Acquisition of fertilization ability by spermatozoa during epididymal transit occurs in part by the transfer of molecules from membranous vesicles called epididymosomes. Epididymosomes are heterogeneous in terms of both size and molecular composition. Exosomes and other related small membranous vesicles (30-120 nm) containing tetraspanin proteins on their surface are found in many biological fl...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), the synthetic chlorinated organic compounds, are known to decrease thyroid function, sperm count and fertility, and increase the risk of testicular cancer may cause serious effect on male reproduction. The objective of the present study was to study the effect of PCB, Aroclor 1254 on rat epididymal structure and function. METHODS Adult ...

Cisplatin (CIS) is used in the treatment of cancer, but its nonspecific systemic actions lead to toxic effects on other parts of the body. This study investigated the severity of CIS toxicity by increasing its dose over a constant time period. Sprague Dawley rats were divided into five treatment groups and control group with CIS (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mg/kg) administered intraperitoneally for 5 da...

Background: Alteration in the protein signatures of functionally immature testicular spermatozoa occurs during their journey through the epididymis. This leads to acquisition of sperm domain specific functions essential for successful fertilization. Epididymal sperm proteins are preferred targets for immunocontraception as well as in elucidating the causes of infertility. The Background of the ...

Quassia amara is a medicinal plant with several pharmacological properties. There are preliminary reports implicating this plant in male reproductive toxicology. Single daily oral administration of methanol extract of Quassia amara stem bark for 6 weeks resulted in a significant reduction in the weight of the testes, caudal epididymis and seminal vescicle. Caudal epididymal sperm parameters sho...

cell in biological studies. The studies showed the good response of human sperm to cryobiologic assays. However, in farm animals because of different composition of the cell membrane and presence of more unsaturated fatty acid make sperm more sensitive to oxidative stress that is one the most important factors that can affect the sperm viability during cryopreservation. The aim of the present s...

Hexaconazole is a systemic triazole fungicide used in agricultural practices. The aim of the present investigation is to study the toxic effect of Hexaconazole on the epididymal spermatozoa. The adult male rats were exposed to Hexaconazole at the dose of 25 mg/kg body weight, orally daily for 60 days. The control group received corn oil alone as vehicle. Third group of rats were administered wi...

The interest to develop assisted reproductive technologies and cryobanking for farm animal genetic resource conservation has recently increased. However, cryopreservation for ex-situ management of genetic diversity sometimes is not routinely feasible, owing to the lack of facilities (AI centres, laboratories) and expertise near the local breed farming area. In these cases, epididymal sperm obta...

Fresh and post-thaw parameters (motility, morphology and viability) of stallion epididymal spermatozoa that have been and have not been exposed to seminal plasma were evaluated, and directly compared to fresh and post-thaw parameters of ejaculated spermatozoa. Six sperm categories of each stallion (n=4) were evaluated for motility, morphology and viability. These categories were fresh ejaculate...

During their epididymal maturation, stabilizing factors such as cholesterol sulfate are associated with the sperm plasma membrane. Cholesterol is sulfated in epididymal spermatozoa by the enzyme estrogen sulfotransferase. Because of its role in the efflux of sulfate conjugates formed intracellularly by sulfotransferases, the ATP-binding cassette membrane transporter G2 (ABCG2) might have a role...