Biochemical hormone parameters in seminal and blood plasma samples correlate with histopathologic properties of testicular biopsy in azoospermic patients.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between histopathologic patterns of testicular biopsy and biochemical semen and blood plasma parameters, including neutral a-glucosidase (NAG), fructose, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone, and prolactin (PRL) in patients with azoospermia.


METHODS
A total of 471 azoospermic patients with definitive pathologic diagnosis were enrolled in this study. Six biochemical parameters, including 2 seminal (NAG and fructose) and 4 blood (FSH, LH, testosterone, and PRL) plasma markers, were analyzed.


RESULTS
NAG, fructose, FSH, and LH levels were significantly higher in patients with Sertoli-cell-only (SCO) syndrome and severe hypospermatogenesis than in those with normal spermatogenesis or mild hypospermatogenesis (P <.05). In addition, NAG levels positively correlated with fructose amounts in azoospermic patients (P <.05); a significant correlation between FSH and LH levels was also observed in azoospermic patients. Furthermore, PRL levels were higher in SCO syndrome patients compared with subjects showing normal spermatogenesis and the levels positively correlated with NAG, FSH, and LH amounts. However, testosterone levels in SCO syndrome patients were significantly reduced compared with individuals having normal spermatogenesis.


CONCLUSIONS
The levels of biochemical parameters in seminal (NAG and fructose) and blood (FSH, LH, testosterone, and PRL) plasma samples correlate with the histologic diagnosis in azoospermic patients, providing potential benefits in predicting the pathologic diagnosis of male infertility.
Department of Urology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China.
Bin
B
Lei
Department of Urology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China.
Daojun
D
Lv
Department of Urology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China.
Xuming
X
Zhou
Assisted Reproductive Centre, General Hospital of Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China.
Shoubo
S
Zhang
Department of Urology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China.
Fangpeng
F
Shu
Department of Pathology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China.
Yanqing
Y
Ding
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston Salem, NC.
Yuanyuan
Y
Zhang
Department of Urology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China; Department of Urology, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen PKU-HKUST Medical Center, Shenzhen, P. R. China. Electronic address: mxming2014@163.com.
Xiangming
X
Mao
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D053713:Azoospermia / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D001706:Biopsy; D006728:Hormones / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012661:Semen / Q000737:chemistry*; D013737:Testis / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
D006728:Hormones