April - June 2013, Volume 9, Issue 2

Bensalem A, Zribi N., Mnif E., Sellami A., Chakroun N.F., Ayadi F., Keskes L., Rebai T

Serum Inhibin B And Anti-Mullerian Hormone Assessment in Infertile Men with and Without Non-Obstructive Azoospermia

Acta Endo (Buc) 2013, 9 (2): 181-188
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2013.181

Context. Inhibin B could be a good marker in predicting spermatogenetic activities and in discriminating men with spermatogenesis impairment, especially azoospermia and it would be considered as a current clinical tool in the future. Objective. This study aimed to investigate the clinical value of serum Inhibin B and AMH levels in subfertile men particularly in those with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). We conducted a prospective study to assess the role of inhibin B in the evaluation of male factor infertility. Patients and Methods. Thirty fertile men and three groups of infertile patients (n=91): normozoospermia (n = 40), oligozoospermia (n = 19) and NOA (n = 32), from Faculty of Medicine (Sfax, Tunisia) were investigated. Serum levels were measured by ELISA and by ELFA (FSH). Results. Inhibin B and AMH levels were significantly lower in NOA patients than in normozoospermic ones (72.6±76.8 pg/mL vs. 242.4± 124.7 pg/mL; p<0.001 and 3.7±2.9 ng/mL vs. 5.3±2.3 ng/mL; p<0.001). Only Inhibin B levels were significantly lower in NOA than in oligozoospermic (72.6±76.8 pg/mL vs. 141.3± 81.9 pg/mL;p<0.001) and were negatively correlated with FSH concentrations (r = -0.56, p = 0.001). But both Inhibin B and AMH were positively correlated with sperm count (r = 0.44, p < 0.0001and r = 0.26, p = 0.03 respectively). Conclusions. We conclude that our results support the literature data showing that serum Inhibin B level is strongly correlated with sperm count and suggesting that it could be a good marker in discriminating men with spermatogenesis impairment, especially NOA.

Keywords: Anti-mullerian hormone (AMH), Inhibin B, infertility, non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), spermatogenesis.

Correspondence: Azza Bensalem MD, Faculty of Medicine - Histo-Embryology Anatomy Unit, Rue Majida Boulila, Sfax, 3028, Tunisia, E-mail: bensalem.azza@yahoo.fr