PLASMA TESTOSTERONE IN MALE PUBERTY

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Abstract
Plasma testosterone was determined by radioimmunoassay in 36 prepubertal boys with hypospadia prior to and 3 days after stimulation with 5000 IU of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). As a control group, 30 boys of comparable age, predominantly with unilateral cryptorchidism, were studied. The increase in plasma testosterone levels after hCG was (median and range) 204 (83-393) ng/100 ml in the control group, whereas in the hypospadiac group a median increase of only 90 (33-272) ng/100 ml was found. The difference between the median testosterone levels after hCG stimulation in the 2 groups investigated is statistically highly significant (P < 0.0001). After hCG stimulation, 13 out of the 36 boys with hypospadia did not reach the lowest stimulated testosterone level (87 ng/100 ml) found in the control group. A substantial portion of the etiologically obscure cases of hypospadia are caused by an endocrine testicular insufficiency.