- Author:
Alessandra PETROZZI
1
;
Francesco PALLOTTI
1
;
Marianna PELLONI
1
;
Antonella ANZUINI
2
;
Antonio Francesco RADICIONI
2
;
Andrea LENZI
1
;
Donatella PAOLI
1
;
Francesco LOMBARDO
1
Author Information
- Publication Type:Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
- Keywords: inhibin B; orchiectomy; reference range; testicular cancer
- MeSH: Adult; Gonadotropins/blood*; Humans; Inhibins/blood*; Male; Orchiectomy; Reference Values; Testicular Neoplasms/surgery*; Testosterone/blood*; Young Adult
- From: Asian Journal of Andrology 2019;21(4):332-336
- CountryChina
- Language:English
- Abstract: Inhibin B is a gonadal hormone that downregulates the pituitary production of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). In recent years, inhibin B has proved to be an excellent marker of spermatogenesis and even a predictive factor for the recovery of fertility in patients undergoing orchiectomy and antineoplastic treatments. We propose to study inhibin B levels in orchiectomised testicular cancer patients, in order to identify a minimum value representative of normal semen quality. This retrospective study evaluates hormonal and semen parameters of 290 normozoospermic patients attending the Laboratory of Seminology - Sperm Bank "Loredana Gandini" (Rome, Italy) for cryopreservation of seminal fluid following a diagnosis of testicular cancer (TC group) and 117 healthy, normozoospermic men as a control group (CTR group). The percentile distribution of gonadotropin and inhibin B values in the TC and CTR groups was analyzed. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in the levels of all hormones (P ≤ 0.001) and in all semen parameters (P < 0.05). About 20% of TC patients revealed inhibin B levels below the 5th percentile of CTR group, despite normozoospermia, and 31.4% had normal spermatogenesis in the presence of FSH values >95th percentile of CTR group. Orchiectomised patients for testicular cancer presented inhibin B levels lower than healthy patients, despite normozoospermia. Our study revealed the poor sensitivity of the current inhibin B reference range when applied to monorchidic patients, suggesting the need to establish more representative ranges to enable more appropriate counseling in relation to the patient's new endocrine condition.