The effectiveness of zinc supplementation in men with isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism
Open accessAbstract
A multicenter, open-label, randomized, controlled superiority trial with 18 months of follow-up was conducted to investigate whether oral zinc supplementation could further promote spermatogenesis in males with isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) receiving sequential purified urinary follicular-stimulating hormone/human chorionic gonadotropin (uFSH/hCG) replacement. Sixty-seven Chinese male IHH patients were recruited from the Departments of Endocrinology in eight tertiary hospitals and randomly allocated into the sequential uFSH/hCG group (Group A, n = 34) or the sequential uFSH plus zinc supplementation group (Group B, n = 33). In Group A, patients received sequential uFSH (75 U, three times a week every other 3 months) and hCG (2000 U, twice a week) treatments. In Group B, patients received oral zinc supplementation (40 mg day-1 ) in addition to the sequential uFSH/hCG treatment given to patients in Group A. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with a sperm concentration ≥1.0 × 106 ml-1 during the 18 months. The comparison of efficacy between Groups A and B was analyzed. Nineteen of 34 (55.9%) patients receiving sequential uFSH/hCG and 20 of 33 (60.6%) patients receiving sequential uFSH/hCG plus zinc supplementation achieved sperm concentrations ≥1.0 × 106 ml-1 by intention to treat analyses. No differences between Group A and Group B were observed as far as the efficacy of inducing spermatogenesis (P = 0.69). We concluded that the sequential uFSH/hCG plus zinc supplementation regimen had a similar efficacy to the sequential uFSH/hCG treatment alone. The additional improvement of 40 mg day-1 oral zinc supplementation on spermatogenesis and masculinization in male IHH patients is very subtle.
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In 67 men with isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism randomized to FSH or FSH plus 40 mg zinc for 18 months, there were no differences in serum testosterone levels between groups.
“Liu et al. randomized 67 men with isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism to receive FSH or FSH plus 40 mg zinc for 18 months (48). They found no differences in serum testosterone levels between groups throughout the study period.”
From Non-testosterone management of male hypogonadism: an examination of the existing literature (2020) · cites this paper as [48]
The Study design and subjects section reports 67 men randomized to two groups, and the Results section reports no statistically significant difference in serum testosterone between them during the 18-month treatment period. However, the Interventions section specifies that both groups received sequential uFSH and hCG, not FSH alone; the zinc group additionally received 40 mg of zinc daily. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredZinc deficiency has been linked to decreased spermatogenesis and testosterone production.
“Zinc deficiency has been linked to decreased spermatogenesis and testosterone production (48).”
From Non-testosterone management of male hypogonadism: an examination of the existing literature (2020) · cites this paper as [48]
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- Authors
- Zhu, D.-L., Li, X.-Y., Liu, Y.-L., Zhang, M.-N., Tong, G.-Y., Sun, S.-Y., Zhu, Y.-H., Cao, Y., Zhang, J., Huang, H., Niu, B., Li, H., Guo, Q.-H., & Gao, Y.
- Affiliations
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Nanfang Hospital (CN)
- Guangxi Medical University (CN)
- Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital (CN)
- First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province (CN)
- Guiyang Medical University (CN)
- Chinese People's Liberation Army (CN)
- Venue
- Asian Journal of Andrology
- Published
- 2017
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 280
- ISSN
- 1008-682X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5427781
- OpenAlex
- W2540937557
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 1.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-sa
- Locations
- Asian Journal of Andrology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- University of Michigan
- Shanghai Ocean University
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Sperm and Testicular Function
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Trace Elements in Health
- Keywords
- zinc supplementation, isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, spermatogenesis, male infertility, sperm concentration, masculinization, male hypogonadism
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Gonadotropins, Chorionic Gonadotropin, Humans, Hypogonadism, Luteinizing Hormone, Male, Middle Aged, Penis, Sperm Count, Sperm Motility, Spermatogenesis, Testis, Testosterone, Trace Elements, Zinc, Treatment Outcome, Dietary Supplements, Young Adult
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