Correspondence: Ekaterina Pavlova Institute of Experimental Morphology, Pathology and Anthropology with Museum, BAS, Acad. G. Bonchev Str., Bl. 25, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria. Tel.: +359 2 979 2336 e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT Sodium nitrite (NaNO2) is an inorganic salt with various industrial applications. In the circulation NaNO2 oxidizes hemoglobin to methemoglobin, which is incapable of t...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate reproductive function in patients with cystinosis and in renal transplant recipients without cystinosis. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health. PATIENTS Ten male patients, 15 to 28 years old, with nephropathic cystinosis and renal allografts formed the study group; 11 renal transplant recipients who had a primary renal d...

Evidence for the effect of occupational exposure to lead on the male endocrine system is conflicting. This study evaluated the primary (testicular) and secondary (hypothalamo pituitary testicular) effects of exposure to lead in 122 current lead workers and 49 non-exposed workers. The mean current blood lead concentration was 35.2 (range 9.6-77.4) micrograms/dl in the exposed workers, and 8.3 (r...

Concentrations of estradiol (E2) are high in the urine of male marmosets, and links between E2 and paternal behavior have been proposed in black tufted-ear marmosets, Callithrix kuhlii. However, it is not clear whether urinary E2 in male marmosets: 1) represents production of E2 associated with testicular activity, 2) is associated with adrenal steroid production, or 3) merely reflects peripher...

beta-thalassemia (beta-thal) is characterized by disturbances of the reproductive system. The aim of the present study was: 1) to assess the hypothalamic- pituitary-gonadal axis in patients with beta-thal in relation to their phenotype and 2) to determine prognostic features of current gonadal status. We studied 135 patients (67 males and 68 females) with beta-thal through history, physical exa...

We used a free-ranging, seasonally breeding adult male songbird, the rufous-winged sparrow, Aimophila carpalis, to investigate the effects of acute stress-induced by capture followed by restraint, on the hypothalamo-pituitary-testicular axis. Intra- and interindividual comparisons revealed that males decreased their plasma testosterone (T) by 37-52% in response to acute stress. The decrease occ...

Nitric oxide (NO) is generated from the guanidine group of L-arginine by NO synthases (NOS) in a wide variety of tissues, including endocrine organs. In order to discriminate between central and local effects of NO-related agents on the pituitary-testicular axis, adult rats were injected intraperitoneally with 1 g/kg body weight (bw) L-arginine methyl ester (L-AME, an exogenous substrate of NOS...

BACKGROUND The xenografting of pre-pubertal human testicular tissue to an immunodeficient mouse is a theoretical strategy for restoring fertility in childhood cancer patients, while circumventing the risk of malignant recurrence. This study aimed at comparing the grafting of pre-pubertal and adult murine testicular tissue, as well as that of human adult testicular tissue, to two immunodeficient...

Objective To investigate effects of cryopreservation on changes of the ultrastructure of human testicular sperm and evaluate the efficacy of cryopreserving testicular tissue as a source of sperm for assisted reproduction. Methods Testicular biopsy tissues were obtained from infertile patients (n=12) with obstructive azoospermia and cryopreserved. Testicular sperm motility was observed after in ...