Reproductive Markers of Testicular Function and Size During Puberty in Boys With and Without a History of Cryptorchidism

ContextLongitudinal data on levels of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis hormones and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) during puberty in boys with a history of cryptorchidism are largely missing.ObjectiveWe aimed to compare pubertal hormone levels between boys with a history of congenital cryptorchidism who experienced spontaneous testicular descent or underwent orchiopexy and boys without a history of cryptorchidism.MethodsThis was a nested case-control study within a population-based birth cohort, with a prospective, longitudinal pubertal follow-up every 6 months (2005 to 2019). Participants were 109 Finnish boys, including boys with a history of unilateral cryptorchidism who underwent orchiopexy (n = 15), unilateral cryptorchidism who had spontaneous testicular descent (n = 15), bilateral cryptorchidism who underwent orchiopexy (n = 9), bilateral cryptorchidism who had spontaneous testicular descent (n = 7), and controls (n = 63). Serum reproductive hormone levels and testicular volumes were measured.ResultsFrom around onset of puberty, boys with bilateral cryptorchidism who underwent orchiopexy had significantly higher follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and lower inhibin B levels than controls. Boys with unilateral cryptorchidism who underwent orchiopexy had significantly higher FSH than controls, whereas inhibin B levels were similar. Testosterone, luteinizing hormone, insulin-like factor 3, and IGF-I were generally similar between groups. Testicular volume of boys with unilateral or bilateral cryptorchidism who underwent orchiopexy was smaller than that of the controls from 1 year after pubertal onset (P ConclusionCryptorchid boys, particularly those with bilateral cryptorchidism who underwent orchiopexy, had altered levels of serum biomarkers of Sertoli cells and germ cells and smaller testicular volumes compared with controls.</p

The Potential of Comparative Law

The contribution summarizes the findings of each chapter collected in the book and contextualizes the results of the book against the ongoing debates about the sources of (global) law and its dynamics, on the one hand, and the views on comparative law in general and on Bussani's scholarship in particular, on the other hand

Human rights protection in international organizations in the era of multi-level governance and legal pluralism

Heupel's chapter explores the emergence of human rights protection provisions in international organizations (IOs). It shows that such provisions can emerge via different pathways, namely hegemonic and judicial lawmaking. It suggests that multi-level governance and legal pluralism have detrimental and beneficial effects for the rule of law, depending on specific scope conditions. States at first exploited the opportunities provided by these phenomena and delegated competences to IOs without attaching effective human rights safeguards. Over time, however, powerful actors, benefitting from established routines and the presence of domestic/international scripts, exploited the access points provided by the multi-level nature of the underlying governance arrangements and their embeddedness in different legal orders and successfully made the World Bank and the European Union to commit to human rights safeguards