I am certainly not an expert, but have been reading a bunch of abstracts on medline. It appears that HCG and HMG are both used as fertility treatments. Here are a couple abstracts:
Self-administered subcutaneous human menopausal gonadotrophin for the stimulation of testicular growth and the initiation of spermatogenesis in hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism.
Jones TH, Darne JF.
University of Sheffield, Department of Medicine, UK.
OBJECTIVE: We determined whether or not self-administered subcutaneous human menopausal gonadotrophin (hMG) therapy is safe and effective in the stimulation of testicular growth and initiation of spermatogenesis in men with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism where human chorionic gonadotrophin alone had failed. DESIGN: Human menopausal gonadotrophin was self-administered subcutaneously in two dosage regimens to patients requiring (a) fertility (Group I), 37.5 IU twice daily (total weekly dose 525 IU) (n = 7) and (b) increased testicular size (Group II) 37.5 IU once daily (total weekly dose 265.5 IU) (n = 2). Patients were assessed on a monthly basis. PATIENTS: Nine patients with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism were studied. Six patients had idiopathic isolated hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism, one Kallman's syndrome, one idiopathic isolated hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism secondary to trauma and one with panhypopituitarism secondary to radiotherapy for a hypothalamic pituitary tumour. Five of these patients had a history of unilateral or bilateral cryptorchidism. MEASUREMENTS: Semen analysis and serum testosterone. Testicular size was assessed by use of a Prader orchidometer. RESULTS: Six of seven patients (four with a history of cryptorchidism) requesting fertility attained sperm counts of > 10 million/ml. Three pregnancies have been achieved so far. One failure occurred in a patient with a previous history of cryptorchidism. In Group I patients (a) with an initial testicular volume of 4 ml or less (n = 4), mean size increased from 3.25 +/- 0.9 (SD) ml to 12.2 +/- 3.8 ml, (b) an initial testicular volume of > 4 ml mean size (n = 3) increased from 9.2 +/- 3.9 ml to 10.3 +/- 4 ml. In Group II (n = 2) testis size increased from a mean of 3.0 +/- 1.4 ml to 9.0 +/- 1.4 ml over a 6-months treatment period. CONCLUSION: Self-administered subcutaneous human menopausal gonadotrophin is a safe and effective mode of therapy in increasing testicular size and inducing spermatogenesis in males with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism.
Eur J Endocrinol. 1998 Sep; 139(3): 298-303. Related Articles, Links
Pulsatile GnRH or human chorionic gonadotropin/human menopausal gonadotropin as effective treatment for men with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism: a review of 42 cases.
Buchter D, Behre HM, Kliesch S, Nieschlag E.
Institute of Reproductive Medicine of the University, Munster, Germany.
Stimulatory therapy with either GnRH or gonadotropins is an effective treatment to induce spermatogenesis and achieve paternity in men with secondary hypogonadism. However, there is still uncertainty about the optimal treatment modality and schedule, the duration of treatment necessary and the influence of interfering factors such as maldescended testes. We have extended our previous series of men treated for secondary hypogonadism and now present our therapeutic experience with 42 cases. Twenty-one patients with hypothalamic disorders (11 with idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) and 10 with Kallmann syndrome (KalS)) were treated with GnRH (group Ia) or human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)/human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) (group Ib), and 21 patients with hypopituitarism (group II) were treated with hCG/hMG. A total of 5 7 treatment courses were initiated for induction of spermatogenesis, 36 of these for the purpose of induction of pregnancy in the female partner. Bilateral testicular volumes doubled within 5-12 months of therapy. Spermatogenesis as evidenced by the appearance of sperm in the ejaculate was induced in 54/57 courses. Pregnancies occurred in 26/36 courses. Unilaterally maldescended testes did not preclude patients with IHH or KalS from gaining fertility under therapy and spermatogenesis could be successfully initiated even in some individuals with bilateral maldescended testes. In general there was a tendency for a longer duration of therapy until induction of spermatogenesis in patients with a history of bilateral cryptorchidism. However, this did not reach statistical significance. In patients with IHH or KalS treated with either hCG/hMG or GnRH there were no statistically significant differences in terms of duration to appearance of sperm or pregnancy rates. Even in KalS patients as old as 43 years spermatogenesis could be induced. In repeatedly treated patients stimulation of spermatogenesis tended to be faster while time until induction of pregnancy was significantly shorter in the second treatment course. In conclusion, GnRH or hCG/hMG are effective therapeutic modalities for patients with IHH or KalS. It remains to be determined whether highly purified urinary gonadotropin preparations or recombinant LH and FSH will provide therapeutic advantages.
Changgeng Yi Xue Za Zhi. 1994 Mar; 17(1): 78-84. Related Articles, Links
Successful treatment of male infertility due to hypogonadotropic hypogonadism--report of three cases.
Huang CC, Huang HS.
Dept. of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Exogenous gonadotropins or pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone is now most commonly used to treat male infertility due to hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. We report three cases of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism with variable etiologies and presentations who were successfully treated with exogenous gonadotropins and/or testosterone for their infertility. The diagnosis and clinical presentations of these three patients are summarized as follows. The first patient was a case of Kallmann's syndrome presented with short stature, infantile genitalia and anosmia. The second patient was a case of idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism presented with small genitalia and impotence. The third patient was a case of acquired hypogonadotropic hypogonadism due to pituitary adenoma presented with impotence, cold intolerance and visual field defect. After adequate therapy with human chorionic gonadotropin, human menopausal gonadotropin and/or testosterone, the secondary male characteristics of these three patients improved and the fertility were all restored.
Publication Types:
Case Reports
PMID: 8205503 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
muscle geek said:
My wife and I have decided that this fall we would like to have a baby. I am currently in week two of a twelve week cycle of test and eq. I'm running 1g/wk test E, and 600mg/wk eq. My cycle will be finished 03/16. I will run the proper post cycle therapy and it would seem that I have plenty of time to restore by the fall. I was wondering if there is a supplement/drug regiment that would improve our chances this fall. Thanks for answers.
