Lansoprazole is a proton-pump inhibitor that is commonly used to treat many gastric illnesses. However, little is known about its effect on sperm function. Here, we investigated the in vitro effect of LP on human sperm motility, viability, nitric oxide (NO) production, and the ability of LP to chelate seminal calcium. Seventy-two semen samples from normozoospermic men were tested in this study. The effects of LP at 0.375, 0.75, 1.5, and 3 μg/mL on sperm motility and viability as well as at 3 μg/mL on NO production and calcium chelation in semen were assessed. Lansoprazole at 3 μg/mL significantly decreased total and progressive sperm motility (P = 0.0021, P = 0.0256, respectively), but not sperm viability (P = 0.8763). In addition, semen samples supplemented with 3 μg/mL LP had insignificant changes (P = 0.9085) in nitrite concentrations. Moreover, LP exhibited a significant (P < 0.0001) calcium chelation effect in semen. In conclusion, LP reduced sperm motility, but not viability. The reduction in sperm motility may be due to the calcium chelating effect of LP and/or decreased Na+/K+-ATPase activity, but not an alteration in NO production. Besides, none of the tested parameters was found to be correlated with male age.

Although lansoprazole (brand name Prevacid) is a commonly used dug to manage various acid-related gastrointestinal diseases, little is known about its effects on human semen quality and sperm parameters. Here, we aimed to investigate the effect of lansoprazole on DNA integrity of human spermatozoa and activity of seminal creatine kinase. DNA integrity of human spermatozoa was assessed by the Apo-Direct™ kit followed by flow cytometry. The activity of creatine kinase was measured by kinetic spectrophotometric method using commercially available kits following the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry recommendations. Lansoprazole at 3 µg/ml, after 1-hr incubation period, did not show any significant increase in fluorescein isothiocyanate fluorescence (p > .05) and hence on the content of DNA breaks of human spermatozoa. In addition, there was no significant change (p = .8113) in the activity of seminal creatine kinase by the effect of lansoprazole. In conclusion, lansoprazole at 3 µg/ml did not alter DNA integrity of human spermatozoa or activity of seminal creatine kinase after 1-hr incubation period. K E Y W O R D Screatine kinase, DNA integrity, human semen, lansoprazole, spermatozoa