Testicular germ cell loss in children with renal failure.

Delayed puberty, hypergonadotropism, impaired spermatogenesis, decreased libido and infertility have been reported in males with chronic renal failure (CRF). The number of spermatogonia per seminiferous tubule was quantitated in 22 children with renal failure (RF) in this study using anti-neuron-specific enolase to selectively label these cells. Results were compared to those of puberty and age-matched controls and were subjected to statistical analysis. This study showed that: 1) Children and adolescents with RF have a significantly decreased number of spermatogonia per seminiferous tubule, compared to puberty and age-matched controls; 2) Germinal cell counts in infants with RF under 3 months of age compared to control infants do not reach statistical significance but are borderline; 3) Children with RF over 3 months of age have statistically fewer germinal cells than age-matched controls, a difference which appears to increase with age; 4) Not all children with RF have decreased numbers of spermatogonia while some have an absence of these cells; and 5) The number of spermatogonia per tubule is correlated with increasing age but is not correlated with the duration of RF.