Prenatal Factors in Male Reproductive Health

最近发现，宫内生活中的一些因素是几十年后心血管疾病的重要和以前未被怀疑的决定因素。机制尚不清楚，但胎盘在维持胎儿营养和激素分泌方面的功能可能很重要。已经发现了类似的机制影响女性生殖功能和人类的非生殖激素，但迄今为止还没有研究涉及男性生殖健康的潜在影响。该项目旨在寻找影响睾丸和前列腺发育的产前因素。通过这种方法，产前因素可能是决定男性不育易感性的重要因素，这些因素包括精子输出量降低、睾丸睾酮分泌减少导致的雄激素缺乏以及前列腺疾病特别是前列腺增生。在这项研究中，我们将使用我们自己的专业技术，使用高频超声波高度精确地测量前列腺区和睾丸的大小。我们将确定一个出生队列-1970年左右出生在一家医院的一组男性-我们将通过超声波测量前列腺区和睾丸大小，以及与睾丸和前列腺相关的荷尔蒙标志物，以检查根据出生体重看到的任何变化是否源于激素的协调变化。这项研究可能会改变人们考虑男性生殖健康障碍的方式，将重点放在出生前和出生后不久发生的因素上，而不是成年生活中的遗传或环境因素，这些因素是近几十年来研究的压倒性重点。

It has been recently found that some factors during intrauterine life are important and previously unsuspected determinants of cardiovascular disease decades later. The mechanisms are not yet clear but placental function in maintaining fetal nutrition and hormone secretion are likely to be important. Similar mechanisms have been found to affect female reproductive function and non-reproductive hormones in humans but the potential effects involving male reproductive health have not been studied so far. This project aims to search for prenatal factors that affect the development of the testis and prostate. By this means, prenatal factors may be an important in determining susceptibility to male infertility by lowering sperm output, androgen deficiency due to diminished testicular testosterone secretion and prostate disease notably prostatic hyperplasia. In this study we will employ our own specialised techniques for highly accurate measurement of the size of prostate zones and the testis using high frequency ultrasound. We will identify a birth cohort - a group of men born in a single hospital around 1970 - in whom we will measure prostate zones and testis size by ultrasound together with the hormonal markers relevant to the testis and prostate to examine whether any changes seen according to birthweight are due to concordant changes in hormones. This study could change the way in which disorders of male reproductive health are considered by focusing on factors occurring before and shortly after birth rather than on genetic or ambient environmntal factors in adult life which have been the overwhelming focus of research over recent decades.