This study aimed to explore the association between body mass index (BMI), other anthropometric indexes and semen quality in a general male population in Taiwan. In this cross-sectional cohort study, the study cohort consisted of 7941 healthy male individuals aged 18 years or older who participated in a standard medical screening program run by a private firm from January 2008 to May 2013. Seme...

Sperm concentration and sperm ageing effects on fertilisation success were evaluated in the laboratory in the free-spawning Antarctic soft-shelled clam Laternula elliptica and Antarctic limpet Nacella concinna. Fertilisation success was highly dependent on sperm concentration. Highest levels of fertilisation success were consistently replicated at ~107 sperm ml–1 for L. elliptica, and ~106 to 1...

the latest micromanipulative technique, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (icsi), has been very successful in cases of severe male factor infertility. the main objective of this study is to report the results of our first experience with icsi in cases of male factor infertility, as well as patients who had failed their previous cycles with conventional in vitro fertilization (ivf). normal fertil...

Male Wistar rats were exposed to ethylene oxide (EO) at concentrations of 50, 100, or 250 ppm for six hours a day, on five days a week for 13 weeks. Dose effect relations of inhaled EO on spermatogenesis were evaluated from testicular and epididymal weights, histopathological changes and lactate dehydrogenase X (LDH X) activity in the testis, and sperm counts and sperm head abnormalities in the...

The association between endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and human sperm quality is controversial due to the inconsistent literature findings, therefore, a systematic review with meta-analysis was performed. Through the literature search and selection based on inclusion criteria, a total of 9 studies (7 cross-sectional, 1 case-control, and 1 pilot study) were analyzed for classic EDCs (5 s...

In several cases of asthenoteratozoospermia, electron microscopic investigation displayed immature sperm forms, morphological apoptotic patterns of spermatozoa and many cytoplasmic conglomerates with fragments of the sperm. In these patients, TUNEL assay showed a high percentage of spermatozoa with nuclear DNA fragmentation. Moreover, thickened and deformed midpieces were observed which contain...

Pesticides are one of the most potent environmental contaminants, which accumulate in biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems. Acetamiprid (Acm), a neonicotinoid insecticide, and Propineb (Pro), a dithiocarbamate fungicide, are widely used to control sucking insects and fungal infections on crops, respectively. The present study was undertaken to investigate the genotoxic effects of these c...

BACKGROUND Older men tend to have poorer semen quality and are generally at higher risks for infertility and abnormal reproductive outcomes. METHODS We employed proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE, 3 MeV proton beam) to investigate the concentrations of zinc, copper, calcium, sulfur, chlorine, potassium, titanium, iron and nickel in washed sperm and seminal plasma from non-smoking groups of 1...

Background: Breeding soundness evaluation (BSE) is the primary assessment for determining reproductive potential of male animals. This method, however, cannot be used to evaluate semen frequently or to predict future semen quality. Computerized analysis of ultrasonographic images provides information on histophysiological changes in male reproductive organs.We hypothesized that: 1. semen parame...

Ejaculated mammalian sperm must acquire fertilization capacity after residing into the female reproductive tract, a process collectively known as capacitation. Cholesterol efflux was required for sperm maturation. Different from flagellated sperm, C. elegans sperm are crawling cells. C. elegans sperm are highly enriched with cholesterol though this animal species lacks biosynthetic pathway for ...