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Testosterone undecanoate in the functional compartments of the male reproductive tract

Undécanoate de testostérone dans l’appareil reproducteur de l’homme

Basic and Clinical Andrology volume 19, pages 197–202 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Assessment of testosterone undecanoate’s (TU) presence in the functional compartments of the male reproductive tract has never been performed despite the evidence that its documented beneficial effect in male infertility might be mediated through an epididymal action and this study was set to examine this possibility.

Materials and methods

In 18 normozoospermic volunteers TU has been administered (40 mg t.i.d.) for 6 days with serum measurements of TU, total testosterone (T), DHT, E2, SHBG, FSH, LH, and PRL before and at the end of medication. Steroid hormones (T, E2, and TU) were also assayed in seminal plasma. In a selected group of 7 men with previously diagnosed non-obstructive azoospermia TU, T, and E2 were assayed in the extracts of testicular biopsy material taken before ICSI and at the end of the same medication.

Results

A marked rise of serum DHT (average 148%, P < 0.001) has been found after treatment, whereas T, E2, FSH, LH, SHBG, and PRL did not significantly change. Measurable amounts of TU were found in the serum of all men but only in 6 cases in seminal plasma (11.1 ± 8.0 ng/mL) and all of them in semen delivered 7–8 h after the last TU capsule was taken. In dilution fluid from testicular tissue extracts, no detectable amounts of TU were found whereas mean values of 92.5 ± 54.3 pg/mL and 43.8 ± 16.3 ng/mL for E2 and T were observed. Positive correlations among TU and E2, T or DHT concentrations were found in serum samples (P < 0.01, 0.02, and 0.002) as well as between E2 and T (P < 0.01), E2 and DHT (P < 0.001), or T and DHT (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

It is concluded that TU was identified and measured for the first time in seminal plasma of a fair percentage (33%) of men on this medication and was associated in all men with a marked rise of DHT concentration, a known epididymal function promoter, in the absence of an effect on pituitary and gonadal activity. On this evidence, it appears that a beneficial effect of TU on epididymal function may be a distinct possibility.

Résumé

L’évaluation de la présence d’undécanoate de testostérone (TU) dans les compartiments fonctionnels de l’appareil reproducteur masculin n’a jamais été réalisée malgré le fait que son effet bénéfique documenté dans l’infertilité masculine pourrait être médié par une action épididymaire; cette étude avait comme but d’examiner cette possibilité.

Chez 18 volontaires normozoospermiques, du TU a été administré (40 mg 3x/j) pendant 6 jours avec des dosages sériques de TU, testostérone totale (T), DHT, E2, SHBG, FSH, LH et PRL avant et à la fin du traitement. Les hormones stéroïdes (T, E2, TU) ont également été mesurées dans le plasma séminal. Dans un groupe de 7 hommes ayant une azoospermie non obstructive préalablement diagnostiquée, les concentrations de TU, T et E2 ont été mesurées dans des fragments de tissu de la biopsie testiculaire effectuée avant ICSI et à la fin du même traitement.

Une augmentation marquée des taux sériques de DHT (moyenne de 148 %, P < 0,001) a été retrouvée après le traitement alors que T, E2, FSH, LH, PRL SHBG n’ont pas sensiblement changé. Des quantités mesurables de TU ont été retrouvées dans le sérum de tous les hommes, mais pour six cas seulement dans le plasma séminal (11.1 ± 8.0 ng/mL) et pour l’ensemble d’entre eux, dans le sperme recueilli 7–8 heures après la prise de la dernière gélule de TU. Dans le liquide de dilution des fragments de tissu testiculaire, ont été retrouvées des quantités non détectables de TU, tandis que les valeurs moyennes pour les concentrations de E2 et T ont été évaluées à 92.5 ± 54.3 pg/mL et 43.8 ± 16.3 ng/mL. Des corrélations positives entre les concentrations de TU et E2, T ou DHT ont été retrouvées dans les échantillons de sérum (P < 0.01, 0.02 et 0.002), ainsi que entre E2 et T (P < 0.01) ou E2 et DHT (P < 0.001) ou T et DHT (P < 0.001).

Il est conclu que du TU a été identifié et mesuré pour la première fois dans le plasma séminal d’un pourcentage considérable (33 %) des hommes prenant ce traitement et sa présence a été associée pour tous les hommes à une hausse marquée de la concentration de DHT, un promoteur de la fonction épididymaire, en l’absence d’un effet sur l’activité de l’hypophyse et des gonades. Sur cette base, apparaît légitime de retenir un possible effet bénéfique du TU sur la fonction épididymaire.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Elena Venizelou Hospital, 2E Venizelou Square, Athens, GR-11521, Greece

    E. Koukkou, G. Mitios, N. Kapolla, A. Pappa, S. Nicopoulou & D. A. Adamopoulos

  2. Department of Urology, Navy Hospital, Athens, GR-11521, Greece

    E. Spiropoulos & M. Bourounis

  3. NV Organon, 5340 BH, Oss, The Netherlands

    H. Lass

Authors
  1. E. Koukkou
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  2. G. Mitios
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  3. N. Kapolla
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  4. E. Spiropoulos
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  5. H. Lass
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  6. M. Bourounis
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  7. A. Pappa
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  8. S. Nicopoulou
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  9. D. A. Adamopoulos
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Correspondence to E. Koukkou.

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Open Access This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Koukkou, E., Mitios, G., Kapolla, N. et al. Testosterone undecanoate in the functional compartments of the male reproductive tract. Basic Clin. Androl. 19, 197–202 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12610-009-0035-x

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Basic and Clinical Andrology

ISSN: 2051-4190