title: Testosterone concentration in different functional compartments of the male reproductive tract.
abstract: The concentration of testosterone in testicular tissue (TT), spermatic vein blood (SVB), cubital blood (CB), and seminal fluid (SF) was estimated using a radioimmunoassay technique in a total of 50 normospermic, oligozoospermic, and azoospermic men. Testosterone was also determined in cauda epididymis-vas deferens ductus wash fluid (WF) in 6 normospermic men. In 2 oligozoospermic men the testosterone concentration in TT was 556 and 725 ng/g tissue, respectively. In 9 normospermic men the mean SVB testosterone concentration was 473 ng/ml. CB and SF concentrations of this steroid were 6.8 and 0.4 ng/ml in normospermic, 6.4 and 0.5 ng/ml in oligozoospermic, and 4.9 and 0.4 ng/ml in azoospermic men, respectively; the difference among the three groups was not significant. The SVB:CB and SVB:SF ratios in normospermic men were 71 and 1549, respectively, while the CB:SF ratio was 18 in normospermic, 18 in oligozoospermic, and 16.6 in azoospermic men. Testosterone could not be detected in individual specimens of WF, but after pooling of samples a concentration of 0.08 ng/ml WF was estimated. These results demonstrate the relative concentrations of testosterone in the different functional compartments of the reproductive tract in man and facilitate a better understanding of its function.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001132:Arm / Q000098:blood supply; D002452:Cell Count; D004822:Epididymis / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009845:Oligospermia / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D012661:Semen / Q000032:analysis*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000166:cytology; D013737:Testis / Q000032:analysis* / Q000098:blood supply; D013739:Testosterone / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D014649:Vas Deferens / Q000032:analysis; D014680:Veins
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone