Damage to testicular function in chronic renal failure of children.

The functional endocrine reserve of testes was studied in 58 boys before and during puberty at different stages of chronic renal failure. Plasma testosterone (T) and dihydro- T were measured before and seven days after stimulation with human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG). The T response to HCG often appeared to be already subnormal in renal failure before puberty had started. A negative correlation was observed in prepubertal boys between serum creatinine and stimulated T levels before the start of dialysis. During puberty the response to HCG was lower in boys on conservative treatment and on haemodialysis than after transplantation.