Impact of Short-Acting vs Long-Acting Testosterone Therapy on Intratesticular Testosterone Using Data From Two Open-Label Randomized Clinical Trials of Testosterone Pellets Injections and Intranasal Gel in Hypogonadal Men

摘要

Introduction & Objective: Exogenous testosterone (T) replacement therapy (TRT) is typically long-acting and can potentially cause infertility in a majority of men due to suppression of HPG axis. Intratesticular testosterone is vital for spermatogenesis and can be reliably evaluated with serum 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP). Based on this observation, we hypothesized that we used serum 17-OHP as a serum biomarker for evaluating intratesticular T in men receiving TRT. We hypothesized that long-acting TRT will have a significant impact on suppressing HPG axis as compared to short-acting preparations. We evaluated data from two simultaneous open-label, randomized, two-arm clinical trials amongst different treatment preparations (Trial I) subcutaneous T pellets and (Trial II) Intranasal Testosterone (Natesto) or Intramuscular Testosterone cypionate (TC).