A CORRELATION OF SERUM INHIBIN WITH SPERM COUNT AND SPERM MOTILITY IN FERTILE AND INFERTILE MALES

Inhibin is produced by Sertoli cells of the testis, provides negative feedback on FSH secretion, and may prove to be an important marker for the fun ctioning of seminiferous tubules. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationsh ip between the spermatogenic function of the tests of subfertile men and the plasma concentratio ns of inhibin. The study was carried out on twenty infertile (or subfertile) males and ten age- matched control subjects with proven fertility. Infertile subjects were subdivided into oligospermi c, normospermic and azoospermic on the basis of their sperm count. In infertile subjects mean se rum inhibin concentration (30.4 ± 22.2 pg/ml) was higher as compared to fertile subjects (25.2 ± 8.5 pg/ml), although the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Among the sub groups of infertile subjects mean serum inhibin level in azoospermics, who showed testicular atroph y on biopsy, was 8.2 ± 1.1 pg/ml, which was significantly lower (p 0.001) while mean percentage of immotile sperms was significantly hig her in infertile than fertile subjects (p < 0.001). Sluggishly motile sperms did not show a sig nificant difference between two groups. No significant correlation of serum inhibin with eithe r sperm count or sperm motility was observed in both, fertile as well as infertile subjects. These results indicate that serum inhibin concentration is decreased in case of damage to the seminiferous tubules, however absence of any correlation of serum inhibin with sperm count a nd sperm motility questions its validity in place of traditional parameters used for assessment of male infertility.