Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.2.1.20 (alpha-glucosidase)
 4,237 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The epididymis of adult rams is the primary source of alpha-glucosidase in seminal plasma. Two breeds of rams were selected to ascertain whether the enzyme was under androgenic control during adult life of rams. Opposite variations between serum testosterone and alpha-glucosidase were recorded over a period of 16 months in Suffolk and Finnish Landrace. In addition, the highest percentage of sperm motility was associated with a low alpha-glucosidase content of seminal plasma. Data from this study suggest that seasonal variations of testosterone in adult rams exert a negative control on the presence of alpha-glucosidase in semen.
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PMID:Alpha-1,4-glucosidase activity in ram seminal plasma is inversely related to serum testosterone. 226 91

Biochemical analysis was made of specific accessory gland products in the ejaculates of 362 men suffering from various acute inflammatory diseases of the reproductive tract and 33 normozoospermic patients acting as controls. The ejaculate content of the epididymal markers alpha-glucosidase and L-carnitine, but not glycerophosphocholine, was significantly reduced in ejaculates from men with epididymitis; citric acid was reduced in men suffering from prostatitis; both citric acid and alpha-glucosidase were reduced in men suffering from adnexitis. The ejaculate content of epididymal and prostatic markers in prostato-urethritis (adnexitis), where the exact localization of the inflammation was unclear, was not as low as in epididymitis or prostatitis. Seminal vesicle function, as judged from semen volumes and seminal fructose, was not different in these groups of patients. The results, although strongly related to the clinical diagnosis, were unrelated to the microbiological flora of the semen and indicate that both the epididymis and the prostate glands are involved in some forms of adnexitis.
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PMID:The influence of inflammation of the human male genital tract on secretion of the seminal markers alpha-glucosidase, glycerophosphocholine, carnitine, fructose and citric acid. 228 78

Acid alpha-glucosidase and L-carnitine (a well-known epididymal marker) were measured in rete testis and epididymal fluids of adult male rams. These fluids were collected by selective catheterization or by a micropuncture technique, respectively. Both parameters remained at a low and constant level in rete testis and all along caput and corpus epididymidis. Then they increased at equivalent rates in cauda epididymidis to much higher levels than those in seminal plasma (5 mU/mg protein and 10 mM, respectively). An optimum pH study of alpha-glucosidase activity in these fluids showed two well-separated peaks in rete testis and caput epididymal fluids around pH 4 and 7, respectively, but only a single peak at pH 4 in cauda epididymidis that was comparable to the one in seminal plasma. Sucrose density gradient fractions analyzed for their enzyme content in the absence or presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (1% w/v), a selective inhibitor of acid alpha-glucosidase activity, allowed the demonstration of two enzyme forms at pH 6.8 in rete testis fluid sedimenting in the 7S and 4S regions of the gradient, while a unique 4S form was encountered in cauda epididymidis and in seminal plasma. Although the fate of the minor 7S component of the rete testis fluid in its epididymal transit is presently unknown, similarities between the enzyme in cauda epididymidis and seminal plasma are strong enough to support the hypothesis that epididymis contributes primarily to the acid alpha-glucosidase content of ram seminal plasma.
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PMID:Major contribution of epididymis to alpha-glucosidase content of ram seminal plasma. 389

A synthetic substrate (p-nitrophenyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside) was used to measure the acid and neutral alpha-glucosidase activity in bull seminal plasma, spermatozoa and in homogenates of bull reproductive organs. Marked differences were observed in the activities of these enzymes in the various tissues studied. Epididymis and particularly its caput region contained the highest specific activity of acid alpha-glucosidase. The activity of neutral alpha-glucosidase was highest in testis and in different parts of the epididymis. Seminal plasma, spermatozoa and seminal vesicle secretion contained only the acid enzyme activity. After fractionation with anion exchange chromatography in HPLC (Mono Q) and chromatofocussing, acid alpha-glucosidase activity of seminal plasma was recovered in two fractions with different pI values. The corresponding activities were found in the secretion of seminal vesicles, which thus form the major secretory source of seminal plasma acid alpha-glucosidase. In the fractionation with gel filtration on Sepharose 6B, the acid alpha-glucosidase had a smaller molecular weight than did the neutral enzyme. In anion exchange chromatography and chromatofocussing the testicular and epididymal homogenates each contained two acid and two neutral isoenzymes. In both fractionations the elution pattern of acid alpha-glucosidase was clearly different from that of the enzymes in seminal plasma. The pH optimum of acid alpha-glucosidase ranged from 3.75 to 4.5 and that of the neutral enzyme from 6.5 to 7.0. The neutral activity was more sensitive to many divalent metal ions and differences were also observed in the response of the enzymes to different concentrations of turanose and KCl.
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PMID:Acid and neutral alpha-glucosidase in the reproductive organs and seminal plasma of the bull. 390 Mar 85

Vasectomy leads to a drastic decrease of neutral alpha-1,4-glucosidase from human seminal plasma. The nature of this residual enzyme activity has been ascertained according to optimum pH and sucrose density gradient analysis with or without inhibitors of neutral (maltotriose) or acid (sodium dodecyl sulfate) alpha-1,4-glucosidase. Data from the present study provide strong evidence that the enzyme content of the seminal plasma is of mixed nature after exclusion of the epididymis.
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PMID:Nature of the residual alpha-1,4-glucosidase activity in the seminal plasma of vasectomized men. 391 Apr 23

Like most psychoactive agents, cannabis and its active component delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC) have been reported to affect the neuroendocrine axis in animals. The effect of delta 9-THC on some of the functionally important enzymes of the male reproductive organs are reported. The study indicates that delta 9-THC reduces the activities of the enzymes, beta-glucuronidase, alpha-glucosidase acid phosphatase and fructose-6-phosphatase in a dose related manner in the testis, prostate as well as in the epididymis. It may be concluded that delta 9-THC may interfere with the normal functioning of the male reproductive organs.
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PMID:Enzymatic changes in the male reproductive organs by delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. 628 Jul 29

The use of a synthetic substrate (p-nitrophenyl-alpha-D-glucoside) to measure alpha-glucosidase activity has allowed us to demonstrate the presence of acid and neutral alpha-glucosidases in the reproductive organs of the male rat. Both enzymes increased in the epididymis, particularly in the caput segment, along with initiation of spermatogenesis at puberty; it then started decreasing after 12 weeks of life. Similar variations were not recorded in testis, prostate, and seminal vesicles. Castration led to a significant decrease of acid and neutral alpha-glucosidases in all accessory reproductive organs, but administration of testosterone proprionate (50 micrograms/day for 10 days) restored the enzyme activity to its original level. When estradiol-17 beta (5 mg) was administered simultaneously with testosterone (500 micrograms), the antagonistic effect of estradiol on testosterone was particularly evident on the levels of neutral alpha-glucosidases which reached the castration range, while the acid alpha-glucosidase remained unchanged in epididymis, prostate, and seminal vesicles. These results show that both acid and neutral alpha-glucosidases may be influenced by gonadal hormones in the male rat.
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PMID:Presence of alpha-glucosidases in the male reproductive system of the rat and hormonal influences. 635 99

We have studied some characteristics of alpha-1,4-glucosidases in human male reproductive organs in order to obtain information on the origin of the enzyme in seminal plasma. Acid and neutral enzymes could be distinguished on the basis of their selective inhibition either by SDS (acid enzyme) or MTT (neutral enzyme). Only the epididymis contained a significant amount of SDS resistant neutral alpha-1,4-glucosidase which was comparable to what has been isolated in seminal plasma. The similarity of epididymal and seminal plasma neutral enzymes was further confirmed by ultracentrifugation on sucrose density gradients, which permitted a complete separation of neutral (11S) and acid (4S) iso-enzymes. The 11S form was present in epididymis and in seminal plasma, but was totally absent in seminal vesicles, prostates and testis. The epididymal enzyme also had some of the unique characteristics found in the seminal plasma enzyme: it precipitated upon dialysis against distilled water, and its mobility on SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was identical to that of form 1 in seminal plasma. These results, although they do not constitute absolute proof of the identity of epididymal and seminal plasma alpha-glucosidase, certainly provide strong support for this hypothesis.
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PMID:Similar biochemical properties of human seminal plasma and epididymal alpha-1,4-glucosidase. 638 46

Several short- or long-term and longitudinal or cross-sectional studies have been conducted to ascertain the effect of vasectomy on circulating levels of gonadotropic and gonadal hormones and the function of assessory sex organs. Vasectomy does not cause noticeable changes in pituitary testicular axis. Changes, when they occur, are marginal and the hormone levels are still within normal physiological limits. The secretory function of both the prostate and the epididymis are changed as a result of vasectomy. There is a 2-fold increase in acid phosphatase in semen after vasectomy, indicating hyperfunction of the prostate. Both prostatic secretions and epididymal secretions decrease after vasectomy. 1 group of 12 men vasectomized for 1 week to 8 years were reanastomized and followed up for 12 months. Semen volume, seminal critic acid, maltase, glycerophosphorylcholine, prolactin, zinc, and magnesium returned to normal levels within 6 months, some within 1 month.
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PMID:Endocrine and accessory sex organ function after vasectomy and vasovasostomy. 679 97

Semi-quantitative estimations of the activities of 65 enzymes were studied for cases of azoospermia in an attempt to correlate the seminal enzyme profile with the origin of the azoospermia. One single enzyme--alpha-glucosidase--showed variation. All other specificities tested gave identical results for all the azoospermic samples and for normal controls. The alpha-glucosidase activity that is present in normal semen was absent from samples from patients with azoospermia associated with a complete obstruction of the genital tract, and also from all semen samples from vasectomized subjects. This enzyme appears to be secreted by the epididymis, and the activity present in azoospermic semen can provide information concerning the origin of the azoospermia and the functional state of the epididymis. Positive but reduced alpha-glucosidase activity appears to be frequently associated with inflammatory disease. The consequences of these findings are discussed.
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PMID:Enzymes in the seminal plasma from azoospermic men: correlation with the origin of their azoospermia. 679 4


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