Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (13)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Fujisawa, M.
Right arrow Articles by Kamidono, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Fujisawa, M.
Right arrow Articles by Kamidono, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Human Reproduction, Vol. 16, No. 9, 1945-1949, September 2001
© 2001 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Significance of serum inhibin B concentration for evaluating improvement in spermatogenesis after varicocelectomy

Masato Fujisawa1,, Masaki Dobashi, Takafumi Yamasaki, Masanori Kanzaki, Hiroshi Okada, Soich Arakawa and Sadao Kamidono

Department of Urology, Department of Organs Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan

BACKGROUND: The study aim was to clarify the relationship of serum inhibin B concentrations to recovery of spermatogenic function after varicocelectomy, both as a predictor of improvement in the seminogram and as a means of monitoring hormonal function after surgery. METHODS: Fifty-two varicocele patients, including five with normal sperm concentrations, were studied. Changes in the seminogram, serum hormone concentrations and serum inhibin B were evaluated in the 47 oligozoospermic patients after surgery. Preoperative inhibin B concentrations correlated significantly with serum concentrations of FSH (r = 0.598, P < 0.0001) and testosterone (r = 0.380, P < 0.02). Inhibin B concentrations also correlated significantly with sperm concentration (r = 0.351, P < 0.02) and total testicular volume (r = 0.578, P < 0.0001). No significant correlation was seen between inhibin B and the Johnsen score. Preoperative concentrations of inhibin B were higher in patients who increased their sperm concentration after surgery (responders) than in those without improved concentrations (non-responders). No significant difference was observed between pre- and postoperative inhibin B concentrations in responders or non-responders. However, 15 of 25 (60%) patients with increased inhibin B showed improvement of the seminogram, while only five of 22 (23%) patients with no change or a decrease in inhibin B had any improvement (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative serum inhibin B concentration could not reliably predict a response to varicocelectomy. However, a change in serum inhibin B concentration after varicocelectomy might be helpful to evaluate the improvement of testicular function after varicocelectomy.

Key words: inhibin B/spermatogenesis/sperm count/varicocele testis/varicocelectomy

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan. E-mail: masato{at}med.kobe-u.ac.jp


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.