a:4:{s:10:"Background";s:563:"Type II diabetes is a metabolic disorder that can gradually cause damage to the function of many organs such as the gonads. It is believed that poor blood glucose control is the main cause of diabetic side effects. Avocado (Persea americana) is a native tree of Central and South America that has traditionally been used due to its antioxidant, antiinflammatory, anti...

The specification of a germ cell as sperm or oocyte and determination of cell number remain unsolved questions in developmental biology. This paper examines Caenorhabditis elegans FOG-1, a CPEB-related RNA-binding protein that controls the sperm fate. We find that abundant FOG-1 protein is observed transiently in germ cells just prior to their expression of an early sperm-differentiation marker...

Mammalian fertilization is a multistep process that culminates in the fusion of the sperm and egg plasma membrane. It is widely accepted that the equatorial segment of the acrosome-reacted sperm is important in initiating fusion with the egg plasma membrane during fertilization. There are various proteins known to be distributed only in the equatorial segment of sperm. The role of these protein...

The isolation and characterization of three Caenorhabditis elegans temperature-sensitive mutants that are defective at fertilization are described. All three are alleles of the gene fer-1. At the restrictive temperature of 25 degrees, mutant hermaphrodites make sperm and oocytes in normal numbers. No oocytes are fertilized, although they pass through the spermatheca and uterus normally. The ooc...

BACKGROUND The incidence of overweight and obesity in men of reproductive ages is rising, which may affect fertility. Therefore, this study aims to assess the associations between BMI, central adiposity and sperm parameters in men of subfertile couples. METHODS Ejaculate volume (ml), sperm concentration (millions per ml), percentage of progressive motile and immotile spermatozoa and total mot...

During mammalian fertilization, sperm adhere to the extracellular coat of the egg, or zona pellucida, in a species-specific manner. In mouse, evidence suggests that sperm recognize and bind to specific oligosaccharide ligands within the zona pellucida glycoprotein, ZP3, via beta1,4-galactosyltransferase I (GalT I), a lectin-like receptor on the sperm surface. Although in vitro experiments using...

background: pentoxifylline (px) is a methyl xanthine derivative that influences the sperm motion characteristics and l-carnitine (l-c) is an amino acid that is naturally produced in the body. in general, separate administration of px and l-c has been reported to be effective on preserving sperm motility in vitro, and also when is consumed orally by the idiopathic oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (i...

Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether (EGEE) can cause damage to testes and sperm, and its metabolites are believed to play an important role in its toxicity. Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) is involved in the metabolism of this chemical. To investigate whether and how the enzyme affects the toxicity of EGEE, we conducted experiments comparing Aldh2 knockout mice with wild-type mice. Administration ...

BACKGROUND This study takes an in depth look at embryonic development, implantation, pregnancy and live birth rates with frozen epididymal and testicular sperm from obstructed (OA) and non-obstructed (NOA) patients. METHODS Paternal effect of sperm source on zygote formation, embryonic cleavage, and genomic activation were examined. Additional outcome parameters monitored were clinical pregna...

Background: Obesity and raised body mass index (BMI) is a major risk factor for several diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, as well as gynecological problems. In recent years, some studies have associated the BMI with reproductive parameters in men, showing that increased BMI is related to poor semen quality, decreased sperm concentration, decreased and normal-motile sperm...