Adrenoleukodystrophy/adrenomyeloneuropathy (ALD/AMN) is a group of genetically determined peroxisomal disorders associated with progressive central demyelination, primary adrenal cortical insufficiency (Addison's disease) and, frequently, primary hypogonadism. Recently, testicular dysfunction was described in ALD/AMN patients but no information on sperm characteristics was provided. In this pap...

Erythrolamprus poecilogyrus sublineatus (Cope, 1860), is a species widely distributed in the Pampa Domain, occurring in Rio Grande do Sul, Argentina and Uruguay, mainlyin the pampa region. In the coastal region of southern Brazil this is serpent is considered one of the most abundant. The purpose of the present study is to describe the techniques of sperm evaluation in vitro for E. poecilogyrus...

Crustaceans are a morphologically, physiologically and ecologically highly diverse animal group and correspondingly diverse are their reproductive characteristics. They have evolved structural specialities with respect to penis construction, sperm form, sperm storage, fertilization and brood care. Unique in the animal kingdom are safety lines that safeguard hatching and first molting. Further c...

BACKGROUND Generally, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) may be the preferable method to treat partial globozoospermia, but whether there exist some correlations between ICSI fertilization rate and the proportion of round-headed sperm or morphologically normal sperm remains open. This study was to explore the correlation between ICSI fertilization rate and the sperm morphology in patients ...

A priori determination of the sex of a human individual before gestation is a desirable goal in some cases. To achieve this, it is necessary to perform the separation of sperm cells containing either X or Y chromosomes. As is well known, male sex depends on the presence of chromosome Y. Once this separation is achieved in principle, we require to determine, with a high degree of accuracy, wheth...

Sperm selection techniques have became an important tool to improve sub fertile ejaculates. The main aim of this study was to assess the dynamics of motile sperm subpopulations of ejaculates from subfertile stallions subjected to density gradient centrifugation (DGC) involving a double layer colloid [DGC2], before and after storage for 24 and 48 hours. Ejaculates from eight stallions with ferti...

This study evaluated the possible protective effect of royal jelly (RJ) on sperm parameters and sperm malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and in vitro fertilizing potential in nicotine (NIC) exposed male mice. Thrtiy-six male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into six groups (n = 6). Group 1 received normal saline, group 2 received 100 mg kg-1 per day RJ, groups 3 and 4 rece...

Outer dense fibers (ODFs), as unique accessory structures in mammalian sperm, are considered to play a role in the protection of the sperm tail against shear forces. However, the role and relevant mechanisms of ODFs in modulating sperm motility and its pathological involvement in asthenozoospermia were unknown. Here, we found that the percentage of ODF defects was higher in asthenozoospermic sa...

Purpose: This study sought (i) to investigate the relationship between Postwash total motile sperm count and Postwash percentage motile sperm in predicting successful intrauterine insemination and (ii) to determine the minimal Postwash total motile sperm count required to achieve pregnancy with intrauterine insemination. Methods: Five hundred four women, who underwent 1636 intrauterine insemina...

In the female reproductive tract, mammalian sperm undergo a regulated sequence of prefusion changes that "prime" sperm for fertilization. Among the least understood of these complex processes are the molecular mechanisms that underlie sperm guidance by environmental chemical cues. A "hard-wired" Ca(2+) signaling strategy that orchestrates specific motility patterns according to given functional...