Antisperm antibodies are one of the important factors in male infertility caused by vasal obstructions. To investigate the incidence of serum antisperm antibodies in patients with various kinds of seminal tract obstructions, we retrospectively analyzed the sera of 60 patients using the indirect immunobead test (IBT) to find serum antisperm antibodies. Immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgA class antisper...

The poly-T tract in intron 8 of the cystic fibrosis conductance transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene exists in three variants, 5T, 7T, and 9T. The 7T and 9T variants generate a predominantly normal transcript, whereas the 5T variant engenders an anomalous product. The analysis of the poly-T tract is assuming increasing relevance, both to assess the implication of the CFTR gene in congenital bila...

1 The pressor responses produced by the intravenous administration of a,#-methylene ATP were tachyphylactic. 2 a,fi-Methylene ATP can attenuate pressor responses to sympathetic nerve stimulation both in the presence and in the absence of a-adrenoceptor blocking agents. 3 a,#-Methylene ATP has no effect on the pressor responses produced by bolus injections of noradrenaline. 4 In the presence of ...

Male quails kept in segregation from or in cohabitation with females were injected with 3H-thymidine and the passage of labelled spermatozoa through the epididymis and the vas deferens was followed by autoradiography. Labelled spermatozoa appeared in the epididymis on the 11th day after injection and reached the distal part of the vas deferens within 2¢ hours both in segregated males and in tho...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of sonographic visualization of the normal extrapelvic vas deferens and to analyze its appearance and dimensions. METHODS Scans of the scrotum and spermatic cords were obtained in 25 fertile volunteers. Identification of the vas deferens was attempted bilaterally in the scrotal, suprascrotal, and prepubic segments in all vol...

Smooth muscle from newborn guinea-pig vas deferens was enzymically dispersed into single cells or small clumps and grown in culture in the presence or absence of sympathetic ganglion expiants. Most single smooth muscle cells gradually lost their typical ultrastructural features and contractile properties during the first few days in culture. At 7 days of culture these dedifferentiated smooth mu...

Background The genetic association between cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene mutations and male infertility due to congenital bilateral absence of vas deferens (CBAVD) is well established. Mutant CFTR, however may also be involved in the etiology of male infertility in non-CBAVD cases. The present study was conducted to estimate the frequency of ΔI507 and ΔF508 CFT...

We have previously elucidated the opiate-like action of mitragynine, an active principle isolated from the Thai medicinal plant Mitragyna speciosa. In the present study, effects of the related compound, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl on electrically stimulated contraction in guinea pig ileum and mouse vas deferens, and on its binding affinity in the guinea pig brain membranes were studied. Mitragyni...