This issue of HORMONES is dedicated to the Symposium \u201cEndocrine Aspects in Andrology\u201d that took place in Heraklion, Crete, Greece, on 13-15 March, 2015. An educational activity organized by the Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, it was held under the auspices of the European Academy of Andrology, the Hellenic Society of Andrology, the Hellenic Endocrine Society and the scientific Journal HORMONES.<\/p>\n
The symposium was aimed at stimulating interaction between experts in Andrology, Endocrinology and Urology, at advancing scientific knowledge and at providing up-to-date information to young scientists in the field of hormonal regulation of and action on the male reproductive system, as well as their impact on disease.<\/p>\n
Participants from all around Europe who attended the symposium had the unique opportunity to engage in scientific edification and discourse with some of the world\u2019s leading experts in the field of Andrology and Endocrinology. All acknowledged that it was an exceptional event with a very high quality of lectures and free interaction between the speakers and the audience that resulted in a truly outstanding Andrology experience.<\/p>\n
This issue enables the readers of HORMONES to review 11 of the most important lectures of the symposium. The first four are dedicated to the Physiology of the male reproductive system. The \u201cShort evolutionary history of FSH-stimulated spermatogenesis\u201d examines the gonadotropin dependence of spermatogenesis in several model species, focusing on the shift during evolution from FSH to LH dominance.The next two articles deal with basic (\u201cThe Sertoli cell as the orchestra conductor of spermatogenesis\u201d) and clinical (\u201cThe Sertoli cell: A novel clinical potential\u201d) aspects of the Sertoli cell, a cardinal player in male reproduction. Finally, in \u201cTesticular descent\u201d, a detailed discussion summarizes the current knowledge on normal testicular descent in the human, including evolutionary aspects and interspecies differences.<\/p>\n
Moving from Physiology to clinical issues, \u201cKlinefelter Syndrome and medical treatment\u201d analyzes how specific comorbidities are related to key hormonal aspects of the syndrome, namely hypergonadotropic hypogonadism and testosterone supplementation therapy. The next three reviews are dedicated to the complex interaction between adipose tissue and the reproductive axis. Once again, different aspects are explored, including basic (\u201cThe impact of adipose tissue-derived factors on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis\u201d), reproductive (\u201cThe impact of obesity on male fertility\u201d) and hormonal aspects (\u201cHypogonadism as a possible link between metabolic diseases and erectile dysfunction in aging men\u201d).<\/p>\n
Finally, the last three articles review special andrological issues, two of them the impact of malignant disease on the male gonad (\u201cImpact of cancer and cancer treatment on male fertility\u201d and \u201cHypogonadism in young men treated for cancer\u201d) and one the always important topic of \u201cMale contraception\u201d.<\/p>\n
We feel sure that our HORMONES readers will enthusiastically welcome this important contemporary and authoritative selection of articles in such a multi-disciplinary field as is Andrology. It is our sincere hope that we will have the opportunity to organize a second symposium on this scientific domain in two years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n
Aleksander Giwercman,
\nDimitrios G. Goulis,
\nIlpo Huhtaniemi,
\nChristos Tsatsanis<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n