title: Testicular responses to hCG stimulation at varying doses in men with spinal cord injury.
abstract: METHODS
  Prospective.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To test whether provocative stimulation of the testes identifies men with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI), a population in which serum testosterone concentrations are often depressed, possibly due to gonadal dysfunction. To accomplish this objective, conventional and lower than the conventional doses of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) were administered.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty men with chronic SCI (duration of injury >1 year; 18 and 65 years old; 16 eugonadal (>12.1 nmol l-1) and 14 hypogonadal (⩽12.1 nmol l-1)) or able-bodied (AB) men (11 eugonadal and 27 hypogonadal) were recruited for the study. Stimulation tests were performed to quantify testicular responses to the intramuscular administration of hCG at three dose concentrations (ithat is, 400, 2000 and 4000 IU). The hCG was administered on two consecutive days, and blood was collected for serum testosterone in the early morning prior to each of the two injections; subjects returned on day 3 for a final blood sample collection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average gonadal response in the SCI and AB groups to each dose of hCG was not significantly different in the hypogonadal or eugonadal subjects, with the mean serum testosterone concentrations in all groups demonstrating an adequate response.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This work confirmed the absence of primary testicular dysfunction without additional benefit demonstrated of provocative stimulation of the testes with lower than conventional doses of hCG. Our findings support prior work that suggested a secondary testicular dysfunction that occurs in a majority of those with SCI and depressed serum testosterone concentrations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research &Development Service National Center for the Medical Consequences of Spinal Cord Injury, James J Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.|Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.|Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Bauman
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research &Development Service National Center for the Medical Consequences of Spinal Cord Injury, James J Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.|Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.|School of Health and Medical Sciences, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: La Fountaine
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research &Development Service National Center for the Medical Consequences of Spinal Cord Injury, James J Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Cirnigliaro
authors.affiliation: Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, West Orange, NJ, USA.|Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kirshblum
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research &Development Service National Center for the Medical Consequences of Spinal Cord Injury, James J Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.|Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.|Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Spungen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D007006:Hypogonadism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D013737:Testis / Q000187:drug effects*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D013739:Testosterone