The Frequency of Androgen Receptor Deficiency in Infertile Men*

Abstract

To ascertain the frequency of androgen resistance as the cause of male infertility and to determine whether endocrine abnormalities are a universal feature of the disorder, we measured the androgen receptor in fibroblasts cultured from the genital skin of 28 unrelated phenotypically normal men with idiopathic azoospermia or oligospermia. The amounts of androgen receptor were compared with those in genital skin fibroblasts from a variety of other subjects, including 10 men with azoospermia of known cause, 5 normal men, 28 subjects with disorders of androgen formation of metabolism of known cause, and 28 persons with documented disorders of the androgen receptor (testicular feminization and Reifenstein syndrome). The mean androgen receptor Bmax (amount of high affinity binding) was 12 fmol/mg protein or greater in 10 infertile men with azoospermia of known cause and in 6 infertile men with mild oligospermia. In fibroblasts from 1 to 4 individuals with severe oligospermia of unknown cause (less than 1 million/ml) and 8 of 18 subjects with idiopathic azoospermia, the androgen receptor Bmax was less than 12 fmol/mg protein. The mean value in these 9 men was not significantly different from that in subjects with testicular feminization or Reifenstein syndrome. Serum concentrations of testosterone and LH were normal in 6 of these 9 infertile men, and plasma production rates of testosterone were elevated in only 2 of the 6 men studied in whom the Bmax values in genital skin fibroblasts were less than 12 fmol/mg protein. We conclude that androgen resistance may be the cause of a significant fraction (40% or more) or idiopathic male infertility due to azoospermia or severe oligospermia, and that this disorder may not be manifested by a functional defect in the pituitary-testicular axis.

Azoospermia of Dogs with Apoptotic Germ Cells and Leydig Cells

“…There have been a few reports of abnormally high plasma LH and E 2 levels in azoospermic human patients [1,25]. The high plasma LH concentrations in the 4 azoospermic dogs were thought to be induced by a positive feed-back mechanism of the hypophyse-gonadal axis after lowered T secretion of the Leydig cells.…”

Changes in Plasma LH and Testosterone Levels and Semen Quality after a Single Injection of hCG in Two Dogs with Spermatogenic Dysfunction.

“…There have been a few reports on azoospermic men with elevated plasma LH levels [1,12], and the function of There have been a few reports concerning hormone therapy for spermatogenic dysfunction in the dog [5,8]. While there have been cases in which hCG has been used to treat infertility in humans [6,13], there are no reports of it being used to treat infertility in male dogs.…”

No Association of the CAG Repeat Length in Exon 1 of the Androgen Receptor Gene with Idiopathic Infertility in Turkish Men: Implications and Literature Review

“…Therefore, attention was focused on the AR as a possible cause of the impaired spermatogenesis in subjects with idiopathic male infertility. It has long been postulated that defects in the AR gene can lead to partial or complete spermatogenic failure (Aiman et al 1979;Aiman and Griffin 1982) and more recently it has been shown that impaired function of the AR induces abnormalities in androgen action resulting in abnormal conditions such as androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) and infertility (Yong et al 2000).…”