抄録
The authors have experienced 22 cases of Klinefelter's syndrome. In all of these 22 cases, the sex chromatin was positive, and the sex chromosome complement was XXY. Gynecomastia was seen only in 4 cases. The testes in all these eases were quite small. The histological findings showed no spermatogenesis, with marked hyalinization of the seminiferous tubules. However, interstitial cells were relatively well preserved. With respect to the values of the hormone determinations, plasma testosterone was markedly decreased in all cases, compared with the levels in normal males. HOG loading or insulin loading tests resulted in scarcely any increase of plasma testosterone. Urinary or plasma gonadotropin gave considerable variation and high values were not always obtained. However, the pituitary reacted to insulin hypoglycemia or LH-releasing hormone. These facts would indicate that the sensitivity of the interstitial cells to gonadotropin and the sensitivity of the seminiferous tubules to androgen in patients with positive chromatin and XXY chromosome complement are essentially different from that of normal males.
