Search

Copyright of Veterinarska Stanica is the property of Croatian Veterinary Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Veterinarska Stanica is the property of Croatian Veterinary Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Veterinarska Stanica is the property of Croatian Veterinary Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Male infertility can be responsible for up to 20% of the cases attending fertility consultation facilities; nonetheless, the underlying molecular mechanisms that could explain it are still elusive. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate conventional and functional parameters of semen samples from patients who presented with male infertility of unknown origin. Conventional semen parameters and functional parameters (i.e. intracellular reactive oxygen species production, mitochondrial membrane potential, sperm chromatin structure assay, sperm membrane lipid peroxidation and antioxidant capacity of seminal plasma) were evaluated on semen samples from 54 healthy donors, 23 patients with idiopathic infertility and 34 fertile controls. No significant differences were observed in the conventional seminal parameters between the fertile and infertile men. However, increased intracellular reactive oxygen species ( ROS) production and DNA fragmentation were observed in the infertile patients compared to the fertile group. Alterations in intracellular ROS production and DNA fragmentation could be associated with male idiopathic infertility. These parameters could eventually distinguish both groups more accurately than the conventional parameters. Our current results are encouraging, and the efficacy of these parameters in the clinical settings needs to be further assessed to establish their predictive potential as a marker of unexplained male infertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to evaluate if there is any difference in the proportion of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphisms and the homocysteine levels in a group of women with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and a control group. Ninety-three patients with diagnosis of three or more gestational losses and 206 healthy women with two or more children, were included. After acceptance of informed consent, samples of peripheral blood were taken to determine the genetic polymorphisms of MTHFR C677T and the plasmatic levels of homocysteine. The carriers of the homozygous mutation TT of MTHFR 677T polymorphism were 12.9% (12 of 93) in the group of patients and 14.6% (30 of 206) in the control group; 46.2% (43 of 93) and 40% (83 of 206) in the group of patients and controls respectively, were heterozygous CT for MTHFR gene. The levels of homocysteine were 7.2 micromol/ml in the group of patients and 7.7 mmol/l in controls. There was no relationship between MTHFR gene polymorphisms and the increase of homocysteine levels, nor of these one with RPL. From the nutrigenetics perspective we suggest that studies related to MTHFR polymorphisms and the risk of disease include the levels of folate and B6 and B12 vitamins participating in the tetrahydrofolate cycle for trying to establish a direct relation among the genotype, the level of metabolite and the clinical manifestations. In this regard, we recommend the administration of folic acid in women in search of pregnancy due to the high frequency of heterozygous and homozygous for MTHFR C677T mutation in our population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competing Interests: The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze human seminal plasma proteins in association with male fertility status using the proteomic mass spectrometry technology Surface-Enhanced Laser Desorption Ionization Time-of-Flight (SELDI-TOF-MS)., Materials and Methods: Semen analysis was performed using conventional methods. Protein profiles of the seminal plasma were obtained by SELDI-TOF mass spectrometry over a strong anion exchanger, ProteinChip(®) Q10 array., Results and Conclusion: We found statistically significant differences in motility and sperm count between fertile and infertile men. In addition, we observed ten seminal proteins that are significantly up-regulated in the infertile group. In conclusion, comparison of seminal plasma proteome in fertile and infertile men provides new aspects in the physiology of male fertility and might help in identifying novel markers of male infertility.

Background: There are only limited data on whether HIV infection occurs within the liver; therefore, we explored early and late stages of the HIV life cycle in two hepatocyte cell lines--Huh7.5 and Huh7.5JFH1--as well as in primary human hepatocytes., Results: Integrated HIV DNA was detected in Huh7.5 and Huh7.5JFH1 cells, as well as in primary hepatocytes, and was inhibited by the integrase inhibitor raltegravir in a dose-dependent manner. HIV p24 protein was also detected in cell culture supernatants at days 1, 3, 5, and 7 post-infection and was inhibited by AZT, although levels were modest compared to those in a lymphocyte cell line. Culture supernatants from HIV-infected hepatocytes were capable of infecting a non-hepatic HIV indicator cell line., Conclusions: These results indicating low-level HIV replication in hepatoctyes in vitro complement evidence suggesting that HIV has deleterious effects on the liver in vivo.

Studies have shown an association between recurrent pregnancy loss and inherited thrombophilia in Caucasian populations, but there is insufficient knowledge concerning triethnic populations such as the Colombian. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether inherited thrombophilia is associated with recurrent pregnancy loss. Methods. We conducted a case-control study of 93 patients with recurrent pregnancy loss (cases) and 206 healthy multiparous women (controls) in a Colombian subpopulation. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) markers of the inherited thrombophilias factor V Leiden, prothrombin G20210A, and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T were genotyped by PCR-RFLP. Activated protein C resistance and plasma levels of antithrombin, protein C, and protein S were also measured. Results. The frequency of thrombophilia-associated SNPs, activated protein C resistance, and anticoagulant protein deficiencies, was low overall, except for the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T SNP. The differences between patients and controls had no statistical significance. Conclusion. Our study confirms the low prevalence of inherited thrombophilias in non-Caucasian populations and it is unlikely that the tested thrombophilias play a role in the pathogenesis of recurrent pregnancy loss in this Colombian population.

Leukocytes are considered to be the main source of HIV-1 infection in semen. However, HIV-1 interaction with spermatozoa has also been demonstrated, suggesting that both spermatozoa and leukocytes might play a role during sexual transmission of HIV-1. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate if HIV-1 particles interact with sperm cells through the mannose receptor (MR), and then to determine the ability of "infected" sperm cells to transmit the virus to susceptible targets. The expression of classical HIV-1 receptor and co-receptors and the MR by sperm cells was determined by flow cytometry; the interaction in vitro between sperm and HIV-1 was evaluated by fluorescence microscopy. Additionally, the in vitro interaction of sperm cells and HIV-1 was determined detecting viral nucleic acids by PCR. D-Mannose was used to block HIV-1-sperm cell interaction. Sperm cells preincubated with HIV-1 particles and activated mononuclear cells were co-cultured to determine viral transmission. The presence of viral RNA was detected in 28% of the samples in which sperm cells were preincubated with HIV-1 particles. Mannose was able to block interaction in 75% of the cases. Finally, we demonstrated that "infected" sperm cells were able to transmit the HIV-1 infection to susceptible targets. In conclusion, these results indicate that the MR is involved in sperm cell-HIV-1 interaction. Our results also suggest that sperm cells could be an important source of infection., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Previous studies related alterations in non-conventional seminal parameters with recurrent early embryonic death for one couple. A reference standard of clinical assessment is required for the management of these kinds of patients., Objective: Normal semen parameters were established based on functional tests including lipid peroxidation of sperm membranes, antioxidant capacity of seminal plasma and integrity of sperm chromatin to compare with men whose partners have recurrent early embryonic death. These parameters set reference values to identify subfertile individuals whose condition can be attributed to altered semen parameters., Materials and Methods: The conventional and non-conventional semen parameters of 47 samples of semen were evaluated. Thirty-six samples were from subfertile individuals whose partners had a history of early recurrent embryo death, and 11 samples were from individuals with recent evidence of normal fertility., Results: By discriminant analysis, the two groups were classified as follows: a value below 0.50 for 86.1% of individuals in the group of recurrent early embryonic death, and a value above 0.50 to classify 81.8% of individuals in the group of recent fertility., Conclusions: This reference value of 0.5 based on the results of sperm tests can identify infertile male patients whose partners have a history of early embryonic death. This will aid the physician to suggest treatments more focused on the possible cause of subfertility.