Prognostic value of an automated sperm analysis in IVF or insemination therapy

Summary. During the course of sterility treatment semenograms of 271 IVF and 316 insemination patients were carried out by two automated semen analysers. The parameters of these analyses were correlated to pregnancies resulting from the treatment. Semen samples were analysed in the ejaculate and after swim-up preparation. In addition, the swim-up suspension of IVF patients was measured again 18 h after sperm preparation. Patients were divided into three groups: (1) couples who achieved a pregnancy, (2) couples who did not achieve a pregnancy, and (3) IVF patients with no fertilization of the oocytes. Because of large standard deviations in the quality of ejaculates, the results in the IVF group show no significant differences in the semen parameters of husbands of pregnant and non-pregnant women. In contrast husbands of women with no fertilization have a significantly lower sperm motility. After swim-up preparation these differences no longer occur. A further measurement, taken 18 h later, reveals that there are no differences in the sperm parameters between the pregnant and non-pregnant group. However, the semen quality in the group with no fertilization is significantly reduced. The results of the insemination patients are similar to those of the IVF group. Thus, the results from automated sperm analysers cannot replace either the microscopic or biochemical analysis of an ejaculate and, moreover, cannot be used as prognosis for the fertilization capacity of sperms or a following pregnancy.     

A Mono-Percoll separation technique improves sperm recovery of normal and male factor specimens when compared with the swim-up technique

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of asimplified 80% Mono-Percoll sperm separation procedure on bothnormal and male factor semen samples compared with the standardswim-up technique. The parameters examined include sperm concentration,motility and morphology, total motile functional spermatozoaand percentage recovery. Normal patients demonstrated enhancedsperm parameters with the Mono-Percoll compared with the swim-uptechnique for concentration (67x10⁶ versus 42x10⁶/ml, P <0.001), motility (66 versus 59%, P < 0.001), morphology (56versus 49%, P < 0.005) and percentage recovery (60 versus42%, P < 0.005). Male factor patients showed enhanced spermparameters with the Mono-Percoll procedure compared with theswim-up technique for motility (53 versus 42%, P < 0.05)and percentage recovery (54 versus 29%, P < 0.005), withno significant difference in concentration and morphology. Insummary, the Mono-Percoll sperm recovery procedure is significantlybetter than the swim-up technique for male factor patients andpatients with normal sperm parameters.     

经胸小切口在食管癌切除手术中的应用

目的探讨经胸小切口治疗食管癌手术的地位和可行性。方法对132例不同分期的食管癌行经胸小切口根治性手术,全部采用颈部吻合。结果切口平均长度13.0±2.0 cm,开关胸时间、开胸时出血量、术后伤口疼痛、呼吸功能受限及患肢活动等方面有显著差异,在手术时间、淋巴结清扫、术中出血及术后胸腔引流和常规手术无差异。结论经胸小切口食管癌根治手术安全、可行,并且有创伤小、恢复快等优点,便于推广应用。     

Putative glutamatergic and/or aspartatergic cells in the main and accessory olfactory bulbs of the rat

The "transmitter-specific" retrograde axonal tracer 3H-D-aspartate has been used to demonstrate neurons in the olfactory bulb which putatively utilize aspartate and/or glutamate as their neurotransmitter and which send an axon either to the piriform cortex or within the bulb itself. Injections of 3H-D-aspartate into layer I of the anterior piriform cortex, in the zone of termination of axons from the olfactory bulb, labeled only a few cells in the main olfactory bulb, located in the mitral and external plexiform layers. Although these cells resembled mitral and tufted cells, they tended to have smaller somata than other mitral or tufted cells and apparently form a distinct subpopulation of relay cells. In contrast, many of the mitral cells of the accessory olfactory bulb were labeled by the same injections of 3H-D-aspartate, probably as a result of involvement of the accessory olfactory tract or its bed nucleus in the injection site. Similar injections of the "nonspecific" tracer HRP into the anterior piriform cortex labeled most of the cells in the mitral cell layer of both the main and accessory olfactory bulbs, and some tufted cells in the external plexiform layer. It is concluded that only a small, distinct subpopulation of the mitral or tufted cells of the main olfactory bulb are aspartatergic and/or glutamatergic, while many (at least) of the mitral cells of the accessory olfactory bulb use the excitatory amino acids as transmitters. Injections of 3H-D-aspartate directly into the main olfactory bulb also failed to label the mitral and deeply situated tufted cells. However, a few cells were labeled in the periglomerular region, the superficial external plexiform layer, and the granule cell layer near the injection site. These labeled cells were smaller than mitral and tufted cells but generally larger than periglomerular or granule cells. They may represent a population of glutamatergic or aspartatergic short axon cells. In addition, small cells of an unknown type were labeled in the olfactory nerve layer following injections in the deepest part of the bulb. These cells do not correspond to any of the well characterized cell types of the olfactory bulb.     

转录因子Ascl2调控Acss1/3的表达影响结直肠癌患者预后

转录因子Ascl2作为WNT信号靶基因,可影响结直肠癌（CRC）前体细胞干性特征,探讨其能否调控短链脂肪酸β-氧化而影响CRC患者的预后。方法 下载稳定干扰Ascl2表达的CRC LS174T细胞（sh-Ascl2/LS174T）的mRNA及miRNA差异表达数据（GSE69036和GSE34926）分析其靶基因;应用RT-PCR方法和Western 印迹定量检测sh-Ascl2/LS174T及对照细胞中的Ascl2、Acss1和Acss3的mRNA表达水平,以及Ascl2和Acss1蛋白表达水平,从GSE44076表达数据和UALCAN数据比较在正常结直肠粘膜、CRC组织和不同临床病理分期的肿瘤组织的表达水平差异;TCGA数据库下载548例CRC患者基因 mRNA表达量及相关临床信息,用Spearman等级相关分析表达相关性,Kaplan-Meier法进行生存分析,Cox回归分析评估危险因素。结果 sh-Ascl2/LS174T细胞中Acss1的mRNA较对照细胞下调2.08倍,miR-4282表达水平下调2.069倍。RT-PCR定量检测sh-Ascl2/LS174T细胞中Acss1的mRNA和miR-4282水平明显下降(P＜0.01), Acss3的mRNA水平明显升高(P＜0.05);Acss1和Ascl2蛋白水平较对照细胞均明显下降。CRC组织Ascl2和Acss1的mRNA水平明显高于癌旁结直肠粘膜组织(P＜0.001),而Acss3明显低于癌旁结直肠粘膜组织 (P＜0.001);CRC组织中Ascl2与Acss1的mRNA表达水平呈正相关,与Acss3的表达水平呈负相关(均P＜0.001)。Ascl2和Acss3表达水平与疾病特异性生存期（DSS）、总体生存期（OS）、无进展生存期（PFS）无关,Acss1高表达组比低表达组的DSS (P=0.0389)和OS (P=0.04)明显降低。Ascl2与Acss1基因异常表达、Ascl2、Acss1和Acss3基因异常联合表达与CRC患者的DSS存在显著的联系(P=0.0377和P=0.0161),Ascl2、Acss1和Acss3三个基因的联合异常表达是影响CRC患者DSS的危险因素之一(P=0.043)。结论Ascl2对CRC细胞中的Acss1/3的表达可能具有调控作用而导致其短链脂肪酸β-氧化的重编程,它们的联合异常表达可以一定程度预测CRC患者的预后     

不同生长激素分泌状态的矮身材儿童血脂水平的研究

目的 探讨不同生长激素分泌状态下矮身材儿童血脂水平的差异,为生长激素缺乏对儿童体脂代谢的影响提供理论依据。方法 收集矮身材儿童188例,依据生长激素药物激发试验峰值分为生长激素完全缺乏(cGHD)组、生长激素部分缺乏(pGHD)组、非生长激素缺乏性(nGHD)组,研究对象均禁食禁水10 h后空腹测定总胆固醇(TC)、三酰甘油(TG)、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇(LDL)和高密度脂蛋白胆固醇(HDL)4项血脂水平。结果 3组儿童HDL水平比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);3组儿童TC、TG、LDL、non-HDL水平比较差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05);组间两两比较,cGHD组TC、LDL、non-HDL水平较其他组明显升高(P<0.05),cGHD组TG水平较nGHD明显升高(P<0.05),与pGHD组比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。pGHD、nGHD组高TC、高LDL及高non-HDL的发生率明显低于cGHD组(P<0.05),nGHD组临界高LDL的发生率明显低于cGHD组(P<0.05)。而3组间TG、HDL的异常发生率及TC、TG...     

Timing ovulation for intrauterine insemination with a GnRH antagonist

BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess the efficacy of a GnRH antagonist in intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles to increase number of mature ovulatory follicles and pregnancy rates. METHODS: Prospective randomized study. Women (18-38 years old) with primary/secondary infertility were included. Eighty-two patients were randomly assigned to controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) consisting of rFSH + GnRH antagonist or rFSH alone. RESULTS: A non-significant increase in the total amount of rFSH was seen in the GnRH antagonist group (707+/-240 IU) with respect to the control group (657+/-194 IU). The number of mature follicles (> or =16 mm) was significantly higher in the GnRH antagonist group than in the control group (2.4+/-1.4 versus 1.7+/-1.2, P<0.05). Pregnancy rates were significantly increased in the group of patients receiving the GnRH antagonist (38%) compared to the control group (14%). The only non-single pregnancy (triplets) occurred in the antagonist group. CONCLUSIONS: In this preliminary study, adding the GnRH antagonist to the COS protocol for IUI cycles significantly increased pregnancy rates. Nevertheless, these results may not be associated directly with the antagonist itself but with the fact that more mature ovulatory follicles are present by the day of the hCG. Finally, the risk for multiple gestations needs to be carefully evaluated.     

TCR repertoire in early fetal mouse thymus

We investigated the rearrangement and expression of TCR genesin mouse fetal thymus organ culture, a system that avoids subsequententry of hematopoietic precursor cells. The first observablerearranged TCR gene was homogeneous V2-J2, detectable as earlyas fetal day 11 (d11) in the thymic primordla. The productiveTCR was homogeneous V5-J1, first detectable in d13 thymocytes,followed by adult-type TCR (V4 and V7). Sequence analysis ofTCR revealed five types of V-J junctional sequences. In thevery early stage, a homogeneous V-J junction is generated viaa short homology sequence in the coding region (Type I), whilea short homology sequence in the P-nucleotlde rather than thecoding region is used in the following stage (Type II). In thelater embryonic stages, diverse V-J junctions are generatedby well-known mechanisms, such as P-nucleotide (Type III), N-regioninsertion (Type IV) or trimming of the coding ends (Type V).These findings suggest that the generation of homogeneous TCR (V2 and V5) in the early fetal stages is due to the intrinsicrearrangement mechanisms and is in stage specific manner.     

宁夏回族人群X染色体10个短串联重复序列位点的遗传多态性调查

目的研究宁夏回族群体X染色体上的10个短串联重复序列（DXS101、DXS6789、DXS6799、DXS6804、DXS7130、DXS7132、DXS7133、DXS7423、HPRTB、DXS8378）的基因及基因型频率分布。方法随机抽取100名宁夏回族无关个体静脉血，提取DNA，PCR扩增，变性聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳，银染检测结果。结果DXS101、DXS6789、DXS6799、DXS6804、DXS7130、DXS7132、DXS7133、DXS7423、HPRTB、DXS8378分别检出9、8、4、6、6、6、4、4、5和5种等位基因；分别检出17、22、7、14、14、15、6、7、12和8种基因型；基因频率分别分布在0．0087～0．3130、0．0087～0．2696、0．0348～0．5826、0．0087～0．3044、0．0261～0．4348、0．0261～0．3217、0．0261～0．6783、0．0087～0．4870、0．0261～0．4783、0．0087～0．4870之间；此10个位点女性的基因型频率分布均符合Hardy-Weinberg平衡，多态信息量除DXS7133和DXS7423外均大于0．50；女性个体识别率从0．89（DXS7133，DXS7423）至0．99（DXS101，DXS6789，DXS7132）。结论这10个X染色体短串联重复序列位点有较高的个体识别率，在个体识别和女孩亲权鉴定中有较高应用价值，对疾病相关研究有重要意义。     

A comparative study of the proteolytic enzymes of Trypanosoma brucei, T. equiperdum, T. evansi, T. vivax, Leishmania tarentolae and Crithidia fasciculata

Four types of proteolytic activity were detected in the bloodstream form of each of the four Trypanosoma species: (i) HPAase, active on hide powder azure and detected on polyacrylamide gels containing denatured haemoglobin; (ii) AZCase, active on azocasein; (iii) type 1, active on the chromogenic peptide N-benzoyl-L-prolyl-L-phenylalanyl-L-arginine p-nitroanilide in the presence of dithiothreitol, and (iv) type 2, active against several nitroanilide derivatives in the absence of dithiothreitol. Studies of the pH optimum, dithiothreitol requirement and inhibitor sensitivities of the proteolytic activities suggested that: (a) HPAase and type 1 activities could be due to the same enzymes, probably a family of cysteine proteinases; (b) AZCase had some characteristics of a cysteine proteinase, but was not identical to HPAase, and (c) type 2 activity could be due to a serine proteinase. Procyclic T. brucei contained relatively low cysteine proteinase activities (HPAase, AZCase and type 1) but high type 2 activity. Their proteolytic enzymes thus were apparently more similar to those in Crithidia fasciculata and Leishmania tarentolae promastigotes than those in T. brucei bloodstream forms.