Skip to main contentSkip to article
View PDF
Open archive
Objective
To study the GH synergy with hCG in testicular steroidogenesis and seminal insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in oligozoospermia.
Setting
University endocrine unit.
Patients
Eight oligospermic, non-GH-deficient men.
Interventions
Three different protocols spaced 3 months apart were applied in each man: plain hCG protocol: 1,500 IU IM three times every other day; GH + hCG protocol: with the addition of 4 IU SC GH daily 8 days before and throughout the hCG phase; placebo + hCG: substitution of GH by NaCl 0.9%. Blood sampling was performed before and on the 8th day (for 2nd- and 3rd-day protocols) and 24 hours after each hCG administration. Semen was collected three times during each protocol.
Main Outcome Measures
Plasma for P, 17-OHP, androstenedione, DHEA, DHEAS, T, and E2 and plasma and seminal IGF-1 three times during each study.
Results
Serum IGF-1 levels increased more than threefold after GH administration. Seminal IGF-1 activity was unaffected by GH treatment or hCG administration, showing random fluctuations within each subject without correlation to the respective plasma levels. The incremental response of each steroid under hCG did not differ between the three protocols, apart from increased P levels under GH.
Conclusions
Short-term GH cotreatment with hCG did not affect seminal IGF-1 concentration and had a weak synergist effect on steroidogenesis.
Key Words
GH
hCG
serum-seminal IGF-1
steroidogenic response
oligozoospermia
*
Presented at the 15th World Congress on Fertility and Sterility, Montpellier, France, September 17 to 22, 1995.
†
Endocrine Unit of the Department of Pathophysiology.
‡
Reprint requests: Margarita G.L. Anapliotou, M.D., Endocrine Unit, Department of Pathophysiology, Medical School, University of Athens, 75, M. Asias Street, Athens 115 27, Greece (FAX: 30-1-770-3876).
§
Department of Urology.
Copyright © 1996 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.