FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 305:663-667 September 17, 1981 Number 12 Next

	Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

Abstract

We studied the antifertility effects of a potent gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist, D-Trp6-Pro9-N-ethylamide-LHRH (LHRHA) in eight normal men, who received daily subcutaneous injections for six to 10 weeks. Plasma testosterone levels fell substantially in all eight. Plasma 17-hydroxyprogesterone and serum estradiol-17 beta levels decreased concordantly with plasma testosterone. Impotence developed in five men between the sixth and seventh weeks of treatment, with resolution in each case within two weeks of stopping treatment. Serum gonadotropin levels also fell during treatment, briefly rebounding above basal levels when therapy ended. Sperm density and motility fell t a nadir during the seventh to 18th week after therapy. In six subjects sperm levels fell to 6 X 10(6) sperm per milliliter or less, and in the other two they decreased 70 and 86 per cent below basal mean values. Sperm density returned to pretreatment levels in all men during the 10-to-14-week recovery period. These results are consistent with LHRHA-induced pituitary "desensitization" but do not exclude a direct inhibitory effect of LHRHA on testicular steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Davis, T.L., Mussard, M.L., Jimenez-Severiano, H., Enright, W.J., Kinder, J.E. (2003). Chronic Treatment with an Agonist of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Enhances Luteal Function in Cattle. Biol. Reprod. 69: 398-403 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ohmura, M., Ogawa, T., Ono, M., Dezawa, M., Hosaka, M., Kubota, Y., Sawada, H. (2003). Increment of Murine Spermatogonial Cell Number by Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Analogue Is Independent of Stem Cell Factor c-kit Signal. Biol. Reprod. 68: 2304-2313 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Blumenfeld, Z., Avivi, I., Ritter, M., Rowe, J. M. (1999). Preservation of Fertility and Ovarian Function and Minimizing Chemotherapy-Induced Gonadotoxicity in Young Women. Reproductive Sciences 6: 229-239 [Abstract]