Aspirin inhibits androgen response to Human Chorionic Gonadotropin ( Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) )
Aspirin inhibits androgen response to chorionic gonadotropin in man. Conte, Domenico, Francesco Romanelli, Silvia Fillo, Laura Guidetti, Aldo Isidori, Francesco Franceschi, Maurizio Latini, and Luigi Di Luigi. Division of Andrology, Department of Medical Pathophysiology, University _La Sapienza_, Rome, Italy; * Laboratory of Endocrinological Research, University Institute of Motor Sciences, Rome, Italy; and **Department of Orthopedics, Libera Universit[grave]a, Campus Biomedico, Rome, Italy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
APStracts 6:0189E, 1999.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eicosanoids play an important role in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis; less clear is their role in testicular steroidogenesis. To evaluate the involvement of cycloxygenase metabolites, such as prostaglandins, in the regulation of human testicular steroidogenesis, we examined the effects of a prostaglandin-blocker, aspirin, on plasma testosterone, pregnenolone, progesterone, 17OH-progesterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone and 17[beta](estradiol response to hCG in normal male volunteers in a placebo controlled, single blinded study. To test the efficacy of aspirin, seminal prostaglandin E2 levels were also determined. hCG stimulation increased peripheral levels of testosterone, 17OH-progesterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone and 17[beta](estradiol, without affecting circulating pregnenolone and progesterone values. Aspirin significantly lowered seminal prostaglandin E2 levels whereas it did not modify steroid concentrations not exposed to exogenous hCG. Moreover, the drug significantly reduced the response of testosterone, 17OH-progesterone, androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone to hCG, assessed by the mean integrated area under the curve, whereas it did not influence 17[beta](estradiol response. In conclusion, aspirin treatment inhibits androgen response to chorionic gonadotropin stimulation in normal humans. The action of aspirin is probably mediated via an effective arachidonate cycloxygenase block.
