J. Tesarik et al., The effect of FSH on male germ cell survival and differentiation in vitro is mimicked by pentoxifylline but not insulin, MOL HUM REP, 6(10), 2000, pp. 877-881
High concentrations of FSH have been shown to boost in-vitro differentiatio
n of germ cells from men with normal spermatogenesis and from some patients
with in-vivo maturation arrest. This study shows that the differentiation-
promoting effect of FSH is connected to protection against germ cell apopto
sis and that both effects can be mimicked by the intracellular cyclic AMP (
cAMP)-elevating drug pentoxifylline. On the other hand, a high concentratio
n of insulin, supposed to act at the insulin-like growth factor I receptor
did not exert any effect either on differentiation or apoptosis of germ cel
ls in vitro. These data show that the in-vitro effects of supraphysiologica
l concentrations of FSH on human spermatogenesis are mediated by the classi
cal FSH signal transduction pathway involving cAMP as a second messenger. P
entoxifylline may thus be useful as an alternative means for intracellular
cAMP elevation in men with high circulating FSH concentrations leading to d
esensitization of the FSH receptor.