Magnesium-orotate supplementation for idiopathic infertile male patients: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical pilot study.

A randomized, placebo-controlled clinical pilot study was performed in order to examine the effect of magnesium-orotate in male idiopathic infertility. Ten males were treated daily for 90 consecutive days with 3000 mg magnesium-orotate (Magnerot) tablets (Group M). As a control, ten other males were treated in the same way with placebo (Group P). Conventional microscopic sperm characteristics (sperm concentration, motility ratio, total number of motile sperm cells, normal morphology ratio), plus total and ionized magnesium levels in seminal plasma and blood serum were evaluated both prior to treatment and on day 90, at the conclusion of the study. No significant changes in sperm characteristics, blood ionized or total Mg, or ejaculate total Mg levels were detected. However, ejaculate ionized Mg levels increased in Group M from 0.18 +/- 0.05 to 0.30 +/- 0.05 (mmol/l; mean +/- SD, p < 0.05). Within the observation period of 3 months, one pregnancy occurred in the partner of a male from Group M. In conclusion, magnesium-orotate treatment at a dose of 3000 mg/day leads neither to a significant improvement of sperm variables nor does it increase the pregnancy rates of female partners of treated males as compared to those of controls. Thus, magnesium-orotate treatment was not shown to be effective therapy for idiopathic male infertility.     

Characteristics of pollinosis caused by Betula in patients from Ourense (Galicia, Spain).

A retrospective study was performed to describe the features of the pollinosis caused by Betula in the area of Ourense, Spain. The pollen count was carried out with a Lanzoni volumetric Hirts spore trap (1993-2000). The Betula pollen represented 5% over the annual total (annual mean quantity: 965 grains). It was present in the air from March to mid-May. The highest peaks took place in April (maximum values mean: 131 grains/m3). The medical records of 222 patients (mean age 25.66 years) diagnosed with pollinosis (1998-2000), who lived at less than 30 km. from the spore trap, were reviewed. In all of them, the skin-prick test (SPT) was carried out with pollen allergens. The percentages of positive SPT were: Lolium perenne, 91.89% (16.6% monosensitized); Plantago lanceolata, 71.17% (1.26% monosensitized); Betula alba, 41.89% (10.75% monosensitized); Platanus hybrida, 34.95%; Olea europea, 10.36%; and Parietaria judaica, 6.3%. The mean age of Betula monosensitized patients was 44.7 years. The majority of them had symptoms in March-April, 40% had asthma symptoms, 80% had lived in Central Europe, and 30% of them presented an oral allergy syndrome to fruits. There were 41.93% of the patients with positive SPT to Betula pollen who had asthma symptoms, in comparison with 23.25% of the patients with negative SPT to Betula (p = 0.0034). There were 20.28% of the patients with positive SPT to Betula pollen, who had lived in Central Europe, in comparison with 4.27% of the patients with negative SPT to Betula, p: 0.00049. The relative risk of sensitization was 2.05. CONCLUSIONS: Betula pollen was the second cause of clinical pollinosis in our patients, after grass, being responsible of the symptoms in the early spring, in a small number of the patients in their forties. The presence of asthma was higher in Betula sensitized patients, and the residence in Central Europe was a sensitization risk factor.     

Balance of prostacyclin and thromboxane in offspring of parents with premature coronary arterial disease.

6-keto-prostaglandin F1a and thromboxane B2 were determined in order to obtain more information about the prostacyclin synthesis and thromboxane A2 release in 3- to 18-year-old healthy children and in offspring of parents who have had an acute myocardial infarction before the age of 45. The authors demonstrated a reduction of plasma prostacyclin synthesis in children with a positive family history of premature coronary arterial disease. Thromboxane levels in the affected adolescent boys were significantly lower compared with the controls. The ratio of thromboxane:prostacyclin in endangered children did not show a significant difference from that of healthy controls. These data indicate that prostaglandins are a definitive marker for identifying cardiovascular risk children. It must be supposed that in adolescence, only in boys, with a positive family history of premature coronary arterial disease, a compensatory mechanism exists to protect them from developing an imbalance in the regulation of prostaglandins.     

The usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis of pulmonary thromboembolism]

Three cases with suspected pulmonary artery embolism are presented, in which transesophageal echocardiography showed a mass in the right pulmonary artery consistent with thrombus. The relevant diagnostic contributions of transesophageal echocardiography are discussed.     

Differences in clinical characteristics between Tourette syndrome patients with and without 'generalized tics' or coprolalia

Abstract  The purpose of this study is to examine whether there are differences in clinical characteristics between Tourette syndrome (TS) patients with and without 'generalized tics' (GT) which involve the entire body, and/or coprolalia. Subjects were 64 patients (55 males and 9 females, mean age, 17.4 ± 7.2 years) who visited Tokyo University's outpatient clinic of neuropsychiatry from 1974 to 1993 and who met criteria for Tourette's disorder of DSM-III-R. Data on clinical characteristics, including tic symptoms and courses of their development, complications and developmental histories, treatment and severity, were collected by systematic chart review of all subjects. Tourette syndrome patients with 'generalized tics' tended to show multiple complex vocal tics more frequently than TS patients without GT. Tourette syndrome patients with coprolalia tended to show significantly higher rates of copropraxia, echolalia, and 'cleaning/washing' compulsion than did the TS patients without coprolalia. Tourette syndrome patients with both GT and coprolalia were classified as the severest group in terms of tic symptoms and social impairment. Tourette syndrome patients who had neither of these morbidities were classified into the mildest group in all aspects. Generalized tics and coprolalia seemed to indicate the severest end of the TS spectrum and seemed to be related with a need of intensive treatment.