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Query: UMLS:C0021359 (infertility)
 26,075 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Prolactin is a polypeptide hormone essential for lactation. Its production in the lactotroph cells of the anterior pituitary is regulated primarily by the inhibitory action of hypothalamic dopamine. Hyperprolactinemia is the most common endocrine disorder of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, occurring mostly in women and presenting most commonly with amenorrhea and galactorrhea. Causes of hyperprolactinemia include physiologic, pharmacologic and pathologic factors; pituitary adenoma is a common pathologic cause. Women may present with decreased libido, infertility, oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea and galactorrhea. Men may present with decreased libido, infertility, gynecomastia or impotence. In the absence of an identifiable and treatable underlying cause, hyperprolactinemia is generally treated with dopamine agonist medications.
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PMID:Clinical presentation of hyperprolactinemia. 1064 15

Spermatozoa from 32 infertile patients and 13 controls with normal semen parameters were analysed using dual and triple colour fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) techniques, in order to investigate the rates of aneuploidy for chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X and Y. The patients were divided into three groups according to their karyotypes or the karyotypes of their offspring: 15 were infertile men with abnormal semen parameters and normal karyotypes (group 1), 13 were infertile men with abnormal karyotypes and normal or abnormal semen (group 2) and four were infertile men with abnormal semen and normal karyotypes but whose wives conceived a child (or a fetus) with a numerical chromosomal abnormality through an intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycle (group 3). Patients with abnormal semen parameters showed a significantly higher aneuploidy rate for the investigated chromosomes in their spermatozoa compared to controls (P < 0.005). Our data suggest the presence of a correlation between poor semen parameters and an increase in aneuploidy rate of chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X and Y in spermatozoa (r = -0.81071, P < 0.002); therefore the risk of a chromosomal aneuploidy in spermatozoa seems to be inversely correlated to sperm concentration and total progressive motility. Patients with abnormal karyotypes showed a higher incidence of diploidy and chromosomal aneuploidies compared to controls (P < 0.002). This strongly suggests the presence of an interchromosomal effect of the cytogenetic rearrangement. Men who fathered a child with an abnormal karyotype through intracytoplasmic sperm injection did not present a higher aneuploidy rate for the investigated chromosomes in spermatozoa compared to patients with infertility due to a similar male factor but showed higher incidence of chromosomal aneuploidy compared to normal controls.
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PMID:Correlation between semen parameters and sperm aneuploidy rates investigated by fluorescence in-situ hybridization in infertile men. 1065 7

Many rheumatic diseases affect women of childbearing age, and the medications used to treat these diseases may affect conception, pregnancy, fetal development, and lactation. Physicians who care for these women need to be aware of the potential adverse effects of these medications, and which medications can be used safely prior to conception and during pregnancy and lactation. Although reviews of individual classes of medications are available, there is no practical and comprehensive review that summarizes all of this information, and includes anticoagulant drugs and 2 recently approved drugs for rheumatoid arthritis. Women who take cytotoxic drugs should be informed of the risks of impaired fertility and congenital malformations, and must use effective methods of contraception. During pregnancy, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents may be used until the last 6 weeks, and low to moderate doses of corticosteroids are safe throughout pregnancy. Among the disease-modifying agents, sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine treatment may be maintained. Cytotoxic drugs may be used after the first trimester to treat life-threatening disease. During lactation, prednisone, sulfasalazine, and hydroxychloroquine may be used cautiously. Women using heparin for treatment of antiphospholipid antibody syndrome should take measures to prevent bone loss. Men taking methotrexate, sulfasalazine, cyclosporine, azathioprine, or leflunomide should be apprised of the possibilities of infertility and teratogenicity.
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PMID:The effects of immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory medications on fertility, pregnancy, and lactation. 1072 46

Intracytoplasmatic sperm injection (ICSI) has improved the success rate in treating severe male infertility. The method may now be used with sperm from the epididymis and testis. This article summarizes our knowledge on genetic factors affecting male gamete formation or function. Infertile men with severe impairment of spermatogenesis showed a higher than normal incidence of chromosomal abnormalities and 10-20% had microdeletion, in the Y-chromosome. About 75% of males with congenital bilateral absence of vas deferens (CBAVD) have mutations in the cystic fibrosis trans-membrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. In conclusion, we recommend genetic counselling to all couples with a diagnosis of male infertility prior to ICSI. Men with severe oligozoospermia or non-obstructive azoospermia should have karyotype analysis performed and with establishment of diagnostic tools to reveal Y-chromosome deletions, this should be offered to the same group of men. Men with obstructive azoospermia and congenital albilateral absence of vas deferens as well as their wives should be screened for cystic fibrosis mutations.
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PMID:[Severe male infertility. Genetic investigation and counseling prior to intracytoplasmic sperm injections]. 1077 46

Open testicular biopsy is the standard method for histopathologic assessment of spermatogenesis. The need for testis biopsy has been questioned with the increased success of minimally invasive techniques such as fine-needle aspiration (FNA) mapping. This study examines whether FNA can provide cytologic information equivalent to histologic patterns by correlating diagnoses from testis FNA cytology with biopsy histology. Men (n = 87) who had undergone both diagnostic FNA mapping and open testis biopsy in the evaluation of infertility were identified. Biopsies were assessed by recognized histologic patterns of normal, hypospermatogenesis, early and late maturation arrest, and Sertoli cell only. FNA cytologic specimens were examined for adequacy and were classified similarly. Mixed patterns were also identified. The correlation between the two methods was 94%, with no differences among the different histologies. Discrepancies between cytology and histology were primarily the result of inadequate sampling and evidence of mixed patterns on FNA mapping. FNA cytology is a minimally invasive method of obtaining testicular tissue for diagnostic purposes. These data demonstrate that FNA cytology can evaluate accurately all classically defined histologic types, and may have the potential to replace testis biopsy in the assessment of spermatogenesis.
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PMID:Testicular fine-needle aspiration in infertile men: correlation of cytologic pattern with biopsy histology. 1114 54

Infertility may be a consequence of cryptorchidism. We previously reported, using a large study cohort, that 38% of formerly bilateral cryptorchid men, 10% of unilateral cryptorchid men, and 5% of the control group were infertile. Men from this cohort donated blood and semen samples for inhibin B, FSH, LH, testosterone, free testosterone, and semen analyses. Results are reported comparing the entire group; some comparisons are based on normal or low sperm density. Data are also presented for men who had fathered children or had unsuccessfully attempted paternity. Mean (+/-SD) inhibin B levels were lower for the cryptorchid men (109 +/- 59 pg/mL) than the control men (153 +/- 60; P < 0.001), and FSH levels were higher (7.4 +/- 6.2 and 4.0 +/- 3.2; P < 0.0001). Inhibin B levels correlated with all other parameters for the cryptorchid group; however, correlations for the control group were only found with gonadotropins. Among the cryptorchid men, levels were significantly greater among men with normal sperm counts than men with low sperm counts (124 +/- 47 vs. 75 +/- 48 pg/mL; P < 0.0001). No difference was present for the control group (155 +/- 61 vs. 149 +/- 63 pg/mL). When the fertile group (based on paternity) vs. the infertile group (based on attempted paternity) were compared, significant differences were found for the cryptorchid group (117 +/- 62 vs. 73 +/- 52 pg/mL; P < 0.03), but not the control group (163 +/- 62 vs. 146 +/- 73 pg/mL). These data reveal relationships not apparent among the control group of men, which includes infertile men. Inhibin B data suggest that a larger portion of formerly cryptorchid men have compromised testicular function than indicated by paternity data. Low levels of inhibin B among individuals are an indication of diminished seminiferous tubule function and thus compromised potential for fertility. Low inhibin B levels together with elevated FSH levels and decreased sperm density are indicative of a high risk of infertility.
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PMID:Inhibin B: comparison with indexes of fertility among formerly cryptorchid and control men. 1139 57

The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experiences of Chinese men who were diagnosed as infertile. Thirty men who had experienced infertility were interviewed in or near the clinic of a large general teaching hospital located in Taiwan. The interviews were analyzed using content analysis. Five categories were generated from the interview data: emotional response after hearing the diagnosis; seeking possible explanations for the diagnosis; using alternative treatments other than those of Western medicine; stressfrom the discovery of the infertility secret by family, relatives, and friends; and grief for discontinuation of the family heritage. Men in this study described infertility as a frustrating and stressful experience. Findings from this study can add to the knowledge base on infertility and contribute to recommendations for improving the ways that health professionals guide, counsel, and support men who are infertile.
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PMID:The Chinese experience of male infertility. 1167 97

Microdeletions of the long arm of the Y chromosome (Yq) were described in men with idiopathic azoo- or oligozoospermia and seem to cause impairment of spermatogenesis. Deletion frequencies differ considerably among selected infertile men. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Yq microdeletions in patients with idiopathic infertility. Men with azoospermia or oligozoospermia resulting from endocrine or obstructive causes or with a constitutional cytogenetic anomaly were excluded. Ninety-seven patients presenting at infertility centers in Leipzig and Zurich were included in the study. Sixty-four (66%) of them were severely oligozoospermic (sperm concentrations < 5 x 10(6)/mL) and 33 (36%) were azoospermic. A sequence-tagged site (STS) PCR strategy was applied for the microdeletion screening. Thirteen STS markers spanning the whole euchromatic region of Yq were used. No Y-chromosomal microdeletion could be detected in these 97 infertile men. This result suggests a much lower Yq deletion frequency than previously thought, even among strictly selected patients with idiopathic azoo- or oligozoospermia.
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PMID:Absence of Yq microdeletions in infertile men. 1169 38

Recent advances in human cryobiology have been substantially greater than the first slow step from freezing spermatozoa in animals in Italy, published in 1776 to observing motility in frozen-thawed human sperm in 1938(1). Reports on cryopreservation of rabbit oocytes (1947)(1) and births from fertilised frozen-thawed mice oocytes in 1977(1) were soon followed by the first human pregnancy (1983)(1) and birth (1984)1 following transfer of frozen-thawed embryos after in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Whereas cryopreservation of human sperm and embryos in tertiary level fertility centres is now commonplace, the full clinical, scientific and sociological consequences of progress in this rapidly moving field are to be determined. These include pregnancy with frozen-thawed human mature, oocytes after conventional IVF (1986)4, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)(5) (1996), pregnancies following use of frozen-thawed mature (1995)(5,6) and immature oocytes (1999)(7), ovarian tissue banking (8) and possible autografting (1999)(9) as well as repeated freeze-thawing of male gametes and of embryos (10,11). Cryopreservation of female and male gametes instead of embryos offer solutions of obvious religious, ethical, legal and clinical problems. In addition, there may be benefits in reducing the cost of infertility treatment, improving the safety of fertility treatment with respect to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and repeated treatment with controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, prevention of diseases such as sexually transmitted diseases and hereditary disorders and preventing infertility by possible long-term storage of gametes, gonadal tissue and even embryos. The benefits of cryopreservation of sperm, oocytes and embryos in the management of subfertile couples, many being self-evident to some, bear emphasis. Cryopreservation of sperm offers substantial organisational, cost and social advantages in IVF/ICSI treatment, in that it is no longer necessary for both partners to be present at the time of oocyte retrieval, or to have the sperm retrieval done simultaneously, as frozen-thawed sperm (ejaculatory, epididymal or testicular) can be used. This strategy permits men in the latter two categories to be able to support their partners at the time of oocyte retrieval, with the knowledge that their sperm surgically obtained some time previously, is available. It is now clear that, in men with obstructive azoospermia, the use of fresh or frozen-thawed sperm will yield equivalent fertilisation rates following ICSI. In men with non-obstructive azoospermia, with a 60% chance only of obtaining sperm from the testicular aspiration or biopsy, the option could be cryopreservation of the sperm harvested first and later controlled ovarian hyperstimulation of the female partner, to use thawed sperm which will lead to equivalent fertilisation rates using fresh sperm. Thus, one may avoid cost of treatment of the female in those couples who do not wish to use donor sperm as a back-up in the 40% of men from whom sperm is not obtained. Important consequences of cryopreservation of gametes and gonadal tissue are likely to be in the area of prevention of hereditary and familial diseases, as cryopreservation of oocytes, sperm, embryos and blastocysts is exploited fully in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) strategies12. Embryo biopsy now permits screening to identify normal embryos from couples who are carriers of known single gene defects and hereditary disorders and the list of these conditions is expanding rapidly. PGD is feasible on frozen-thawed blastomeres even if cells have lysed after thawing, providing information relevant for surviving blastomeres or blastocysts. But what of the gene probes which will soon deluge us on the completion of the Human Genome Project? Can we anticipate benefits and consider proposing that couples with familial disorders, whether degenerative e.g. Type 2 Diabetes, or malignant conditions such as cancer of the ovary, breast and colon? Should we cryopreserve oocytes/sperm/embryos for the purposes of PGD once the markers are available? Cryobiology indeed provides hope now for women and men with neoplastic diseases, who are about to receive oncotherapy for malignancies which inevitably will render them sterile. Men may now freeze epididymal, testicular as well as ejaculatory sperm as ICSI has revolutionalised the treatment of male infertility. It might be likely that testicular tissue from prepubertal boys can be cryopreserved with a reasonable expectation that techniques will soon be developed to effect maturation of spermatogonia in-vivo or in-vitro13. The greatest advance is likely to be for women suffering from reproductive cancer, who may now consider mature and immature oocytes being frozen or vitrified with a reasonable chance of fertilisation by ICSI later, as well as the cryopreservation and storage of ovarian cortex tissue biopsies. Work is proceeding still to refine techniques of in-vitro maturation of frozen-thawed immature oocytes, and the frozen-thawed ovarian cortex tissue slices. The potential benefits will not only be to female fertility for the latter conditions but endocrine disorders as well as by autotransplantation (1999)9. Currently, ovarian tissue banking8 is being considered by women undergoing procedures or treatment which could destroy ovarian function with quite realistic but cautious expectations of preserving ovarian function, but tomorrow women may consider banking ovarian tissue as insurance against childlessness because of the risk of disorders in the reproductive tract (endometriosis, simple recurrent ovarian cysts) and even advancing years. For those who have conceived with surplus oocytes cryopreserved, anonymous oocyte donation is a possibility for the solution of ethical and legal problems. All over Europe, the age of women having their first child is dramatically increasing now being in their late twenties, with likely significant implications in the need to fertility treatment in the Millennium. Society has always been excited but understandably cautious about the prospect of whole body cryopreservation. Hippocrates would have argued that Society could separate medicine and its advances from religious views, dogma and prejudice and, on the present evidence, would probably have looked upon human cryobiology favourably. Human cryobiology is here to stay and society as well as the profession is addressing its relevance. There are clear signs that this technology can and will alleviate suffering by preventing genetic and familial diseases, infections and infertility as well as lowering the cost and social consequences of the treatment. For these reasons, further research in this field should be welcomed and supported.
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PMID:Cryobiology in human assisted reproductive technology. Would Hippocrates approve? 1175 34

Due to the large group of patients with advanced testicular cancer now being cured, it is important to identify the men who are at risk of deteriorated health. The purposes of this study were: (1) to delineate and compare frequency of self-perceived physical, psychologic, and general symptoms in men treated for testicular cancer with those of a general population sample and (2) to compare self-perceived physical, psychologic, and general symptoms in relation to secondary Raynaud phenomena, sexual dysfunction, infertility, and self-perceived attractiveness in different treatment modalities. The subjects were 277 survivors of testicular cancer (M = 42.2 years) who had completed a self-reported questionnaire (75.5% response rate). A population survey comprising 392 men was used as a comparison group (M = 45 years). The result demonstrated that although survivors of testicular cancer as a group reported significantly less frequency of backache, leg pain, cough, and eye problems than did the general population sample, they described that they significantly more often felt cold. Men reporting secondary Raynaud phenomena, infertility, and/or feeling less attractive had experienced significantly more self-perceived symptoms. Oncologist nurses could play an important role in psychologic counseling for those men.
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PMID:Self-perceived physical, psychologic, and general symptoms in survivors of testicular cancer 3 to 13 years after treatment. 1204 Feb 27


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