| Disease | A TOTAL OF 151 MEN FROM BRAZIL, NIGERIA, KENYA, AND CHINA WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS. BOTH GROUPS RECEIVED 15 MG GOSSYPOL/DAY FOR 12 OR 16 WEEKS TO REACH SPERMATOGENSIS SUPPRESSION. SUBJECTS WERE THEN RANDOMIZED TO EITHER 7.5 OR 10 MG/DAY
FOR 40 WEEKS. IN ADDITION, 51 MEN WERE ENROLLED AS A CONTROL GROUP. IN ALL, 81 SUBJECTS ATTAINED SPERMATOGENESIS SUPPRESSION. ONLY ONE MAN DISCONTINUED TREATEMENT BECAUSED OF TIREDNESS. POTASSIUM LEVELS FLUCTUATED WITHIN THE NORMAL RANGE. FSH
INCREASED CONSISTENLY. TESTICULAR VOLUME DECREASED, BUT AFTER DISCONTINUATION, VALUES RETURNED TO LEVELS NOT STATISTICALLY DIFFERENT FROM ADMISSION. OF 19 SUBJECTS ON THE 7.5 MG/DAY DOSE GROUP, 12 RECOVERED SPERM COUNTS>20 MILLION/ML WITHIN
12 MONTHS OF DISCONTINUING GOSSYPOL. IN THE 10 MG/DAY GROUP, SPERM COUNTS RECOVERED IN ONLY 10 OF 24 SUBJECTS. EIGHT OF THE 43 PATIENTS REMAINED AZOOSPERMIC 1 YEAR AFTER STOPPING GOSSYPOL. ALL MEN DIAGNOSED WITH VARICOCELE FAILED TO REVERSE
SPERMATOGENESIS SUPPRESSION. GOSSYPOL BLOOD LEVELS INDICATED THAT SPERM SUPPRESSION OCCURS INDEPENDELY OF CONCENTRATION, WHEREAS SPERMATOGENESIS RECOVERY APPEARS TO BE CONCENTRATION-DEPENDENT. GOSSYPOL MAY BECOME A MEDICAL ALTERNATIVE-TO-
SURGICAL VASECTOMY WHEN THE DELAY IN ONSET OF INFERIILTITY IF ACCEPTABLE. WHEN TAKEN FOR 1 YEAR, GOSSYPOL CAUSES NO REDUCTION IN SEXUAL DESIRE OR FREQUENCY OF INTERCOURSE. THE POSSIBILITY OF REVERSAL, OCCURRING IN 51% OF THE MEN ON THIS REGIMEN
WITHIN 1 YEAR AFTER STOPPING GOSSYPOL, IS AN ADVANTAGE OF THIS COMPOUND AS COMPARED WITH SURGICAL STERILIZATION IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD. |