TABLE 1.
Main andrological parameters across age groups
|
Group 1 n = 34 18–25 years |
Group 2 n = 36 26–35 years |
Group 3 n = 28 36–45 years |
Group 4 n = 39 46–55 years |
Group 5 n = 36 56–65 years |
Group 6 n = 24 >66 years |
Correlation with age | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Testicular volume (>15 cm3) | 43.2 (13.4) | 41.5 (13.8) | 42.3 (15.7) | 39.1 (12.5) | 42.7 (12.9) | 39.6 (13.4) | −0.05 (0.51) |
| Ejaculate volume (≥1.5 ml) | 4.2 (1.7) | 4.6 (2.3) | 3.7 (1.8) | 3.2 (1.5) | 2.9 (1.5) | 2.0 (1.2) | −0.41 (3.86 × 10−9 |
| Sperm concentration (≥15 million/ml) | 39.5 (37.3) | 47.6 (37.8) | 34.5 (30.7) | 53.5 (45.1) | 52.7 (50.1) | 62.9 (43.8) | 0.08 (0.29) |
| Total sperm count (≥39 million) | 142.3 (116.2) | 206.5 (179.5) | 118.7 (86.0) | 165.4 (160.3) | 139.1 (140.5) | 122.3 (120.8) | −0.14 (0.06) |
| Progressive motility (≥32%) | 55.2 (15.1) | 57.9 (12.5) | 47.8 (16.4) | 49.8 (16.2) | 43.4 (18.7) | 35.6 (21.1) | −0.39 (1.68 × 10−8) |
| Normal morphology (≥4%) | 4.9 (1.7) | 4.7 (1.8) | 4.6 (2.0) | 5.2 (2.1) | 4.4 (2.2) | 5.1 (2.1) | 0.01 (0.85) |
| pH (≥7.2) | 8.1 (0.3) | 8.1 (0.3) | 8.3 (0.3) | 8.2 (0.3) | 8.4 (0.5) | 8.2 (0.3) | 0.19 (0.009) |
| Vitality (>58%) | 71.2 (11.5) | 70.5 (11.4) | 66.0 (14.2) | 69.3 (11.4) | 60.6 (15.8) | 59.3 (15.9) | −0.31 (1.99 × 10−5) |
| FSH (2–10 U/l) | 3.0 (1.9) | 3.4 (1.5) | 4.0 (2.0) | 4.1 (2.4) | 5.2 (5.9) | 6.1 (3.0) | 0.36 (2.08 × 10−7) |
| LH (1–7 U/l) | 3.0 (0.9) | 3.2 (1.1) | 3.5 (1.5) | 3.0 (1.1) | 2.8 (1.2) | 4.0 (1.7) | 0.02 (0.81) |
| Total testosterone (>12 nmol/l) | 23.9 (7.3) | 23.8 (6.7) | 21.2 (6.8) | 19.4 (6.2) | 20.8 (6.2) | 24.1 (9.3) | −0.12 (0.09) |
| SHBG (11–71 nmol/l) | 38.2 (12.8) | 36.6 (12.8) | 37.2 (11.9) | 39.7 (13.1) | 47.3 (17.7) | 58.8 (19.3) | 0.32 (3.56 × 10−6) |
| Free testosterone (>250 pmol/l) | 494.4 (128.5) | 501.5 (103.8) | 435.8 (138.7) | 369.0 (111.3) | 361.2 (84.9) | 361.3 (117.4) | −0.47 (6.89 × 10−12) |
| DHT (0.5–2.0 nmol/l) | 0.9 (0.2) | 0.8 (0.2) | 0.8 (0.2) | 0.8 (0.3) | 0.8 (0.3) | 1.0 (0.4) | −0.004 (0.95) |
| Oestradiol (<250 pmol/l) | 89.0 (31.3) | 86.8 (26.9) | 85.6 (34.8) | 78.1 (28.8) | 88.5 (32.2) | 98.1 (33.4746) | 0.01 (0.87) |
| Prolactin (<500 mU/l) | 297.0 (165.0) | 303.0 (204.4) | 225.5 (97.2) | 189.4 (118.2) | 165.3 (92.6) | 199.4 (56.9) | −0.38 (3.43 × 10−8) |
| Prostate‐specific antigen (<4 µg/l) | 0.5 (0.2) | 0.6 (0.3) | 0.7 (0.5) | 0.9 (0.8) | 1.5 (1.3) | 1.9 (1.7) | 0.45 (2.70 × 10−11) |
Normal ranges are indicated for each parameter. Results are shown as mean (SD) for each age group and Spearman's rank correlations with age as ρ (p‐value).