Role of Estrogens on Human Male Reproductive System

This review focuses on estrogen role on human male physiology. Biological estrogen actions on male reproductive system are summarized with particular regard to the effects of congenital estrogen deprivation in men. The effects of estrogen on spermatogenesis, hormonal secretion and gonadotropin feedback and on sexual behavior are discussed. It is remarked that the role of estrogens in male reproduction is a very recent acquisition in reproductive endocrinology, but it promises new future fields of research to be investigated as well as the possible disclosure of new strategies in clinical practice.     

Female sexual receptivity is defective in juvenile hormone-deficient mutants of theapterous gene ofDrosophila melanogaster

During reproductive maturation of female insects, the acquisition of sexual receptivity is coordinated with ovarian development. Juvenile homone regulates vitellogenesis in the ovaries, but the action of this hormone in the development of sexual behavior is less well-understood. A strain ofDrosophila melanogaster carrying a mutation in theapterous gene(ap ⁴) was known to exhibit arrested vitellogenesis (rescuable by applying exogenous juvenile hormone), sterility of both sexes, and a deficiency of juvenile hormone. In this study, we examined the effects of mutations ofap on female receptivity and its relationship to juvenile hormone. We observed abnormally low female receptivity in homozygousap strains, and heteroallelic combinations ofap mutations exhibited low receptivity. For female receptivity,ap showed no dominance (i.e.,ap/ap ⁺ was intermediate betweenap/ap andap ⁺/ap ⁺). Low receptivity mapped genetically to theap locus. The reduction in female receptivity in these mutants is positively correlated with levels of juvenile hormone synthesized by their corpora allata.This work was supported in part by The Scheinfeld Center for Humans Genetics in the Social Sciences (J.R.), The National Science Foundation (BNS-882 1339 to J.R.), BARD (No. IS-1664-89R to D.S.), The Israel Cancer Research Fund (grant to D.S.), The Rekanati Foundation of Tel Aviv University (grant to D.S.), and The Israeli Fruit Council (award to M.A.)     

氯丙醇对大鼠的毒性研究

进行氯丙醇对大鼠毒作用研究 ,并进行氯丙醇暴露对健康影响评价的生物效应标志物探讨 ,为进行人群氯丙醇暴露对健康的影响评价提供科学依据。选用健康雄性断乳SD大鼠 1 76只 ,随机分为 8组 ,经口灌胃给予 0、0 2 5、0 5、1 0、2 0、4 0、8 0、1 6 0mg kg的 3 氯 1 ,2 丙二醇 (3 MCDP) 90天 ,进行体重、食物利用率、血液学指标、血生化指标、尿液中N 乙酰 β D 氨基葡萄糖苷酶 (NAG)、γ 谷胺酰转肽酶 (GGT)和总蛋白、精子数目、精子存活率和畸形率、睾丸组织中乳酸脱氢酶 (LDH)和乳酸脱氢酶同工酶 X(LDH X)、脏体比及其病理组织学测定和分析。结果表明 ,不同暴露剂量的氯丙醇对动物体重、食物利用率、血红蛋白、红细胞、白细胞、血丙氨酸氨基转移酶 (AST)、天冬氨酸氨基转移酶 (ALT)、肌酐、尿素氮、血清碱性磷酸酶 (ALP)、乳酸脱氢酶 (LDH)、总蛋白、白蛋白、尿GGT酶和总蛋白及睾丸LDH酶均未见显著影响。在 4 0、8 0和 1 6 0mg kg剂量组 ,动物尿N 乙酰 β D 氨基葡萄糖苷酶 (NAG)活性显著增加 ,肾体比增大 ,并出现肾毒性病理改变 ,精子数目也降低。在 8 0和 1 6 0mg kg剂量组 ,精子存活率和睾丸LDH X显著降低 ,睾丸和附睾出现病理改变 ,3 MCDP无致精子畸变作用。由此可见尿液中NAG酶活性和精子     

云南陆良县农村已婚育龄妇女阴道炎的危险因素分析

对云南省陆良县的２２８７例已婚育龄妇女阴道炎患病情况及其危险因素进行了分析，通过Ｌｏｇｉｓｔｉｃ回归多因素和卡方检验单因素分析。结果表明：陆良县的阴道炎患病率为１０．２３％，Ｌｏ－ｇｉｓｔｉｃ回归筛选出的主要危险因素是职业、目前是否使用避孕方法、妊娠次数、每月性交次数及月经期间用不洁水洗下身；单因素卡方检验筛选出的主要危险因素为年龄、文化程度、职业、结婚年龄、妊娠次数、人流次数、自然流产数、总死产数、死流产总数、目前是否使用避孕方法、过去是否用过避孕方法、每月性交次数及月经期间用不洁水洗下身。     

Isolated polyarteritis nodosa of the male reproductive system associated with a germ cell tumor of the testis: a case report

Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) presents mostly as a systemic disease with poor prognosis, rarely in an isolated form with a usually favorable outcome. Both forms may affect the male reproductive system and both forms have been associated with malignancies. We describe for the first time the occurrence of isolated PAN in the reproductive system combined with a mixed germ cell tumor of the testis in a 21-year-old man presenting with symptoms of chronic epididymitis. Two years after surgery he is without evidence of recurrence of either the tumor or PAN.     

Levothyroxine treatment in thyroid peroxidase antibody-positive women undergoing assisted reproduction technologies: a prospective study

BACKGROUND: Infertile women positive for thyroid antibodies suffer from a poor pregnancy/delivery outcome, although conflicting data have been published. Our objective was to investigate if levothyroxine (LT4) exerts any effect on pregnancy and/or delivery rates in thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb)-positive (+) women undergoing assisted reproductive technologies. METHODS: Patients undergoing treatment were screened for TPOAb, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4). A total of 72 (15%) out of the 484 euthyroid women selected were TPOAb (+). These 72 patients were randomly divided into two groups: group A (n = 36) underwent LT4 treatment, group B (n = 36) placebo. Group C consisted of 412 women (85%) who were TPOAb negative (-). All patients received controlled ovarian stimulation. The endpoints of treatment were pregnancy rate, miscarriage rate and delivery rate. RESULTS: No differences in pregnancy rate were observed between the three groups. Miscarriage rate was higher in TPOAb (+) in comparison to TPOAb (-) [relative risk: 2.01 (95% CI = 1.13-3.56), P = 0.028]. CONCLUSIONS: The pregnancy rate is not affected either by presence of TPOAb or treatment with LT4. However, TPOAb (+) women show a poorer delivery rate compared to TPOAb (-). LT4 treatment in TPOAb (+) does not affect the delivery rate.     

Early phylogenetic estimate of the effective reproduction number of SARS-CoV-2

To reconstruct the evolutionary dynamics of the 2019 novel-coronavirus recently causing an outbreak in Wuhan, China, 52 SARS-CoV-2 genomes available on 4 February 2020 at Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data were analyzed. The two models used to estimate the reproduction number (coalescent-based exponential growth and a birth-death skyline method) indicated an estimated mean evolutionary rate of 7.8 × 10⁻⁴ subs/site/year (range, 1.1 × 10⁻⁴-15 × 10⁻⁴) and a mean tMRCA of the tree root of 73 days. The estimated R value was 2.6 (range, 2.1-5.1), and increased from 0.8 to 2.4 in December 2019. The estimated mean doubling time of the epidemic was between 3.6 and 4.1 days. This study proves the usefulness of phylogeny in supporting the surveillance of emerging new infections even as the epidemic is growing.     

Impact of elective single embryo transfer on the twin pregnancy rate

BACKGROUND: It is unclear how the implementation of elective single embryo transfer in clinical practice would affect clinical pregnancy and delivery rates and multiple birth rates. METHODS: This retrospective study analysed 1871 IVF/ICSI cycles carried out from 1997 to 2001 in the IVF programme of a single university infertility clinic. RESULTS: The number of elective single embryo transfers increased from 11 to 56%. At the same time the clinical pregnancy rate was relatively stable; mean 34.0% (range 28-42). The number of embryos per embryo transfer decreased from 1.8 to 1.3. The multiple pregnancy and delivery rates dropped markedly from 25 to 7.5% and from 25 to 5% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: An elective single embryo transfer programme can be adopted in daily practice that decreases the twinning rate to <10% and does not affect the overall pregnancy rate.