility
Study Start Date :	November 2011
Actual Primary Completion Date :	April 2016
Actual Study Completion Date :	April 2016

Arms and Interventions

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Study Description Study Design Arms and Interventions Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Arm	Intervention/treatment
Experimental: Folic acid; tablets of 5 mg of folic acid	Drug: Folic acid; Taking of folic acid 15 mg per day by hanging oral route during 3 at 4 months
Placebo Comparator: Placebo; Tablets of placebo of folic acid	Drug: placebo of folic acid; Taking of placebo of folic acid by hanging oral route during 3 at 4 months

Outcome Measures

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Study Description Study Design Arms and Interventions Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Primary Outcome Measures :

1. The rates of pregnancy in IVF +/- ICSI and spontaneous pregnancy according to the arm of treatment [ Time Frame: 3 months ]
   Estimate the efficiency of the treatment by folic acid at infertile men on the improvement of improvement of the pregnancy rates in IVF +/- ICSI and spontaneous pregnancy before IVF +/- ICSI

Secondary Outcome Measures :

1. The rate of improvement of the sperm parameters with acid folic treatment [ Time Frame: 3 months ]
   Estimate the efficiency of the treatment by folic acid on the sperm parameters
2. The rate of improvement of the nuclear quality of gametes with acid folic treatment [ Time Frame: 3 months ]
   Estimate the efficiency of the treatment by folic acid on the nuclear quality of gametes
3. The rate of pregnancy of couple with infertile men treated by folic acid according to the methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genotype [ Time Frame: 3 months ]
   Estimate the impact of the methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genotype of the patients on the rates of pregnancy according to the arm of treatment
4. The difference between the methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genotype of the patients on sperm parameters according to the arm of treatment [ Time Frame: 3 months ]
   Estimate the impact of methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genotype of the patients on sperm parameters according to the arm of treatment

Eligibility Criteria

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Study Description Study Design Arms and Interventions Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Ages Eligible for Study:	18 Years to 60 Years (Adult)
Sexes Eligible for Study:	All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:	No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Couple whose man is from 18 to 60 years old
• Couple whose man presents an infertility indicating a care in VITRO fertilization with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF +/- ICSI)
• Couple whose spouse is from 18 to 38 years old
• Couple whose spouse do not present particular factors of infertility
• Couple Taken care in IVF +/- ICSI
• Couple with social insurance
• 2 members of the couple having signed the consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Etiology of not genetic known male infertility : infertility of neoplastic origine, infertility of definitive obstructive origin
• Presence of a factor of feminine infertility : A definitive infertility tubal, Turned out ovarian incapacity (FSH > 9 and/or CFA <= 8)
• Male infertility requiring the appeal to some sperm testicular or in some frozen sperm- Men or women attend of HIV or hepatitis B or C
• Epileptic men
• Men under anti-folic treatment
• Men presenting a big sensibility to the folic acid or to one of the constituents of the drug
• Couple of which one of the partners refuses to participate in the study

Contacts and Locations

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Study Description Study Design Arms and Interventions Outcome Measures Eligibility Criteria Contacts and Locations More Information

Locations

France
Service of gynaecology-obstetrics and medicine of the reproduction, Tenon Hospital - APHP
Paris, France, 75020

Sponsors and Collaborators

Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

Investigators

Principal Investigator:	Emmanuelle MATHIEU - D'ARGENT, MD	TENON Hospital - APHP

More Information

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Publications:

Bentivoglio G, Melica F, Cristoforoni P. Folinic acid in the treatment of human male infertility. Fertil Steril. 1993 Oct;60(4):698-701.

Bezold G, Lange M, Peter RU. Homozygous methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T mutation and male infertility. N Engl J Med. 2001 Apr 12;344(15):1172-3.

Blount BC, Mack MM, Wehr CM, MacGregor JT, Hiatt RA, Wang G, Wickramasinghe SN, Everson RB, Ames BN. Folate deficiency causes uracil misincorporation into human DNA and chromosome breakage: implications for cancer and neuronal damage. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Apr 1;94(7):3290-5.

Boxmeer JC, Smit M, Weber RF, Lindemans J, Romijn JC, Eijkemans MJ, Macklon NS, Steegers-Theunissen RP. Seminal plasma cobalamin significantly correlates with sperm concentration in men undergoing IVF or ICSI procedures. J Androl. 2007 Jul-Aug;28(4):521-7. Epub 2007 Feb 7.

Boxmeer JC, Macklon NS, Lindemans J, Beckers NG, Eijkemans MJ, Laven JS, Steegers EA, Steegers-Theunissen RP. IVF outcomes are associated with biomarkers of the homocysteine pathway in monofollicular fluid. Hum Reprod. 2009 May;24(5):1059-66. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dep009. Epub 2009 Feb 15.

Boxmeer JC, Smit M, Utomo E, Romijn JC, Eijkemans MJ, Lindemans J, Laven JS, Macklon NS, Steegers EA, Steegers-Theunissen RP. Low folate in seminal plasma is associated with increased sperm DNA damage. Fertil Steril. 2009 Aug;92(2):548-56. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.06.010. Epub 2008 Aug 22.

Chen J, Ma J, Stampfer MJ, Palomeque C, Selhub J, Hunter DJ. Linkage disequilibrium between the 677C>T and 1298A>C polymorphisms in human methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene and their contributions to risk of colorectal cancer. Pharmacogenetics. 2002 Jun;12(4):339-42.

Choi SW, Mason JB. Folate and colorectal carcinogenesis: is DNA repair the missing link? Am J Gastroenterol. 1998 Nov;93(11):2013-6.

Doerksen T, Benoit G, Trasler JM. Deoxyribonucleic acid hypomethylation of male germ cells by mitotic and meiotic exposure to 5-azacytidine is associated with altered testicular histology. Endocrinology. 2000 Sep;141(9):3235-44.

Ebisch IM, van Heerde WL, Thomas CM, van der Put N, Wong WY, Steegers-Theunissen RP. C677T methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism interferes with the effects of folic acid and zinc sulfate on sperm concentration. Fertil Steril. 2003 Nov;80(5):1190-4.

Eskenazi B, Kidd SA, Marks AR, Sloter E, Block G, Wyrobek AJ. Antioxidant intake is associated with semen quality in healthy men. Hum Reprod. 2005 Apr;20(4):1006-12. Epub 2005 Jan 21.

Goyette P, Sumner JS, Milos R, Duncan AM, Rosenblatt DS, Matthews RG, Rozen R. Human methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase: isolation of cDNA mapping and mutation identification. Nat Genet. 1994 Aug;7(4):551.

Heijmans BT, Gussekloo J, Kluft C, Droog S, Lagaay AM, Knook DL, Westendorp RG, Slagboom EP. Mortality risk in men is associated with a common mutation in the methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase gene (MTHFR). Eur J Hum Genet. 1999 Feb-Mar;7(2):197-204.

Kelly TL, Li E, Trasler JM. 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine induces alterations in murine spermatogenesis and pregnancy outcome. J Androl. 2003 Nov-Dec;24(6):822-30.

Kelly TL, Neaga OR, Schwahn BC, Rozen R, Trasler JM. Infertility in 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR)-deficient male mice is partially alleviated by lifetime dietary betaine supplementation. Biol Reprod. 2005 Mar;72(3):667-77. Epub 2004 Nov 17.

Kim YI, Pogribny IP, Basnakian AG, Miller JW, Selhub J, James SJ, Mason JB. Folate deficiency in rats induces DNA strand breaks and hypomethylation within the p53 tumor suppressor gene. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Jan;65(1):46-52.

Koury MJ, Horne DW, Brown ZA, Pietenpol JA, Blount BC, Ames BN, Hard R, Koury ST. Apoptosis of late-stage erythroblasts in megaloblastic anemia: association with DNA damage and macrocyte production. Blood. 1997 Jun 15;89(12):4617-23.

Kundu TK, Rao MR. CpG islands in chromatin organization and gene expression. J Biochem. 1999 Feb;125(2):217-22. Review.

Lengauer C, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B. DNA methylation and genetic instability in colorectal cancer cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Mar 18;94(6):2545-50.

Ma J, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci E, Artigas C, Hunter DJ, Fuchs C, Willett WC, Selhub J, Hennekens CH, Rozen R. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism, dietary interactions, and risk of colorectal cancer. Cancer Res. 1997 Mar 15;57(6):1098-102.

Matsushita S, Muramatsu T, Arai H, Matsui T, Higuchi S. The frequency of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase-gene mutation varies with age in the normal population. Am J Hum Genet. 1997 Dec;61(6):1459-60.

Oliva A, Dotta A, Multigner L. Pentoxifylline and antioxidants improve sperm quality in male patients with varicocele. Fertil Steril. 2009 Apr;91(4 Suppl):1536-9. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.09.024. Epub 2008 Nov 5.

Ravel C, Chantot-Bastaraud S, Chalmey C, Barreiro L, Aknin-Seifer I, Pfeffer J, Berthaut I, Mathieu EE, Mandelbaum J, Siffroi JP, McElreavey K, Bashamboo A. Lack of association between genetic polymorphisms in enzymes associated with folate metabolism and unexplained reduced sperm counts. PLoS One. 2009 Aug 6;4(8):e6540. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006540.

Rosenberg N, Murata M, Ikeda Y, Opare-Sem O, Zivelin A, Geffen E, Seligsohn U. The frequent 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism is associated with a common haplotype in whites, Japanese, and Africans. Am J Hum Genet. 2002 Mar;70(3):758-62. Epub 2002 Jan 4.

Rozen R, Fraser FC, Shaw G. Decreased proportion of female newborn infants homozygous for the 677 C-->T mutation in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. Am J Med Genet. 1999 Mar 12;83(2):142-3.

Skjelbred CF, Svendsen M, Haugan V, Eek AK, Clausen KO, Svendsen MV, Hansteen IL. Influence of DNA repair gene polymorphisms of hOGG1, XRCC1, XRCC3, ERCC2 and the folate metabolism gene MTHFR on chromosomal aberration frequencies. Mutat Res. 2006 Dec 1;602(1-2):151-62. Epub 2006 Sep 25. Erratum in: Mutat Res. 2007 Nov 1;624(1-2):133.

Stegmann K, Ziegler A, Ngo ET, Kohlschmidt N, Schröter B, Ermert A, Koch MC. Linkage disequilibrium of MTHFR genotypes 677C/T-1298A/C in the German population and association studies in probands with neural tube defects(NTD). Am J Med Genet. 1999 Nov 5;87(1):23-9.

Szymański W, Kazdepka-Ziemińska A. [Effect of homocysteine concentration in follicular fluid on a degree of oocyte maturity]. Ginekol Pol. 2003 Oct;74(10):1392-6. Polish.

Wong WY, Merkus HM, Thomas CM, Menkveld R, Zielhuis GA, Steegers-Theunissen RP. Effects of folic acid and zinc sulfate on male factor subfertility: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Fertil Steril. 2002 Mar;77(3):491-8.

Responsible Party:	Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT01407432 History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers:	P 100108
First Posted:	August 2, 2011
Last Update Posted:	June 9, 2016
Last Verified:	May 2016

Keywords provided by Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris:

Male infertility; folic acid; in VITRO fertilization; sperm parameters; MTHFR genotype

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Infertility; Infertility, Male; Genital Diseases, Male; Genital Diseases, Female; Folic Acid; Vitamin B Complex	Hematinics; Vitamins; Micronutrients; Growth Substances; Physiological Effects of Drugs