Serum inhibin-b in fertile men is strongly correlated with low but not high sperm counts: a coordinated study of 1,797 European and US men.

OBJECTIVE: To describe associations between serum inhibin-b and sperm counts, adjusted for effect of time of blood sampling, in larger cohorts than have been previously reported. DESIGN: Cross-sectional studies of spermatogenesis markers. SETTING: Four European and four US centers. PATIENT(S): Fertile men (1,797) were included and examined from October 1996-February 2005. INTERVENTION(S): The study was observational and therefore without any intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Associations between inhibin-b and semen variables controlled for time of blood sampling and other covariates. RESULT(S): Inhibin-b decreased about 2.00% per hour from 8 am-12 pm and then about 3.25% per hour from 12 pm-4 pm. There was a strong positive association between inhibin-b levels less than 150 pg/mL and both sperm concentration and total sperm count (slopes of the regression lines were ß=0.011 and ß=0.013 for natural logarithm-transformed sperm concentration and total sperm count, respectively). For inhibin-b levels of 150-300 pg/mL the associations were not as steep (ß=0.002), but still significant. For inhibin-b levels more than 300 pg/mL there was little association to the sperm counts. Neither sperm motility nor morphology was significantly related to inhibin-b level in any group. CONCLUSION(S): Serum inhibin-b levels decrease nonlinearly during the daytime, and are positively correlated with sperm counts, but the predictive power is best when inhibin-b is low.

Epidemiologic studies of human semen quality: considerations for study design.

Few empirical data exist on the characteristics of subjects who provide semen specimens in epidemiologic studies. The objective of this investigation was to determine participation rates and potential biases in a contemporary study of human semen quality. Subjects (n = 268) are a subset of the Child Health and Development Studies. Their mothers enrolled between 1960 and 1963 during pregnancy. Archived prenatal serum samples, prenatal and birth records, placental examinations, and follow-up for growth and development through adulthood are available. Sons were aged 36-39 years at the time of this study. Respondents to the initial mailing and nonrespondents, who were subsequently traced and recruited, differed in semen parameters, including sperm concentration (78.3 x 10(6)/ml for respondents vs. 37.2; p = 0.003) and the percentage of normal morphology according to the 1987 criteria of the World Health Organization (58.7% for respondents vs. 53.3%; p = 0.04). The authors conclude that researchers designing population-based studies of semen parameters should expect nonrepresentative samples. Adaptation of the design to anticipate and mitigate bias and to maximize efficiency can yield scientifically sound information. Recommendations for study designs are discussed.