HCG binding and stimulation of testosterone biosynthesis in the human fetal testis

The role of hCG in the regulation of testicular steroid production in human fetuses from 14 to 20 weeks gestational age was studied. Saturable binding of 125I-hCG to testicular homogenates was demonstrated, and physiologic concentrations of hCG were able to stimulate testosterone formation in testicular minces without the addition of exogenous precursors. In five fetses of 16-20 weeks gestational age, the capacity to bind hCG varied from 25.6 to 42.2 pg/mg wet tissue. The association constant of binding was 1.07+/-0.12 X 10(10) M-1. Testicular minces from six other fetuses (gestational age 14-19 weeks) were incubated in the presence of concentrations of 0, 0.5, 5 or 50 ng/ml NIH-hCG (1 mg=10,000 IU), which are within the physiologic range. Preincubation of 30 min in excess buffer was necessary to observe clear differences in testosterone production rates between controls and hCG stimulated testicular tissues. The greatest increase in testosterone production occurred when the hCG concentration was increased from 0.5 to 5 ng/ml. Little additional stimulation was observed at a concentration of 50 ng/ml. Maximal production rates of up to 12 ng/mg tissue/h were seen. It is concluded that human fetal testes bind hCG, and that physiologic levels of hCG stimulate fetal testicular testosterone formation in vitro at this stage of gestation.