Increased testicular steroid concentrations in patients with idiopathic infertility and normal FSH levels.

In 10 men with idiopathic infertility, the authors evaluate hypophyso-gonadal axis by measuring the intratesticular concentrations of several steroids in relation with the serum hormonal status. The data are compared with those from men (n = 20) after cerebral death (stage IV coma), taken as a control group. There was no difference between the two groups. The histological studies of the testes revealed no significant differences between control and infertile men both in the development of the interstitial tissue and in the spermatogenic score. Conversely, the testicular concentrations of pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone, progesterone, androstenedione, testosterone, and estradiol were higher in infertile men compared to control. Therefore, it is difficult to evoke a specific parameter involved in that peculiar pathology, but the large amounts of endogenous estradiol may account for the impairment of fertility.