Sperm tablet fertile ground for debate

Feritlity experts have cast doubt on a pill designed by an Australian scientist who claims it doubles pregnancy rates in infertile couples.

Menevit, a supplement containing seven anti-oxidants and minerals, claims to improve the chances of pregnancy for the one in 20 men affected by male infertility.

The pill, available over the counter for $1 a day, was developed by Kelton Tremellen from the University of Adelaide. It is sold through pharmaceutical company Bayer. It contains vitamins C and E, zinc, folic acid, lycopene, garlic oil and selenium.

Dr Tremellen said the pill worked by neutralising the free radicals that help break down sperm DNA, resulting in a greater risk of infertility, miscarriage and birth defects.

One in six couples has trouble conceiving and the man is the sole reason in 30 per cent of cases. Factors such as drinking, smoking and exposure to environmental pollutants can cause free radicals in the body.

In a trial of 60 men with severe infertility, two-thirds were given the tablet daily for three months before trying to conceive through IVF.

Dr Tremellen said those treated with the pill had a "statistically significant improvement in viable pregnancy rate compared to the control group" with 38.5 per cent of transferred embryos resulting in a pregnancy past 13 weeks. In the control group only 16 per cent maintained a pregnancy into the second trimester.

But University of Melbourne fertility expert Hugh Baker and Melbourne IVF scientific director David Edgar have criticised the trial in a letter to the Australian And New Zealand Journal Of Obstetrics And Gynaecology.

"The trial provided no evidence that Menevit treatment improved embryo quality … large multi-centre double-blind placebo trials should be performed to confirm if this agent is beneficial before it is sold to patients," they wrote.

Lachlan Rothwell-Meehn, 40, took Menevit for three months before his wife, Belinda Brandt, 36, underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection, a form of IVF, in an attempt to have a second child.

It took years of IVF to become pregnant with their daughter Winter, but this time Ms Brandt became pregnant on her first cycle. She is due in August.

"We don't know if it was the multivitamin or not but it was something I could do to feel part of the process," Mr Rothwell-Meehn said.

Anne Clark from Fertility First said a trial of 86 patients in her Hurstville clinic showed combining supplements with lifestyle change reduced sperm DNA damage in 80 per cent of men.