Plasma LH and FSH Levels in Subfertile Men

Hunter, W. M.; Edmond, P.; Watson, G. Stennis; McLean, NJ

doi:10.1210/jcem-39-4-740

Cited by 63 publications

(34 citation statements)

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“…Similar findings con cerning the hypergonadotropism of the pituitary were obtained by Lipshultz et al in 1976. With regard to the raised FSH levels the hypergonadotropism of the pitu itary (elevated FSH levels; higher factorial increase in FSH after administration of GnRH) may be explained as a consequence of the disturbed spermiogenesis [Rosen and Weintraub, 1971;De Kretser et al, 1974;Hunter et al, 1974;Lipshultz et al, 1976]. The elevated LH levels in some patients are probably indicative of an impaired Leydig cell function in these bilaterally cryptorchid pa tients.…”

Section: Testicular Volumes and Semen Analysessupporting

confidence: 71%

Late Results after Surgical Treatment of Maldescended Testes with Special Regard to Exocrine and Endocrine Testicular Function

Scheiber¹,

Menardi²,

Margerger³

et al. 1981

Eur Urol

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Section: Testicular Volumes and Semen Analysessupporting

confidence: 71%

Late Results after Surgical Treatment of Maldescended Testes with Special Regard to Exocrine and Endocrine Testicular Function

Scheiber¹,

Menardi²,

Margerger³

et al. 1981

Eur Urol

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“…pa¬ tients with Klinefelter's syndrome and men with azoospermia or maldescended testes. The recipro¬ cal relationship between immunoFSH and sperm count has been established in previous studies (1,9,17,18).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Diagnostic value of bioactive FSH in male infertility

Jockenhövel

Khan

Nieschlag

1989

Acta Endocrinologica

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Bioactive FSH and immunoreactive FSH were determined in 193 infertile men and in 23 men with proven fertility using the Sertoli cell aromatase bioassay for bioactive FSH measurement and a two-site fluoroimmunoassay for immunoreactive FSH measurement. Overall bioactive and immunoreactive FSH levels correlated well (r = 0.74, p < 0.001) but were significantly different from fertile men (bioactive FSH: 6.2 \ m=+-\ 0.3 U/l; immunoreactive FSH: 4.1 \ m=+-\ 0.4 U/l) in patients with Klinefelter's syndrome (24.1 \ m=+-\ 6.1; 26.9 \ m=+-\ 3.0), non-obstructive azoospermia (25.1 \ m=+-\ 4.3; 22.2 \ m=+-\ 4.0), maldescended testes (12.5 \ m=+-\ 4.6; 14.6 \ m=+-\1.6), and patients with severe oligozoospermia (11.9 \ m=+-\1.2; 11.2 \ m=+-\1.0). Infertile men with moderate oligozoospermia (8.9 \m=+-\1.5; 8.0 \m=+-\1.1) and normal sperm counts (9.6 \ m=+-\1.1; 7.6 \ m=+-\ 1.0) had insignificantly elevated bioactive FSH and immunoreactive FSH levels. Bioactive to immunoreactive FSH ratios were significantly reduced in all patient groups except for patients with normal sperm counts when compared with fertile men. A considerable number of patients exhibited elevated immunoreactive FSH concomitant with normal bioactive FSH levels. We conclude that 1. determination of immunoreactive FSH suffices for classification of patients; 2. bioactive to immunoreactive FSH ratios are reduced in infertile men; 3. some men might secrete immunoreactive FSH with reduced bioactivity. Elevated serum FSH levels in infertile men are re¬ garded as an indication of primary testicular failure resulting in insufficient negative testicular feedback. Such failure is due to irreversible de¬ struction of the germinal epithelium (1). The cor¬ rect determination of serum FSH is, therefore, of prime importance for differential diagnosis and assignment to treatment protocols (1,2). However, determination of FSH by RIA (immunoFSH) does not always reflect the biologically active hormone (bioFSH) (3, 4). Differences between bioFSH and immunoFSH are found in various endocrine situ¬ ations. These are a consequence of variations in the glycosylation of FSH isoforms or are due either to the secretion of an immunoreactive but biologi¬ cally inactive abnormal form of the hormone or to the hypersécrétion of isolated subunits with no bioactivity (5, 6). Therefore the determination of bioFSH in infertile men would be of greater im¬ portance than immunoFSH. This, however, has not been possible because suitable assay proce¬ dures for the determination of bioactive FSH in serum were not available.Recently two in vitro bioassays based upon the FSH-dependent aromatase activity of either rat granulosa cells (7) or immature rat Sertoli cells (8) were validated for human serum FSH. The two as¬ says yielded different results when applied to measure FSH in serum from women during nor¬ mal menstrual cycles (8). Using the granulosa cell aromatase bioassay, Wang et al. (9) reported a de¬ crease in the ratios of bioFSH to immunoFSH (B/I) in infertile men.In the present study we have evalu...

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“…The results are surprising since it was anticipated that the increased FSH levels would be inversely correlated with serum inhibin if inhibin is the substance involved in the specific negative feedback control of FSH (McCullagh, 1932;Franchimont et al 1972;de Kretser et al 1972). The patients investigated were representative as a group of men with testicular disorders contributing to infertility since, as seen in other studies, the patterns of progressively rising FSH and LH and lower testosterone levels are associated with increasing testicular damage as shown by decreasing testis volume and sperm count (Franchimont et al 1972;de Kretser et al 1972;Hunter, Edmond, Watson & McLean, 1974). The present data also do not confirm the observation that, in a series of 19 men with severe seminiferous tubule damage resulting from chemotherapy, those men with elevated inhibin levels have significantly higher FSH levels (Tsatsoulis, Shalet, Robertson et al 1988).…”

Section: Combined Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is evidence for Leydig cell dysfunction in men with severe testicular damage as evidenced by a greater proportion of men who show increased LH and low testosterone levels (de Kretser et al 1972;Hunter et al 1974). Furthermore these men show an impaired testosterone response to human chorionic gonadotrophin stimulation (de Kretser, Burger, Hudson & Keogh, 1975).…”

Section: Combined Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serum inhibin levels in normal men and men with testicular disorders

Kretser

McLachlan

Robertson

et al. 1989

Journal of Endocrinology

113

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Serum concentrations of inhibin, FSH and LH were measured in 39 normal men and 127 men with testicular disorders resulting in infertility. The infertile men were divided into groups on the basis of their mean sperm count, FSH levels and karyotype. The mean (+/- S.D) serum concentrations of inhibin in the normal men was 554 +/- 156 U/l and did not differ significantly from those groups with oligospermia, azoospermia or Klinefelter's syndrome. Combined analyses of all groups did not reveal any significant correlation between serum concentrations of inhibin and FSH or with any other parameter measured. Serum concentrations of FSH and LH were positively correlated, and Leydig cell dysfunction, as evidenced by increased serum LH levels, low testosterone levels or a declining testosterone/LH ratio were found with severe spermatogenic damage. The failure of serum concentrations of inhibin to correlate with those of FSH levels or the degree of testicular damage raise questions as to the clinical value of this parameter alone.

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Plasma LH and FSH Levels in Subfertile Men

Cited by 63 publications

References 0 publications

Late Results after Surgical Treatment of Maldescended Testes with Special Regard to Exocrine and Endocrine Testicular Function

Late Results after Surgical Treatment of Maldescended Testes with Special Regard to Exocrine and Endocrine Testicular Function

Diagnostic value of bioactive FSH in male infertility

Serum inhibin levels in normal men and men with testicular disorders

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