Impact of Renal Transplantation on Gonadal Function in Male Uremic Patients—Our Experience B.S. Aulakh, S.K. Singh, S. Khanna, R. Kaura, and S. Goyal T HE AIM of the study was to evaluate the effect of renal transplantation on the testicular function in uremic patients by estimating the semen parameters and hormonal assays. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 20 uremic patients admitted for renal transplant were included in the study. Semen analysis and serum hormonal assays for FSH, LH, and testosterone were performed before and then 3 months after renal transplantation. The patients who had graft dysfunction were excluded from the study. To overcome the inaccuracies due to short half life and the episodic nature of LH secretion and hence that of testosterone, three blood samples were drawn at 15- to 20-minute intervals and an equal volume of serum from each collection pooled for single determination. RESULTS A majority of patients (70%) were between the ages of 26 and 45 years. Six (30%) had oligospermia (sperm count 9.67  3.94), which improved significantly 3 months after trans- plantation (20.50  5.09, P  .05). The grade of motility of the sperm also improved. Pretransplant elevated FSH and LH were observed in 12 and 13 patients respectively which returned to normal values only in 2 and 1 patients, respec- tively, after transplantation. The testosterone, which was low in 14 patients, became normal in 6 of them following transplantation. The overall respective values of serum FSH, LH, and testosterone were 14.58  11.11 mIU/mL, 18.93  14.42 mIU/mL, and 9.35  3.97 nmol/L before transplantation whereas the values were 12.33  6.51 mIU/L, 15.97  10.46 mIU/L, and 10.94  2.34 nmol/L, respectively, after transplantation. The differences, however were not statistically significant. DISCUSSION Uremia is associated with suppressed testicular function. Serum testosterone has been reported to be low, 1 and up to 89% of uremic patients have oligospermia. 2 After renal transplantation, testosterone levels returned to normal in the majority of patients, but FSH and LH levels remained elevated. 2 We observed that spermatogenesis is depressed with chronic renal failure here were both qualitative and quantitative improvements in spermatogenesis after renal transplantation. The serum testosterone levels which were low in 70%, returned to normal in 6 of 14 patients (42.85%). However, FSH and LH levels remained elevated in the majority of men even after renal transplantation. REFERENCES 1. Chopp RT, Mendez R: Fertil Steril 29:661, 1978 2. Kassman K, Arsan A, Sharer K, et al: Ann Pediat 38:405, 1991 From the Departments of Urology and General Surgery, Day- anand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, India (B.S.A., S.K., R.K., S.G.); and the Department of Urology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India (S.K.S.). Address reprint requests to Dr B.S. Aulakh, 53-E, Rishi Nagar, Near Income Tax Colony, Ludhiana 141001, Punjab, India. E-mail: bsaulakh@hotmail.com 0041-1345/03/$–see front matter © 2003 by Elsevier Science Inc. doi:10.1016/S0041-1345(02)03994-5 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010-1710 316 Transplantation Proceedings, 35, 316 (2003)