Serum inhibin-b in fertile men is strongly correlated with low but not high sperm counts: a coordinated study of 1,797 European and US men

TY - JOUR

T1 - Serum inhibin-b in fertile men is strongly correlated with low but not high sperm counts: a coordinated study of 1,797 European and US men

AU - Jørgensen, Niels

AU - Liu, Fan

AU - Andersson, Anna-Maria

AU - Vierula, Matti

AU - Irvine, D Stewart

AU - Auger, Jacques

AU - Brazil, Charlene K

AU - Drobnis, Erma Z

AU - Jensen, Tina K

AU - Jouannet, Pierre

AU - Overstreet, James W

AU - Redmon, J Bruce

AU - Sparks, Amy

AU - Toppari, Jorma

AU - Wang, Christina

AU - Skakkebæk, Niels E

AU - Swan, Shanna H

N1 - Copyright © 2010 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PY - 2010/11/1

Y1 - 2010/11/1

N2 - Objective: To describe associations between serum inhibin-b and sperm counts, adjusted for effect of time of blood sampling, in larger cohorts than have been previously reported. Design: Cross-sectional studies of spermatogenesis markers. Setting: Four European and four US centers. Patient(s): Fertile men (1,797) were included and examined from October 1996-February 2005. Intervention(s): The study was observational and therefore without any intervention. Main Outcome Measure(s): Associations between inhibin-b and semen variables controlled for time of blood sampling and other covariates. Result(s): Inhibin-b decreased about 2.00% per hour from 8 am-12 pm and then about 3.25% per hour from 12 pm-4 pm. There was a strong positive association between inhibin-b levels less than 150 pg/mL and both sperm concentration and total sperm count (slopes of the regression lines were β = 0.011 and β = 0.013 for natural logarithm-transformed sperm concentration and total sperm count, respectively). For inhibin-b levels of 150-300 pg/mL the associations were not as steep (β = 0.002), but still significant. For inhibin-b levels more than 300 pg/mL there was little association to the sperm counts. Neither sperm motility nor morphology was significantly related to inhibin-b level in any group. Conclusion(s): Serum inhibin-b levels decrease nonlinearly during the daytime, and are positively correlated with sperm counts, but the predictive power is best when inhibin-b is low.

AB - Objective: To describe associations between serum inhibin-b and sperm counts, adjusted for effect of time of blood sampling, in larger cohorts than have been previously reported. Design: Cross-sectional studies of spermatogenesis markers. Setting: Four European and four US centers. Patient(s): Fertile men (1,797) were included and examined from October 1996-February 2005. Intervention(s): The study was observational and therefore without any intervention. Main Outcome Measure(s): Associations between inhibin-b and semen variables controlled for time of blood sampling and other covariates. Result(s): Inhibin-b decreased about 2.00% per hour from 8 am-12 pm and then about 3.25% per hour from 12 pm-4 pm. There was a strong positive association between inhibin-b levels less than 150 pg/mL and both sperm concentration and total sperm count (slopes of the regression lines were β = 0.011 and β = 0.013 for natural logarithm-transformed sperm concentration and total sperm count, respectively). For inhibin-b levels of 150-300 pg/mL the associations were not as steep (β = 0.002), but still significant. For inhibin-b levels more than 300 pg/mL there was little association to the sperm counts. Neither sperm motility nor morphology was significantly related to inhibin-b level in any group. Conclusion(s): Serum inhibin-b levels decrease nonlinearly during the daytime, and are positively correlated with sperm counts, but the predictive power is best when inhibin-b is low.

U2 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.12.051

DO - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.12.051

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1546-2501

VL - 94

SP - 2128

EP - 2134

JO - Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause

JF - Sexuality, Reproduction and Menopause

IS - 6

ER -