Abstract:
Objective: To investigate the possibility of androgen resistance as a cause of male infertility.
Methods: Two hundred and seven infertile males with normal karyotype were assigned to 4 groups according to their sperm count. Group 1 (
n=56): Sperm count was less than 10×10
6/ml, Group 2 (
n=52): Sperm count(10~20)×10
6/ml, Group 3 (
n=48): Sperm count (>20~40)×10
6/ml, and Group 4 (
n=51), Sperm count>40×10
6/ml. Every patient had a meassurement of basic serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone (T), and a calculation of LH×T product (index of androgen resistance, IAR).
Results: The basic levels of LH and T were elevated with the decrease of sperm count. Except that there was no statistical difference of LH concentration between Group 1 and 2, significant differences were shown of LH, Tand IAR among 4 groups (all
P<0.01).
Conclusion: Androgen resistance is one of the important cause for male infertility of oligospermia, particularly severe oligospermia or azoospermia.