FSH for the Treatment of Male Infertility

Livio Casarini (1) , Pascale Crépieux (2, 3) , Eric Reiter (2, 3) , Clara Lazzaretti (4) , Elia Paradiso (4) , Vincenzo Rochira (4, 5) , Giulia Brigante (4, 5) , Daniele Santi (4, 5) , Manuela Simoni (4, 2, 5)

1 UNIMORE - Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia = University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
2 PRC - Physiologie de la reproduction et des comportements [Nouzilly]
3 MUSCA - Dynamiques de populations multi-échelles pour des systèmes physiologiques
4 Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences [Modena]
5 Azienda Ospedaleria Universitaria di Modena

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) supports spermatogenesis acting via its receptor (FSHR), which activates trophic effects in gonadal Sertoli cells. These pathways are targeted by hormonal drugs used for clinical treatment of infertile men, mainly belonging to subgroups defined as hypogonadotropic hypogonadism or idiopathic infertility. While, in the first case, fertility may be efficiently restored by specific treatments, such as pulsatile gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) or choriogonadotropin (hCG) alone or in combination with FSH, less is known about the efficacy of FSH in supporting the treatment of male idiopathic infertility. This review focuses on the role of FSH in the clinical approach to male reproduction, addressing the state-of-the-art from the little data available and discussing the pharmacological evidence. New compounds, such as allosteric ligands, dually active, chimeric gonadotropins and immunoglobulins, may represent interesting avenues for future personalized, pharmacological approaches to male infertility.

Mots clés: biosimilars; gonadotropin; testis; male infertility; FSH

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Livio Casarini, Pascale Crépieux, Eric Reiter, Clara Lazzaretti, Elia Paradiso, et al.. FSH for the Treatment of Male Infertility. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2020, 21 (7), pp.2270. ⟨10.3390/ijms21072270⟩. ⟨hal-03020922⟩