Secretion of Testosterone and Its 4 Precursor Steroids into Spermatic Vein Blood in Men with Varicocele-Associated Infertility1
Stephen J. Winters,
Jun Takahashi2 and
Philip Troen
Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Stephen J. Winters, M.D., Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Montefiore N-919, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213. E-mail: winters{at}med1.dept-med.pitt.edu
Insight into the mechanisms by which steroid hormones are releasedfrom
the testes was sought by examining the concentrations of
progesterone,17-hydroxyprogesterone, and
androstenedione as well as testosteronein spermatic vein blood every
15 min for 4 h in men with varicocele-associatedinfertility.
Coincident discrete secretory episodes of all foursteroids were found,
and spermatic vein concentrations of testosteronewere highly
positively correlated to the concentrations of
progesterone(r = 0.79), 17-hydroxyprogesterone
(r = 0.81), and androstenedione(r = 0.82), respectively. The
sum of the four measured steroidsper mL plasma was calculated, and
testosterone was found toaccount for 70%, 17-hydroxyprogesterone
for 24%, androstenedionefor 5%, and progesterone for
1% of the total. In a previousstudy of the intratesticular steroids
in a separate populationof men with varicocele-associated infertility,
the sum of thesefour steroids per g tissue was similarly calculated.
Testosteroneaccounted for 70% of the four measured steroids,
17-hydroxyprogesteronefor 22%, androstenedione for 4%, and
progesterone for 3% ofthe total. Thus, the relative
concentrations of these four steroidsare nearly identical in
testicular tissue and spermatic veinplasma. From these data we
hypothesize that steroids in thetesticular interstitium are cosecreted
into peripheral plasmain response to stimulation by LH and propose
that the mechanisminitiating this pulsatile mode of secretion of
testosteroneand its precursor steroids may not be coupled to
testosteronebiosynthesis.
This article has been cited by other articles:
J. D. Veldhuis and A. Iranmanesh Pulsatile Intravenous Infusion of Recombinant Human Luteinizing Hormone under Acute Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Receptor Blockade Reconstitutes Testosterone Secretion in Young Men
J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab.,
September 1, 2004;
89(9):
4474 - 4479.
[Abstract][Full Text][PDF]
4 Precursor Steroids into Spermatic Vein Blood in Men with Varicocele-Associated Infertility
-hydroxyprogesterone, and
androstenedione as well as testosterone in spermatic vein blood every
15 min for 4 h in men with varicocele-associated infertility.
Coincident discrete secretory episodes of all four steroids were found,
and spermatic vein concentrations of testosterone were highly
positively correlated to the concentrations of
progesterone (r = 0.79), 17
