Abstract
Concentrations of testosterone luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle — stimulating hormone (FSH) in serum, and 17-ketosteroids (17-KS) in urine of 10 paraplegic and 10 quadriplegic subjects were measured from the date of onset of the injury and were followed once a week for a period of four months. In paraplegic subjects, serum LH and FSH levels were significantly lower than those of the age-matched, normal controls for a period of two weeks and those of testosterone for six weeks after spinal cord trauma, respectively. Following the above periods of time, serum concentrations of those hormones were not significantly different from those of the controls. By contrast, in quadriplegic subjects serum testosterone concentrations remained significantly lower than those of the controls during the entire four-month testing period. Furthermore, in another group of 10 chronic quadriplegic subjects, serum testosterone and FSH concentrations were comparable to those of the normal controls. Serum LH concentrations were at control levels in chronic paraplegic, but they were significantly depressed in chronic quadriplegic subjects. The concentration of urinary 17-KS exhibited sharp fluctuations over the four-month period and were below control levels in paraplegic but within control limits in quadriplegic subjects. The results indicate that the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is disturbed for at least four months in quadriplegic subjects.
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Naftchi, N.E., Viau, A.T., Sell, G.H., Lowman, E.W. (1982). Pituitary-Testicular Axis Dysfunction in Spinal Cord Injury. In: Naftchi, N.E. (eds) Spinal Cord Injury. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6305-7_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6305-7_19
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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