Hormonal Changes in Tamoxifen Treated Men with Idiopathic Oligozoospermia

Abstract

Three months of tamoxifen treatment of 43 men with idiopathic oligozoospermia, out of which 20 completed the study, resulted in a significant enhancement of sperm motility, but the improvement of sperm parameters was in no relation to the FSH response to short time tamoxifen treatment. There was a significant increase of testosterone, estradiol, LH, FSH, SHBG, 17 alpha-hydroxy-progesterone and also of 11 beta-hydroxyandrostenedione, an androgen of exclusively adrenal origin, during the treatment and (with the exception of the latter), on the first week after discontinuation of the therapy. Significantly elevated testosterone and SHBG concentrations were retained still 9 weeks after finishing of the therapy. The results confirm that tamoxifen treatment provides conditions more favourable for conception and demonstrate that also adrenal steroidogenesis is positively influenced by this antiestrogen.

Oral tamoxifen citrate treatment is more effective in normogonadotropic patients who have follicle-stimulating hormone levels within the lower half of normal

“…Tamoxifen citrate inhibits hypothalamic estrogen receptors [4]; thus, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion is stimulated. As a result of this stimulation, gonadotropin levels increase and stimulate Leydig cells [5], which enhance production of 5 alfa-dihydrotestosterone [6] in the seminiferous T. C. Kadioglu (&) Istanbul University, Istanbul School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey e-mail: teoman@kadioglu.org tubules and epididymis [4,[7][8][9]. It is assumed that TC affects the testis by blocking the estrogenic receptors of the Leydig cells and increasing testosterone production by increasing the sensitivity to serum LH [3,8,9].…”

Hormonal Treatment of Male Infertility: Promises and Pitfalls

“…Several studies have explored hormone levels in the treated groups to further understand the possible mechanism of action of these treatments. Most of the studies have reported improvement in serum FSH and testosterone levels (Török, 1985; Lewis‐Jones, 1987; Hampl et al, 1988; Sterzik et al, 1991, 1993; Krause et al, 1992; Kadioglu et al, 1999). One study reported improvement only in testosterone (Krause et al, 1992), whereas another study reported no improvement in either testosterone or FSH levels (Sterzik et al, 1991).…”