ObjectiveTo investigate the value of serum inhibin B (InhB) in predicting the results of testicular sperm extraction (TESE) in patients with azoospermia.

METHODSThis study included 191 cases of obstructive azoospermia (OA), 360 cases of nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA), and 100 male controls with normal semen parameters. According to whether sperm was found in TESE, the NOA patients were divided into a sperm-absence group (TESE－, n=127) and a sperm-presence group (TESE+, n=233). Blood samples were collected from the subjects between 8:00 and 10:00 am for measurement of the levels of serum InhB. The specificity and sensitivity of serum InhB predicting TESE outcome were analyzed with receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC).

RESULTSThe serum InhB level was significantly lower in the TESE－ group (［19.7±34.8］ pg/ml) than in the OA (［106.8±66.2］ pg/ml), TESE+ (［98.2±62.4］ pg/ml) and normal control group (［108.3±65.0］ pg/ml) (P<0.01), but there were no statistically significant differences among the latter three groups (P>0.05). Analysis of ROC showed that the best cut-off value of serum InhB was 19.1 pg/ml. Under the cut-off value, AUCROC was 0.88, specificity 84.2%, sensitivity 90.1%, and accuracy 88.1%.

CONCLUSIONSThe serum InhB level is a good and non-invasively obtained index of spermatogenesis and should be measured for predicting the results of TESE.