AUTHOR=Arato Iva , Grande Giuseppe , Barrachina Ferran , Bellucci Catia , Lilli Cinzia , Jodar Meritxell , Aglietti Maria Chiara , Mancini Francesca , Vincenzoni Federica , Pontecorvi Alfredo , Calafiore Riccardo , Oliva Rafael , Luca Giovanni , Mancuso Francesca , Milardi Domenico TITLE=“In vitro” Effect of Different Follicle—Stimulating Hormone Preparations on Sertoli Cells: Toward a Personalized Treatment for Male Infertility JOURNAL=Frontiers in Endocrinology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2020.00401 DOI=10.3389/fendo.2020.00401 ISSN=1664-2392 ABSTRACT=

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), a major regulator of spermatogenesis, has a crucial function in the development and function of the testis and it is extensively given as a fertility treatment to stimulate spermatogenesis. We analyzed the effects of different FSH preparations (α-follitropin, β-follitropin, and urofollitropin) in combination with testosterone on porcine pre-pubertal Sertoli cells. To study the effect of the different FSH treatments in the Sertoli cell function we performed Real Time PCR analysis of AMH, inhibin B, and FSH-r, an ELISA assay for AMH and inhibin B, and a high-throughput comparative proteomic analysis. We verified that all three preparations induced a reduction of AMH in terms of mRNA and secreted proteins, and an increase of inhibin B in terms of mRNA in all the FSH formulations, while solely α-follitropin produced an increase of secreted inhibin B in the culture medium. Comparative proteomic analysis of the three FSH preparations identified 46 proteins, 11 up-regulated and 2 down-regulated. Surprisingly, the combination of testosterone with β-follitropin specifically induced an up-regulation of eight specific secreted proteins. Our study, showing that the three different FSH preparations induce different effects, could offer the opportunity to shed light inside new applications to a personalized reproductive medicine.