Serum androgen bioactivity in cryptorchid and noncryptorchid boys during the postnatal reproductive hormone surge

Abstract

The first postnatal months of life in boys are characterized by activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis that results in the well depicted surge of reproductive hormones. Serum testosterone levels at that time are high, but infants do not display signs of virilization, and subsequently there is only indirect evidence that circulating androgens during the surge are biologically active. We used a recombinant cell bioassay to determine serum androgen bioactivity in 803-month-old boys born after full-term pregnancies (37-42 wk) in whom localization of the testes was determined by palpation after birth and at a mean age of 3 months. At that age, serum androgen bioactivity ranged from less than 0.8 to 1.9 nM testosterone equivalents and correlated with serum testosterone concentration (r = 0.71; P < 0.0001; n = 34), free androgen index (r = 0.80; P < 0.0001; n = 34), age (r = -0.29;P < 0.01; n = 80), and localization of the testes (r = -0.24; P < 0.05; n = 80). Moreover, all boys in this study with detectable androgen bioactivity (n = 26) had testes located in scrotal or high scrotal position (n = 64), whereas all boys (n = 16) with at least 1 suprascrotal, inguinal, or nonpalpable testis had nonmeasurable androgen bioactivity in serum (P < 0.01). We conclude that 3-month-old boys are exposed to biological effects of androgens during the postnatal activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis, and that this exposure may be reduced in boys with at least I testis located superior to the scrotum.