Reproductive hormonal profile patterns among male partners of infertile couples at the University of Ilorin teaching hospital

Background: Seminal fluid analysis (SFA) is the most important investigation of the infertile males but limited in revealing the etiologies of the various spermatozoa abnormalities observed on microscopy. Increasing prevalence of male infertility and the challenges of diagnosis require biochemical investigations such as reproductive hormonal profile. Aims: The aim of this study is to determine the reproductive hormonal profile patterns among infertile males in Ilorin. Settings and Design: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods: A total of 130 male partners of infertile couples served as subjects and 50 fertile males as controls. Serum reproductive hormonal assay was done using ELISA method. Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used. Normally distributed data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Results: The mean age of the subjects who were majorly civil servants was 38.6 ± 6.6 years. The prevalence of reproductive endocrinopathies in this study was 46.9%. Mean serum concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and prolactin were elevated in our subjects than control. Mean serum testosterone concentration was significantly lower in our infertile subjects. Patterns of hormonal profile abnormalities among our subjects were 2 (1.5%) with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, 15 (11.5%) with hypergonadotropic hypogonadism, 23 (17.7%) with hypergonadotropic normogonadism, 21 (16.2%) with normogonadotropic hypogonadism, and 69 (53.1%) with normogonadotropic normogonadism. This showed 59 (45.4%) subjects with primary testicular failure/resistance and 2 (1.5%) with secondary testicular failure. Twenty (15.4%) of the subjects had hyperprolactinemia. Conclusions: Reproductive hormonal profiling of male partners of infertile couples is an important adjuvant to SFA, in diagnosis and monitoring responses to treatment.