In the last decades, studies in rodents have highlighted links between in utero and/or neonatal exposures to molecules that alter endocrine functions and the development of genital tract abnormalities, such as cryptorchidism, hypospadias, and impaired spermatogenesis. Most of these molecules, called endocrine disrupters exert estrogenic and/or antiandrogenic activities. These data led to the hy...

Carcinoma in situ in the testis has its origin in the fetal gonad and leads to testicular cancer in young adulthood. It can be detected in a testicular biopsy and treated with irradiation, which can preserve testosterone production of the man. These are the key findings of Niels E. Skakkebaek that changed our view of testicular tumourigenesis during the last fifty years. These and other finding...

Background: Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are used at high doses by athletes for improving athletic ability, physical appearance and muscle mass. Unfortunately, the abuse of these agents has significantly increased. It has been established that exercise and high doses of AAS may influence the hypothalamic-pituitary gonadal (H-P-G) axis, which can in turn affect the testicular apoptosis. Ho...

The marmoset monkey is a valuable model in reproductive medicine. While previous studies have evaluated germ cell dynamics in the postnatal marmoset, the features of testicular somatic cells remain largely unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish marmoset-specific markers for Sertoli and peritubular cells (PTCs) and to compare protocols for the enrichment and culture of testic...

background: long term alcohol use has been implicated in men with sexual disorders including suppression of testosterone levels as well as testicular morphological changes. objective: this research investigated the ability of telfairia occidentalis (t.o.) to attenuate the damaging effects of alcohol on the testicular parameters. materials and methods: thirty male sprague-dawley rats, 170-190 gr...

Individuals with various intersex states who carry Y-chromosome material bear a high risk of developing testicular neoplasia. In order to gain more insight into the pathogenesis of this neoplasia, the current study evaluates the differentiation of the seminiferous epithelium in 46,XY dysgenetic male pseudohermaphroditism. Immunohistochemical evaluation was performed using the germ cell-specific...

A rare case of synchronous bilateral testicular germ cell tumor of different histological type is described. We report the case of a 39-year-old man with this unusual condition and discuss the value of the histopathological diagnosis in therapy and prognosis. A thorough review of the literature is also presented, and for the first time the precise histological subtype of each reported tumor, as...

Germ cell tumors (GCT) are curable cancers, but 10-15% of patients with metastatic disease fail cisplatinbased first-line therapy. While therapeutic options have increased for various other cancers no therapeutic targets have emerged in cisplatin-refractory GCT. L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1-CAM) is commonly expressed in human malignancies and therefore a potential target, however its expressio...

Primary germ cell tumors of lung are extremely rare. The prognosis is usually poor, with various symptoms seriously affecting quality of life. In this paper we describe the unique case of a patient affected by an embryonal carcinoma of lung and a testicular seminoma after ten years. We also report literature about pulmonary extragonadal germ cell tumors.

BACKGROUND Fetal exposure of male rats to some phthalates induces reproductive abnormalities, raising concerns for similar effects in humans. In order to address this in a more appropriate animal model, the aim of the present studies was to investigate the effect of fetal/neonatal exposure to monobutyl phthalate (MBP) in a non-human primate, the marmoset. In particular, to determine if exposure...