EFFECT OF GROWTH-HORMONE THERAPY IN MEN WITH SEVERE IDIOPATHIC OLIGOZOOSPERMIA

Some studies have suggested that growth hormone (GH) may enhance folli culogenesis in women, and similarly may enhance spermatogenesis in men with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. In this prospective open-control led pilot study, we investigated the effect of daily subcutaneous GH f or 5 months in 12 endocrinologically normal men with severe idiopathic oligozoospermia (< 10 million/ml), All the men had normal karyotype a nd endocrine tests, including a GH response of > 20 000 mU/l to insuli n hypoglycaemia. Nine men with similar sperm counts acted as controls. During treatment, each patient was examined monthly, asked for side e ffects and had glycosylated haemoglobin, glucose and blood counts moni tored. Five semen samples were obtained in the 4 months before treatme nt, two samples per month during treatment and three samples after sto pping treatment. The mean insulinlike growth factor I (IGF-I) was norm al before treatment and 1 month after ending treatment, at 206 and 182 mu g/l, respectively, but increased significantly during treatment to 444 mu g/l (p < 0.0001, ANOVA). The mean (so) sperm counts were 2.6 ( 2.5), 2.5 (3.7) and 2.3 (2.1) million/ml before, during and after GH t reatment, respectively, and did not show any statistically significant differences (ANOVA). We conclude that GH does not increase or decreas e sperm counts in men with severe idiopathic oligozoospermia.