During infancy low levels of follicle-stimulating hormone may result in high rate of germ cell apoptosis.

Abstract Purpose It has been suggested that follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) plays a role in preventing germ cell apoptosis. We aimed to compare apoptotic rate of boys with cryptorchidism having different levels of FSH in order to investigate its role in apoptosis. Methods Hormonal profiles and testicular biopsies from 30 boys with unilateral cryptorchidism (age range: 4-14 months) were included. Based on FSH level, the boys were grouped into three (3 × 10) having high (>97.5percentile), low ( Results Fifty percent (5/10) of the boys with low FSH had an apoptosis index above 90% compared with 15% (3/20) of the boys with normal or high FSH (p=0.04). Caspase-3+ germ cells were most likely to be located on the basement membrane (p Conclusion Our findings lead to trends proposing that FSH may play a role in preventing apoptosis. Type of Study Prognosis Study Level of Evidence III