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The effects of diabetes mellitus on male reproductive health have not been clearly defined. A previous publication from this group reported significantly higher levels of nuclear DNA fragmentation and mitochondrial DNA deletions in spermatozoa from men with type 1 diabetes. This study compared semen profiles, sperm DNA fragmentation and levels of oxidative DNA modification in spermatozoa of diabetic and non-diabetic men. Semen samples from 12 non-diabetic, fertile men and 11 type 1 diabetics were obtained and subjected to conventional light microscopic semen analysis. Nuclear DNA fragmentation was assessed using an alkaline Comet assay and concentrations of 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), an oxidative adduct of the purine guanosine, were assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Conventional semen profiles were similar in both groups, whilst spermatozoa from type 1 diabetics showed significantly higher levels of DNA fragmentation (44% versus 27%; P < 0.05) and concentrations of 8-OHdG (3.6 versus 2.0 molecules of 8-OHdG per 10(5) molecules of deoxyguanosine; P < 0.05). Furthermore, a positive correlation was observed between DNA fragmentation and concentrations of 8-OHdG per 10(5) molecules of deoxyguanosine (rs = 0.7, P < 0.05). The genomic damage evident in spermatozoa of type 1 diabetics may have important implications for their fertility and the outcome of pregnancies fathered by these individuals.

The converting-enzyme inhibitor, captopril, in a dose of 450 mg daily, was given together with a diuretic to eleven patients with severe hypertension unresponsive to previous therapy. Sustained control of blood pressure was achieved. Plasma angiotensin II and aldosterone fell significantly, whereas plasma active and total renin, and blood-angiotensin-I concentrations increased. Adverse effects included temporary taste disturbance, tachycardia, nephrotic syndrome, and possible drug-induced Guillain-Barré neuropathy. The combination of captopril and diuretic is thus very effective in controlling refractory hypertension. However, because of the frequency and severity of side-effects it should probably be used only in patients whose blood pressure has previously been uncontrolled by other means.

216 patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus were studied by retinal photography, and the absence or presence of retinopathy was related to the mean of serial glycosylated haemoglobin measurements (mean HbA1) carried out every 3 months during the previous 6 years. 122 patients had no diabetic retinopathy, 86 had background retinopathy, and 8 proliferative retinopathy. Mean HbA1 levels showed a strong correlation with increasingly severe grades of retinopathy, even when differences in duration of diabetes were taken into account. Proliferative retinopathy was seen only in patients with mean HbA1 above 10%. These results support the view that the development of diabetic retinopathy is related to long-term glycaemic control and emphasise the desirability, and possible benefit, of achieving control as close to normal as is possible for each individual patient.

This case report records the rare presentation of accelerated hypertension secondary to long-standing renal tuberculosis and the subsequent beneficial response to surgery predicted by lateralisation of renin levels within the renal veins. The patient's hypertension proved difficult to control medically and he was therefore assessed for possible surgical management. Renin sampling revealed clear lateralisation within the renal veins indicating possible benefits from surgery. Nephro-ureterectomy was performed and, post-operatively, the patient's hypertension, while not completely resolved, was easily controlled with monotherapy. Patients with unilateral renal tuberculosis and hypertension which prove difficult to control should have measurement bilaterally of renal venous renin which may indicate potential benefits from surgery.

Malignant hypertension with severe hyponatraemia, hypokalaemia, depletion of sodium and potassium, and elevated blood levels of renin, angiotensin I, angiotensin II, aldosterone, and arginine vasopressin developed in a woman with renal-artery occlusion. Plasma angiotensin II was disproportionately high in relation to exchangeable sodium. Captopril, by inhibiting conversion of angiotensin I to angiotensin II, further elevated the blood levels of renin and angiotensin I but corrected all other abnormalities. Unilateral nephrectomy was subsequently curative.