DrugLib.com — Drug Information Portal

Rx drug information, pharmaceutical research, clinical trials, news, and more



Dose-dependent increase in intratesticular testosterone by very low-dose human chorionic gonadotropin in normal men with experimental gonadotropin deficiency.

Author(s): Roth MY, Page ST, Lin K, Anawalt BD, Matsumoto AM, Snyder CN, Marck BT, Bremner WJ, Amory JK

Affiliation(s): Department of Medicine, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 357138, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA. mylang@u.washington.edu

Publication date & source: 2010-08, J Clin Endocrinol Metab., 95(8):3806-13. Epub 2010 May 19.

Publication type: Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: In men with infertility secondary to gonadotropin deficiency, treatment with relatively high dosages of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) stimulates intratesticular testosterone (IT-T) biosynthesis and spermatogenesis. Previously we found that lower dosages of hCG stimulated IT-T to normal. However, the minimal dose of hCG needed to stimulate IT-T and the dose-response relationship between very low doses of hCG and IT-T and serum testosterone in normal men is unknown. DESIGN, SETTING, PATIENTS, AND INTERVENTION: We induced experimental gonadotropin deficiency in 37 normal men with the GnRH antagonist acyline and randomized them to receive one of four low doses of hCG: 0, 15, 60, or 125 IU sc every other day or 7.5 g daily testosterone gel for 10 d. Testicular fluid was obtained by percutaneous aspiration for steroid measurements at baseline and after 10 d of treatment and correlated with contemporaneous serum hormone measurements. RESULTS: Median (25th, 75th percentile) baseline IT-T was 2508 nmol/liter (1753, 3502 nmol/liter). IT-T concentrations increased in a dose-dependent manner with very low-dosage hCG administration from 77 nmol/liter (40, 122 nmol/liter) to 923 nmol/liter (894, 1017 nmol/liter) in the 0- and 125-IU groups, respectively (P<0.001). Moreover, serum hCG was significantly correlated with both IT-T and serum testosterone (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Doses of hCG far lower than those used clinically increase IT-T concentrations in a dose-dependent manner in normal men with experimental gonadotropin deficiency. Assessment of IT-T provides a valuable tool to investigate the hormonal regulation of spermatogenesis in man.

Page last updated: 2010-10-05

-- advertisement -- The American Red Cross
 
Home | About Us | Contact Us | Site usage policy | Privacy policy

All Rights reserved - Copyright DrugLib.com, 2006-2017