Plasma LH and FSH Levels in Subfertile Men

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Abstract
Plasma FSH and LH have been measured in the male partners of 285 consecutive couples reporting because of infertility. None of the patients showed any chromosomal disorder. Twenty men were azoospermic: their FSH levels showed a distinctly bimodal distribution, 13 being above the 95% C.L. found for the 103 “normal” patients, i.e., those from men in the same series whose sperm count was >60 × 106/cc, while the remainder were low-normal. LH levels of the azoospermic patients were slightly raised. There was a highly significant correlation (R −0.44, slope −0.16, p < 0.00001) between log. plasma FSH and log. sperm count for the 265 patients of the combined oligospennic and normospermic groups. Log. plasma LH versus log. sperm count also showed a significant correlation (R −0.26, slope −0.072 p < 0.00001). These correlations were not increased when other factors, ejaculate volume, morphology, maturity or the presence of cytoplasmic droplets were included as additional indices of sperm viability. Testicular biopsies were performed on 10 azoospermic and 44 oligospennic patients and in both groups there was a strong association between the more profound histological defects and both low sperm counts and high plasma FSH levels.

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