Cryptorchidism: Impact of in Utero Exposure to Xenobiotics With Hormonal Action

March 26, 2026 updated by: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice

Cryptorchidism: Impact of in Utero Exposure to Xenobiotics With Hormonal Action and Multidisciplinary

We studied prospectively the incidence of cryptorchidism in Nice area. We tightly matched each affected child (n=95) with 2 healthy controls (n=188) and assessed risk factors for cryptorchidism focussing on prenatal exposure (cord blood and maternal milk) to endocrine disruptors known to affect testis migration, searching for correlations with cryptorchid status

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Since fetal exposure to anti-androgenic and/or estrogenic compounds is deleterious to animal reproduction, such exposure could be harmful to human fetus as well. Data are scarce on human exposure and the occurrence of cryptorchidism.

DESIGN: From 2002 to 2005, we performed a prospective case-control study to assess the incidence of cryptorchidism and fetal exposure to selected chemicals in newborn boys in Nice area. This study was approved by the ethical board of our institution. Out of 6246 live births at or after 34 weeks of gestational age and born at 2 maternity wards (University hospital of Nice and General Hospital of Grasse), 102 boys were diagnosed with cryptorchidism. After informed parental consent, 95 were included in this study, along with 188 tightly matched controls. Cord blood was collected at birth, as well as maternal milk from nursing mothers. Lifestyle and job questionnaires were filled by parents. Children were re-examined at 3 and 12 months of age to assess possible secondary testis migration, or confirm their control status.

151 cord bloods (67 cryptorchid, 84 controls) and 125 maternal milks (56 for cryptorchid boys and 69 for controls) were collected and screened for xenobiotics, including DDE, PCBs, and dibutylphthalate (and metabolite monobutylphthalate -mBP). We established scores of exposure in colostrum and studied possible relationships between exposure and cryptorchidism. We also measured hormonal status on cord blood including AMH and inhibin concentrations.

RESULTS: The incidence of cryptorchidism was 1.6% at birth, similar in Nice and Grasse, and 0.8% at 3 months of age. Xenobiotic measurements in cord blood and milk showed universal exposure in our population. Median concentrations in maternal milk were higher though not significantly in cryptorchid vs controls: DDE 119.4 vs 80 ng/g of fat, ΣPCB 206.3 vs 166.8 ng/g of fat, mBP 17.3 vs 10.3 ng/g of milk. Cryptorchid boys were more likely to be classified in the most contaminated groups for ΣPCBs (57.1% vs 39.1% p=0.045), DDE (53.6 vs 36.2% p=0.037) and to a lesser degree mBP (58.1 vs 40%, p=0.13). This was also true for the composite score using DDE and ΣPCBs (30.4 vs 21.7%, p=0.05). Last, the odds ratio for cryptorchidism at birth was increased for the highest score of: DDE: 2.03 (p=0.05, 95%CI 0.99-4.17); ΣPCB 2.07 (p=0.046, 95%CI 1.01-4.25); composite score without phthalates 2.41 (p=0.06, 95%CI 0.96-6.1) vs the lowest score of those components.

CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of cryptorchidism at birth of 1.6% is similar to other populations. Our results support an association between fetal exposure to DDE, PCBs and possibly mBP, and the occurrence of cryptorchidism at birth. Higher concentrations in milk could be a marker of higher exposure or for an impaired detoxification pattern in genetically predisposed individuals. Long term follow up of our cohort is planned to screen cryptorchid and control boys for low sperm count, infertility and testis cancer.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

283

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

No older than 1 year (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Women having given birth to a boy at University hospital of Nice or Général hospital of Grasse

Exclusion Criteria:

  • parents who don't signed consent

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: A
cord blood and maternal milk tests
cord blood and maternal milk test

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Neonatal examination for the diagnosis of undescended testis (cryptorchidism)
Time Frame: At birth, 3 and 12 month of age
At birth, 3 and 12 month of age

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Measurement of xenobiotic concentrations in cord blood and maternal milk in cryptorchid and control boys Parental questionnaires: demographic information, lifestyle, job exposure Pregnancy, delivery and neonatal other information
Time Frame: At birth
At birth

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Françoise BRUCKER-DAVIS, Doctor, Department of Endocrinology of University Hospital of Nice

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 2002

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2006

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 29, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 29, 2007

First Posted (Estimated)

November 30, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 31, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 26, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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