Abstract | CONTEXT:
Insulin-like factor 3 (INSL3) is a testicular hormone secreted during fetal life, the neonatal period, and after puberty. OBJECTIVE: PATIENTS: METHODS: Serum INSL3 was immunoassayed with a validated RIA. RESULTS: Mean (±SD) INSL3 levels (pg/mL) were 659 ± 279 in controls and lower (60 ± 43; P < .001) in untreated CHH/KS patients, with no overlap between the two groups, when the threshold of 250 pg/mL was used. Basal INSL3 levels were lower in both untreated CHH/KS men with cryptorchidism than in those with intrascrotal testes and in patients with testicular volumes below 4 mL. Significant positive correlations between INSL3 and both serum total T and LH levels were observed in untreated CHH/KS. Mean INSL3 levels remained low in T-treated CHH/KS patients and were significantly higher in men receiving combined hCG-FSH therapy (P < .001), but the increase was lower cryptorchid patients. FSH-hCG combination therapy or hCG monotherapy, contrary to T and FSH monotherapies, significantly increased INSL3 levels in CHH/KS. CONCLUSIONS: INSL3 is as sensitive a marker as T for the evaluation of altered Leydig cell function in CHH/KS patients. INSL3 levels correlate with LH levels in CHH/KS men showing, together with the rise in INSL3 levels during hCG therapy, that INSL3 secretion seems not constitutively secreted during adulthood but is dependence on pituitary LH.
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Authors | Séverine Trabado, Luigi Maione, Hélène Bry-Gauillard, Hélène Affres, Sylvie Salenave, Julie Sarfati, Claire Bouvattier, Brigitte Delemer, Philippe Chanson, Yves Le Bouc, Sylvie Brailly-Tabard, Jacques Young |
Journal | The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism
(J Clin Endocrinol Metab)
Vol. 99
Issue 2
Pg. E268-75
(Feb 2014)
ISSN: 1945-7197 [Electronic] United States |
PMID | 24243640
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Chemical References |
- Chorionic Gonadotropin
- Insulin
- Leydig insulin-like protein
- Proteins
- Testosterone
- Luteinizing Hormone
- Follicle Stimulating Hormone
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Topics |
- Adult
- Chorionic Gonadotropin
(therapeutic use)
- Drug Therapy, Combination
- Follicle Stimulating Hormone
(therapeutic use)
- Hormone Replacement Therapy
- Humans
- Hypogonadism
(blood, congenital, diagnosis, drug therapy)
- Insulin
(blood)
- Kallmann Syndrome
(blood, diagnosis, drug therapy)
- Luteinizing Hormone
(blood)
- Male
- Proteins
- Testosterone
(blood, therapeutic use)
- Treatment Outcome
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