This study focused on the role of sodium-bicarbonate cotransporter (NBC1) in cAMP-stimulated ion transport in porcine vas deferens epithelium. Ion substitution experiments in modified Ussing chambers revealed that cAMP-mediated stimulation was dependent on the presence of Na(+), HCO, and Cl(-) for a full response. HCO-dependent current was unaffected by acetazolamide, bumetanide, or amiloride b...

Secretion of electrolytes and water by the epididymal epithelium is important in the formation an optimal fluid environment for sperm maturation and transport. This process is disrupted in the genetic disease cystic fibrosis caused by mutation of the cystic fibrosis transmemebrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. Recent findings of CFTR gene mutations in healthy men with congenital bilateral ...

Male genital tract obstructions may result from infections, previous inguinal and scrotal surgery (vasectomy) and congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD). Microsurgery can sometimes be successful in treating the obstruction. In other cases and in cases of failed surgical intervention, the patient can be treated by microsurgical or percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA,...

A 33-year-old male presented to the Chiba University Hospital with the main complaint of right flank pain. Bilateral vas deferens were not palpable. Hormonal examination revealed hypergonadotropic hypogonadism and cytogenetic studies a 47,XXY karyotype. The significance of the association of this karyotype with the absence of vas deferens is discussed.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common lethal rare genetic disease in the Caucasian populations. It is caused by a variety of sequence alterations in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator (CFTR) gene. In Caucasian, one over 3,500 new born children suffers from the disease and one over 30 of them is at least carrier of a severe mutation in the CFTR gene. CF and CFTR-related disorders (CFT...