Endocrine Abstracts

Couples in developed countries are increasingly delaying child bearing to later in life. While it is well known that female reproductive functions decrease and genetic risks for the offspring increase beyond the age of 35 and seize completely around the age of 50, the influence of risks of paternal age on fertility and offspring are less well known. Indeed, until recently life long fertility was assumed for the male. However, testicular function slowly declines with age and fe...

When in the 1930s testosterone was isolated, synthesized and introduced to the clinic, it was considered predominantly a sex steroid to be used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction and hypogonadism. In the 1950s the anabolic effect was ‘discovered’ and triggered the misuse of high doses of testosterone in sports, still prevailing today. Consequently, pharmacologic research concentrated its efforts on anabolic steroids, i.e. testosterone analogues hopefully witho...

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is usually perceived as a disorder causing infertility and androgen deficiency and indeed, KS is the most frequent form of hypogonadism with 1 – 2 cases per 1,000 males and with a 47,XXY karyotype, the most frequent male chromosome disorder. Yet the incidence of the syndrome is probably significantly higher than the diagnosed casas suggest. Although subtle symptoms may be already evident in childhood and puberty, androgen deficiency usually only ...

Objective: A reliable form of androgen substitution therapy in terms of favorable kinetics and tolerance as well as effective restoration of androgenicity is paramount in hypogonadal men. A new feasible modality is the intramuscular injection of the long-acting ester testosterone undecanoate (TU).Design: Analysis of safety data accumulated during 101 treatment-years in 66 hypogonadal men receiving altogether 510 injections of 1000 mg TU in 10–14-we...

A reliable form of androgen substitution therapy in terms of favorable kinetics and tolerance as well as effective restoration of androgenicity is paramount in hypogonadal men. A feasible modality is the intramuscular injection of the long-acting ester testosterone undecanoate (TU).We report data from 183 patients (99 with primary, 70 with secondary hypogonadism and 14 with late-onset hypogonadism) aged 15–70 years (mean 37±12 years) receiving ...

Background: The rare 46, XX-male syndrome has to be distinguished from more frequent forms of hypogonadism, especially the Klinefelter syndrome (47, XXY). We report 11 cases of SRY-positive XX-males in comparison to 101 age-matched Klinefelter patients and 78 age-matched normal men in a case-control study.Methods: The comparison included results from the physical examination, endocrinological data, semen analysis, cytogenetic and molecular genetic findin...

Introduction: Several numerical chromosome abberations are known in men. Of those the karyotype XXY (Klinefelter syndrome KS) is the most common chromosomal disorder with a prevalence of about one in 500 live-born males. KS is associated with hypogonadism and is suspected to cause variable physical and cognitive abnormalities. As a supernumerary X chromosome is also associated with infertility, sound animal models for KS are difficult to obtain.Methods: ...

Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCOS) is characterized by a lack of germ cells and thickened seminiferous tubule walls and is a frequent finding among men with non-obstructive azoospermia. Spermatogenesis is dependent upon the function and number of Sertoli cells (SC) to support the developing germ cells. Klinefelter syndrome is the most frequent genetic cause of SCOS and presents histological features in common with idiopathic SCOS. Aim of this study was to analyze the relationsh...

Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a frequent disorder with a variable phenotype and a suspected genetic background. Androgenic effects constitute the central mechanism for the clinical, biochemical and sonographic features of PCOS. Androgenic effects are transported by the androgen receptor, whose activity can be modulated by a genetic polymorphism. We investigated the role of the CAG repeat polymorphism of the androgen receptor in PCOS.P...

Objective: Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) has recently been evaluated as a marker for follicle reserve and as a new marker for ovarian function in women. In the male, it is produced in Sertoli cells (SC) in the testis. We evaluated serum levels of AMH as a marker of SC function and male fertility by comparing normo- and oligozoospermic men.Materials and methods: Serum levels of AMH were determined by enzyme immunoassay in two groups of men with normal...