(183) The Predictive Value of AMH, FSH, and Inhibin B for Sperm Retrieval in Azoospermic Men

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Several studies assessed the sensitivity and specificity of plasma concentrations of hormones such as FSH and AMH as biomarkers that can predict the presence of sperm cells, prior to testicular sperm extraction (TESE) in azoospermic men. However, the literature contains conflicting reports in this context. Objective To evaluate the potential of hormonal profile as a non-invasive predictor of mature sperm cells' presence in the testis of azoospermic men, and to assess if the source of these hormones- testicular or peripheral blood makes any difference. Methods Clinical data, hormonal profile, and histological classification of 57 azoospermic men were analyzed. They were categorized into 4 following groups by their testicular pathologies: obstructive azoospermia, hypospermatogenesis, spermatocyte maturation arrest, and Sertoli cells only. The level of hormones was measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical analyses tested the predictability of hormone values for sperm retrieval. Results Overall, 28 patients (49%) had spermatozoa detected. FSH and Inhibin B measurements were statistically significantly different between the 4 groups with different testicular pathologies (p<0.001). AMH, FSH and Inhibin B were found to be independent predictor for positive sperm retrieval (p<0.05). However, a decision tree with random forest classifying the predictive ability of the variables to indicate the presence of sperm produced low accuracy. There was no significant difference between the hormone levels of peripheral blood source and testicular blood source hormone levels. Conclusions AMH, FSH, and Inhibin B are optional markers for positive sperm retrieval in TESE. Increasing the research group may contribute to their ability to predict the presence of mature sperm cells in the testis of azoospermic men. Disclosure No.