DF Wang, FS Chen, HF Liu, PX Chen, WQ Oian, KQ Lu, MF Fu, YF Chui, W Wang, JS Zheng

Abstract

A group of Chinese school boys aged 10-16 years old were investigated for their emission of spermatozoa in urine "spermaturia" and the urinary excretion of testosterone (T) levels. Nuclear areas and relative DNA contents of spermatozoa in urine were also measured. Results showed that the median age of onset of spermaturia was 13.7 years. Frequency of spermaturia increased with ages between 11-16 years; it also increased with pubertal stages between Tanner stages 3 to 5 (G₃-G₅). 67% of the boys studied showed spermaturia in 6 consecutive days of their urine samples; 10% of those in pubertal stages G₄ and G₅ showed spermaturia 3 to 5 times in 6 days. Levels of urinary T from positive samples were higher than that from the negative ones. Also urinary T was higher in patients in whom spermaturia revealed more than once during the study period. Another group of the teenage school girls (10-15 years old) in our longitudinal survey showed that the menarcheal age was 12.51±0.97 years. Ovulatory cycles of post menarcheal girls were studied by serial urinary progesterone (P) levels determined between two menstrual cycles and covering both the luteal (L) and the follicular (F) phases. Urinary P levels were corrected by creatinine (Cr) concentration. By using the ratio of PL/Cr to PF/Cr > 2 as a criteria for identification of ovulatory cycles according to the data in adult women controls, we found the rates of ovulatory cycles to be 8.1, 11.9, 35.7 and 46.2 % for girls with gynecologic age of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 2.5 years respectively. Ovulation might start as early as gynecologic age of 0.04-0.3 years during the 2nd or the 4th post-menarcheal cycle. We concluded that the non invasive method utilizing multiple urine samples, for assays of spermaturia and hormonal (T,P) measurements could be effectively used in the study of maturation of adolescent reproductive functions.