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Background: To address knowledge gaps, this study aimed to investigate the involvement of inflammasomes in the etiology of azoospermia. This study focused on the gene expression of key inflammasome components, including NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP-3), CASPASE-1, Interleukin-1β (IL-1β), Interleukin-18 (IL-18), NLR family CARD domain-containing protein 4/ice protease-activating factor (NLRC-4/IPAF) , and Absent in melanoma 2 (AIM-2). Methods: We analyzed gene expression in blood and testicular tissue from patients with obstructive azoospermia (OA) and non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). Additionally, we compared IL-1β and IL-18 expression levels in seminal plasma samples using the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method. For comparison, blood samples from normospermic (NS) individuals were also genetically evaluated. Results: Our results indicated significantly higher gene expression of inflammasome components in NOA patients than those in OA patients either in blood or in testicular tissue. Both azoospermic groups exhibited higher mRNA levels of inflammasome genes comparing with those from blood samples of NS men. Seminal plasma samples showed significantly increased levels of IL-1β and IL-18 in NOA patients compared to men with OA. The ROC curve analysis indicated strong and significant predictive power of IL-18, AIM-2 and NLRC-4/IPAF gene expression profiles between NOA vs. NS patients and NOA vs. OA. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the role of hidden chronic inflammation in azoospermia, particularly within the NOA group. This study provides a foundation for further detailed research, which could aid in the development of diagnostic panels to differentiate between various azoospermic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: IQ motif-containing GTPase-activating protein3 (IQGAP3) contributes to the progression of bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA), but its mechanisms are not systematically specified. Due to the oncogenic potential of IQGAP3, the current in-silico study intended to elucidate IQGAP3's role in BLCA progression. Materials and Methods: Many bioinformatics tools, including UALCAN, Kaplan--Meier plotter, TNMplot, cBioPortal, GeneMania, Enrichr, TIMER2, muTarget, and UCSC Xena, were applied in the current study. Results: The IQGAP3 level was more pronouncedly raised in BLCA tissues than in normal bladder tissues, and its increased expression was related to the advanced stage and higher grade. Enhanced IQGAP3 expression could result from its genetic alteration. Moreover, the mutation in P53 and RB1 genes was robustly associated with increased IQGAP3 expression. Besides, IQGAP3 correlative genes were dominantly involved in the cell cycle. On the other hand, IQGAP3 upregulation influenced immune checkpoint levels in the tumor microenvironment. Conclusion: The in-silico findings suggested that IQGAP3 overexpression could be a crucial biomarker in BLCA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is enriched with active biological components which showed proliferative and cytoprotective properties in healing different injuries in medicinal fields. This study was designed to assess the cryoprotective effects of autologous PRP on the quality of oligoasthenoteratospermia (OAT) samples during freezing and thawing procedure. Materials and Methods: The present study is an experimental research. Twenty OAT semen samples were ob- tained from individuals and prepared by discontinuous density – gradients technique DGC). The control group is sperm samples after DGC. After the procedure, the specimen was divided into four groups. The Freeze group which has no additive and the other three groups were cryopreserved with different concentrations of PRP (1×105 / µL, 0.5×105 /µL and 0.25×105 /µL). Autologous PRP was provided by each participant. After thawing, sperm pa- rameters, DNA fragmentation by sperm chromatin dispersion test (SCD), protamine deficiency by (Chromomycin A3) CMA3 staining, acrosome integrity and malondialdehyde (MDA) level were evaluated. Results: Cryopreservation resulted in a significant decrease in all factors compared to the control group. There were no significant changes in sperm count, morphology, non-progressive motility and acrosome reaction by adding PRP as a cryoprotectant in comparison with the freeze group. PRP at all three concentrations showed a significant increase in progressive motility (3.05 ± 2.01 vs. 14.05 ± 4.13, 12.35 ± 4.90 and 12.15 ± 9.65, P < 0.001) and viability (36.85 ± 10.25 vs. 47.85 ± 5.86, 51.30 ± 5.54 and 50.05 ± 5.67, P < 0.001) compared to the sperm samples without PRP. The percentage of immotile sperms decreased at all PRP concentrations compared to the freeze group. Moreover, PRP at 1×105 /µL concentration showed cryoprotective effects on DNA fragmentation, protamine deficiency and MDA level compared to the other three concentrations. Conclusion: Cryopreservation and thawing procedures may exert adverse effects on biological factors of sperm samples. Therefore, adding PRP as cryoprotectant at all three concentrations especially 1×105 /µL can be promising strategy to reduce adverse effects of cryopreservation on OAT samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) is a chemical material used in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) program.  The aim of this study was to investigate the ideal time that sperm can be safely incubated in PVP with less structure and DNA damage.Method: Thirty-one Oligoasthenoteratospermia (OAT) samples were used. Sperm samples were prepared by discontinuous density-gradients method and incubated in 10% PVP at different time intervals (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 min). The effect of PVP was assessed on sperm DNA fragmentation and viability via SCD assay and Eosin-nigrosin staining respectively.Results: Data showed there was a significant increase in sperm DNA fragmentation at 10 min compared to 0 min. The viability rate also significantly reduced at 10 min  compared to 0 min.Conclusion: As a result, sperm samples could be incubated with PVP for less than 10 min.  While prolonged incubation may significantly damage the sperm DNA integrity and viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Research into new noninvasive diagnostic tools for bladder cancer (BCa) with superior sensitivity and specificity to cystoscopy and cytology is promising. The current study evaluated a diagnostic panel of tumor progression-related mRNAs in urine samples of NMIBC patients and controls., Methods: This study carefully selected 129 participants, including 67 NMIBC patients, 31 hematuria patients due to nonmalignant urological disorders, and 31 healthy individuals. Subsequently, ten significantly dysregulated mRNAs were identified in the urine specimens of these participants using RT-qPCR., Key Findings: Expression levels of CA9, CDK1, CD24, TERT, CEP55, TOP2A, IQGAP3, UBE2C, and CRH in urine samples from NMIBC patients were higher than those in healthy individuals. Notably, CD24, TOP2A, IQGAP3, UBE2C, and CRH mRNA levels in NMIBC patients were significantly higher than in the hematuria group. In diagnosing low-grade from healthy and hematuria groups, analysis of the 5-gene profile yielded a sensitivity of 98 % and a specificity of 100 % and 90 %, respectively. For diagnosing high-grade tumors from healthy and hematuria groups, sensitivity was 96 % and 100 %, and specificity was 100 % and 83 %, respectively., Conclusions and Clinical Implications: These results emphasize the potential application of urine mRNA profiling in the early diagnosis of NMIBC and provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms involved., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Single sperm cryopreservation (SSC) is a specific technique especially used in individuals with small numbers of sperm who suffered from non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). Testicular specimens possess poor motility and low population of viable spermatozoa. Therefore, sperm selection methods such as applying pentoxifylline (PTX) may improve motility in these cases. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effects of PTX on testicular spermatozoa before and after performing SSC., Methods: Thirty testicular samples were obtained from men with azoospermia. This study was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 evaluated the effect of PTX for sperm selection before SSC. Twenty testicular samples were divided to two experimental groups: SSC without (I) and with PTX treatment (II). For PTX treatment spermatozoa were incubated with PTX at 37°C for 30 min and only motile spermatozoa were selected for SSC. In phase 2, ten testicular samples were cryopreserved with SSC and warming procedure was carried out in droplet with and without PTX. Motility and viability rates, morphology by motile sperm organelle morphology examination (MSOME), DNA fragmentation by sperm chromatin dispersion test (SCD) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were evaluated., Results: In phase 1, post warm motility rate was higher in PTX exposed group compared to the unexposed group (25.6 ± 8.13 vs. 0.85 ± 2.1) (p > 0.00). Recovery rate, viability and morphology were not significantly different between groups. DNA integrity and MMP were also similar between both groups. In phase 2 although motility increased in PTX group compared to without PTX group (29.30 ± 12.73 vs. 1.90 ± 2.64) (p > 0.00), the viability rate was not different (70.40 ± 12.12 vs. 65.30 ± 11.87). All above mentioned parameters were similar between the two SSC groups., Conclusions: Supplementation of testicular spermatozoa with PTX before cryopreservation increases motility and did not have adverse effects on viability, morphology, DNA integrity and MMP. PTX could be used as sperm selection method before single sperm cryopreservation, but PTX could not maintain motile the most of viable testicular sperms.