Increase in seminal transferrin following antiandrogen treatment

Seminal plasma transferrin was determined by radioimmunoassay in normal and infertile men under basal conditions and after manipulations of FSH and testosterone known to stimulate Sertoli cell activity and transferrin secretion in vitro. Normal volunteers were given the antiandrogens cyproterone acetate or flutamide, or a combination of 19-nortestosterone together with medroxyprogesterone. Severely oligozoospermic patients were treated with pulsatile GnRH to decrease elevated FSH levels. No close correlation between seminal transferrin and any of the serum hormones could be detected under basal conditions. However, antiandrogen treatment increased transferrin in seminal plasma, although from the in vitro studies a decrease or no effect would have been expected. No effect on seminal transferrin was detected in the patients receiving GnRH treatment. Since seminal transferring after hormonal treatment did not parallel transferrin secretion by Sertoli cells under hormonal stimulation in vitro, its role as a diagnostic marker for Sertoli cell function remains questionable.