Male Reproduction Health

The reproductive cycle of Bispira volutacornis, a dioecious polychaete, was followed over two spawning periods in Lettercallow Bay, on the west coast of Ireland. In the younger generation of sexually mature adults, gender can be determined on the basis of colour, the dorsal aspect of the males being cream at maturation, whilst the females are pink at the previtellogenic stage and an olive green at maturation. An annual reproductive cycle of 12 months shows that oocyte/sperm maturation is extraovarian. The male reproductive cycle proceeded at a more rapid pace than that of the female cycle, with sperm maturing earlier. Spawning in B. volutacornis occurred between late July and early September. B. volutacornis is a polytelic species, surviving spawning and releasing all gametes in a single batch, with a mean spawned oocyte diameter of 118 μm. The reproductive cycle appears to be regulated by a seasonal change in water temperature, and spawning is timed to produce larvae during the autumnal planktonic bloom in Lettercallow Bay.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder characterized by
chronic hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin action, insulin secretion, or both. These defects lead to disturbances
in carbohydrates, lipid and protein metabolism causing systemic complications and co-morbidities, particularly in renal and cardiovascular systems. This disease is reaching pandemic proportions and a recent report estimated that more than 300 million of people worldwide already have DM and, alarmingly, some projections suggest that the number of diabetic patients will reach nearly 600 million by the year 2035.

Indomethacin is a member of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) commonly used for treatment of gout, arthritis, and other inflammatory conditions. It has been shown to inhibit ovarian prostaglandins synthesis in mammals, birds, fish and reptiles. However, the effects of its chronic administration on male reproductive functions remain largely unknown. Using rat as a model, we studied the effect of chronic treatment with indomethacin on the male reproductive system. Testosterone was measured in the serum, testicular tissue, and testicular interstitial fluid by radioimmunoassay. Moreover, we also studied the direct effect of indomethacin in vitro on luteinizing hormone stimulated testosterone secretion from the Leydig cells isolated from various treatment groups. Indomethacin treatment for 50 days caused a significant but reversible decrease in prostate weight, epididymal sperm reserves and sperm motility score compared with control rats (p < 0.05). In vitro stimulation o...

The effect of the Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) on the reproductive system of the male goat was evaluated. Fourteen adult males distributed into 4 groups were studied: I) negative control (uninfected animals) (n=3); II) animals experimentally infected with an autochthonous CAEV (FES-C.UNAM isolate) (n=3); III) naturally infected animals (n=5); IV) animals experimentally infected with CAEV reference strain from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) (n=3). Blood and semen samples were collected every 30 days and ani- mals were clinically evaluated (especially for possible external genital alterations) during 10 months. No differences in scrotal diameter, seminal motility, seminal pH, color and volume were found among the four groups. Antibodies against CAEV were detected by ELISA in blood serum and seminal fl uid in animals infected with the autochthonous strain after 7 months, in animals experimentally infected with the reference strain after 3 months and animals ...

The desire to have children is more and more common in HIV serodiscordant couples. The Academic Medical Centre Amsterdam has developed a new treatment protocol for couples in whom the man is HIV positive. Semen is processed to obtain HIV-1 free spermatozoa. These spermatozoa are used for IUI treatment. Thus far, 20 serodiscordant couples underwent 76 IUI cycles. An insemination was performed in 50 cycles (66%). The insemination was cancelled in 26 cycles, because of too many follicles (risk for multiple pregnancy), weekend (no possibilities for virological testing), not enough spermatazoa after preparation, a positive HIV-1 RNA test and other reasons. 10 out of 20 women became pregnant (50%), 8 women were on-going pregnant. The clinical and ongoing pregnancy rate per started cycle was 13% and 11% respectively. 7 babies have thus far been born and none of the mothers or babies seroconverted within this study period. Larger numbers of patients are necessary to support the safety of th...

Background The loco gene encodes several different isoforms of a regulator of G-protein signalling. These different isoforms of LOCO are part of a pathway enabling cells to respond to external signals. LOCO is known to be required at various developmental stages including neuroblast division, glial cell formation and oogenesis. Less is known about LOCO and its involvement in male development therefore to gain further insight into the role of LOCO in development we carried out a genetic screen and analysed males with reduced fertility. Results We identified a number of lethal loco mutants and four semi-lethal lines, which generate males with reduced fertility. We have identified a fifth loco transcript and show that it is differentially expressed in developing pupae. We have characterised the expression pattern of all loco transcripts during pupal development in the adult testes, both in wild type and loco mutant strains. In addition we also show that there are various G-protein α su...

Se describe la anatomía e histología del aparato reproductor de hembras y machos de Odontotaenius striatopunctatus, especie de pasálido frecuente en bosques tropicales de Mesoamérica. El aparatoreproductor de las hembras está constituido por un par de ovarios, cada uno con un par de ovariolas, dos oviductos laterales, un largo oviducto medio una cámara genital, una bursa copulatrix y una granespermateca incluyendo su glándula. Los machos tienen un par de testículos, cada uno con un par de folículos testiculares, sus conductos deferentes, una vesícula seminal por cada lado, un conducto eyaculador y dos pares de glándulas accesorias. Se menciona la incidencia en los machos de variaciones en el númerode folículos testiculares, y se pone en evidencia la presencia de espermatóforo en la familia Passalidae.

The present study shows the qualitative and quantitative histological changes in testes of albino rats treated with two doses of phosphamidon 35 and 50 parts per million(ppm) for 1 month time period. Rats were treated by drinking water containing 35 ppm (low dose) and 50ppm (high dose) concentration of phosphamidon for 30 days. After 30 days, they were sacrificed, the testes were fixed in vivo and were taken out. The histological slides of these testes were prepared and were studied under light microscope. The decrease in the weight of testes and diameter of seminiferous tubules, increase in the interstitial space, the decrease in the numbers of germ cells and supporting cells, Cytoplasmic vacuolization of the germ cells, distortion of seminiferous tubules were the findings of present study. phosphamidon seems to be toxic on male reproductive system if exposed for prolong period. The awareness regarding the impact of phosphamidon should be given to farmer and they should be encourag...

Backgrounds: A varicocele is identified in 15% of
healthy men and around 40% of men with primary
infertility suffer from some degree of varicocele. The
presence of spermatic varicose veins creates a hostile
environment for spermatogenesis. It results in
reduced quality and quantity of sperm production
and, in some cases, can conduce to a total absence of
sperm. This is due to an increase in circulating
reactive oxygen species (ROS) resulting in sperm
DNA fragmentation, even if the conventional semen
parameters are within the normal reference ranges. It
has been proposed that treating the varicocele may
result in improvements in the semen parameters,
fertilization, and pregnancy rates. Additionally,
treating the varicocele could improve the results of
both spontaneous pregnancies as well as following in
vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm
injection (ICSI), and Assisted Reproduction
Treatment (ART) in the presence of suboptimal
semen parameters.

The association of Heteropterys tomentosa infusion with endurance training improves the efficiency of the extracellular matrix remodeling, resulting in more resistant tendons to support high loads from intense muscle contraction. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of H. tomentosa infusion on the skeletal muscles of sedentary and exercised animals. Male Wistar rats were divided into: controls sedentary and trained receiving water, plant sedentary and trained receiving 104 mg/day of H. tomentosa infusion. The extensor digitorum longus muscle was harvested and used for histochemical, molecular and ultrastructural analysis. The main muscle fiber types were identified by m-ATPase technique. The point-sampling technique of classical stereology was employed to measure capillaries, muscular fiber and mitochondrial volume density. Testosterone levels and androgen receptor content increased significantly in plant sedentary animals. The muscle cross-section area of the plant trained animals increased significantly after training. Capillary and mitochondria volume density were significantly higher in the plant trained group compared to other groups. However, the association of H. tomentosa and endurance training resulted in increased mean area of oxidative muscle fiber, capillary and mitochondrial volume density suggesting a potential increase of the endurance capacity of these animals.

Soy and soy products are increasingly used in human diet because of their potential protective effects in cancer and other diseases. Despite their beneficial effects, a concern has been raised among scientists, due to their estrogenic effect. Phytoestrogens contained in soy act as weak estrogenic agonists and bind to estrogen receptors 􏰁 and 􏰃, and they may disrupt the endocrine system by modulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Thus, soy phytoestrogens could influence the development of the
reproductive system during crucial stages of life like gestation, lac- tation and early development after birth. The main objective of this study was to test the effect of soy diet on the ultrastructure of male reproductive system in rats that received diet enriched in soy proteins during gestation, lactation and early development. Two groups of male Wistar rats 5 weeks old were used: The par- ents of the animals comprising the study group received ad libitum food enriched in soy protein before mating and during gestation and lactation, while the offspring went on receiving the same food up to the age of five weeks. The control group and their parents received ad libitum the standard food before and during gesta- tion, during lactation and up to the age of five weeks. Both groups were grown under the same conditions and according to the rules of Good Laboratory Practice. The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee. Five weeks after birth, the animals were sac- rificed and specimens of the reproductive organs were prepared and stained for microscopic and electron microscopic examina- tion. The preparations were observed by two different persons, blinded to the source of the specimen. Statistical analysis was per- formed with the statistical package SPSS. No histological difference in the basic structure of the reproductive organs was observed between the study and the control group. The seminiferous tubules, the seminiferous epithelium and the interstitial cells of the testes had no basic differences in both groups. Nevertheless, the num- ber of spermatocytes was lower in the seminiferous tubules of the rats fed with soy during gestation, lactation and early life, com- pared to the rats fed with standard food. The ultrastructure of the spermatocytes in the rats fed with soy appeared with endocyto- plasmic and perinuclear oedema and many mitochondria in the cytoplasm. In some spermatocytes rupture of the nuclear mem- brane and signs of apoptosis were observed. In conclusion, soy diet during gestation, lactation and early development does not have important effects on the basic structure of the reproductive organs of the male rat but it influences the number and the ultrastruc- ture of spermatocytes in the seminiferous tubules of the testes. To our knowledge, this is the first study of the ultrastructure of the reproductive system in male rats fed with soy during early development.