Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0029713 (immaturity)
 4,335 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The ability of caput, corpus, and cauda epididymal and vasa deferentia mouse sperm to fertilize eggs in vitro was investigated. Cauda epididymal sperm fertilized 45 of 54 ova, whereas caput and corpus sperm fertilized a negligible number of ova, thus indicating their immaturity. Vasa deferentia sperm fertilized only 10 of 52 ova and their reduced fertility may be due to aging in vivo. No difference in preimplantation development of the resulting zygotes with respect to the sperm source was observed. Three centrifugations and resuspensions of cauda epididymal sperm in fresh medium did not affect their fertilizing ability. I conclude that fertilization in vitro can occur after removal of epididymal secretions.
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PMID:Fertilizing ability of mouse sperm from different epididymal regions and after washing and centrifugation. 113 68

Cryptorchidism is associated with impaired spermatogenesis and, at times, sterility. Early orchiopexy has been advocated as a possible means to prevent spermatogenic impairment and infertility in patients with cryptorchidism. This retrospective study is derived from data obtained from 74 cases that were observed during a period of approximately 10 years at our hospital. Particular attention was devoted to epididymal and vas deferens histological status. Of the 47 epididymides and vas deferens examined only 2 epididymides and 2 vas deferens showed histological maturity. The remainder showed varying degrees of immaturity that additionally correlated, when testicular tissue was available, with the presence of unfavorable testicular histological findings. Cryptorchidism is associated with changes in the gonads and spermatic duct system.
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PMID:Epididymal and vas deferens immaturity in cryptorchidism. 290 59

Ninety minutes after i.p. injection of 3 mumol of cadmium chloride/100 g body weight into immature, 15 day-old rats, the endothelial intercellular junctions of the caput epididymis capillaries showed none of the lesions such as loss of junctional associated ectoplasmic microfilaments, separation of interdigitated leaflets, disassembling of interendothelial tight junctions, passage of blood plasma and cells into the pericapillary space, platelet clumping and disintegration, and intracapillary clotting, which after the same dose are found in sexually mature rat epididymides. The resistance of the immature, physiologically intraabdominal epididymal capillary endothelium reminds one of the protection against cadmium that is brought about by surgical cryptorchidism in adult mature rats. We suggest that either local enzyme immaturity or the abdominal temperature (5 degrees C than scrotal temperature) may protect zinc enzymes against displacement by cadmium.
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PMID:Refractoriness of the immature rat epididymis to the early cadmium lesion. 763 33

Spermatozoa mature during epididymal transit, acquiring the abilities to swim progressively, fertilize oocytes, and produce viable offspring. In this study, we investigate the capacity of spermatozoa retrieved from the midcorpus and distal cauda regions of the epididymis of the cynomolgus monkey to penetrate homologous zona pellucida. Successful in vitro fertilization by ejaculated macaque sperm is dependent upon the addition of caffeine and dbcAMP. Therefore, the effect of these cyclic nucleotide mediators was also examined in this study. Results of sperm motion analysis indicate no difference in baseline values (without stimulators) for any motion parameter. With the addition of caffeine and dbcAMP, curvilinear velocity significantly increased only for the distal cauda sperm (P = 0.05). Amplitude of the lateral head displacement was significantly increased for distal cauda sperm (P < 0.01); although elevated above baseline, the increase observed after activation by corpus sperm was significantly lower than that achieved by cauda sperm (P < 0.05). The addition of caffeine and dbcAMP was an absolute requirement for zona penetration by both midcorpus and distal cauda sperm. With activation, zona penetration was significantly decreased for corpus sperm compared to cauda sperm (P < 0.001). These results suggest that cynomolgus monkey sperm reaching the midcorpus region of the epididymis have not completed all of the maturational changes requisite for successful fertilization; this immaturity is evidenced by decreased sperm motion and by impedance at the level of zona penetration.
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PMID:Effects of caffeine and dbcAMP on zona pellucida penetration by epididymal spermatozoa of cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). 905 45

The use of epididymal spermatozoa in assisted reproduction (ART) permits fertility in men with surgically irremediable obstructive azoospermia. When used for conventional IVF (sperm-oocyte co-culture), epididymal spermatozoa show reduced fertilization and pregnancy rates (compared with ejaculated spermatozoa from men with a range of spermatogenic disorders) as evidence of their functional immaturity. However, when used with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) either fresh or frozen-thawed epididymal spermatozoa produce ART success rates similar to those of ejaculated spermatozoa. The clinical place of epididymal sperm retrieval for ICSI has come under review as a result of data showing similarly good outcomes with testicular spermatozoa obtained by needle aspiration. In Australia ICSI using epididymal or testicular spermatozoa is an increasingly favoured option for vasectomy-related infertility and in other types of obstructive azoospermia for a number of reasons including better pregnancy outcomes, the less invasive nature of the procedures and less expense involved; however, this cost-benefit analysis will vary in other health systems.
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PMID:The use of epididymal spermatozoa in assisted reproduction. 1064 87

Spermatozoa become more susceptible to the attack of reactive oxygen species during maturation. To avoid oxidative damage, the epididymis must provide the necessary antioxidant protection. The aim of this study was to compare the canine sperm profile and the enzymatic antioxidant status of the ejaculated fractions and samples collected from the different segments of the epididymis (caput, corpus and cauda). Five adult dogs were used, and after 1-3 weeks, subsequently to bilateral orchiectomy and epididymal storage, sperm samples were collected from the different segments of the epididymis. Samples were evaluated for conventional microscopy and computer-assisted motility analysis: sperm plasma membrane permeability and the activity of the antioxidant enzymes catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Samples collected from the caput and corpus showed lower values for most of the motility variables evaluated, indicating different levels of immaturity. Catalase activity was observed only in ejaculated samples. Conversely, GPx activity was higher in the cauda epididymidis. Correlations were found between SOD and GPx and SOD and sperm motility in the epididymal cauda and corpus, highlighting the importance of the enzymes for the protection of spermatozoa during the transit along the epididymis.
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PMID:Sperm maturation in dogs: sperm profile and enzymatic antioxidant status in ejaculated and epididymal spermatozoa. 2396 63

Wistar Hannover rats have been utilized as one of major strains in regulatory toxicology studies. This study was performed to verify the appropriate age of male sexual maturity in the development and reproductive toxicity (DART) study in Wistar Hannover rats (RccHan:WIST) by comparing reproductive endpoints between 8, 10 and 12 weeks of ages. Although fertility showed a tendency toward decrease in 8-week-old males, copulation index was not different among three ages. Testis weights reached a plateau at 10 weeks of age, whereas weights of other reproductive organs developed until 12 weeks of age. Indices of spermatogenesis (sperm motility, number of sperm in the epididymis and testis and contents of morphologically abnormal sperm) showed age-related progress and did not fully develop except for 12-week-old. For histology, epididymal tubules in 8-week-old animals showed immaturity with tall epithelium. At cesarean section, dams mated with 8-week-old males showed high incidence of preimplantation loss and the number of live fetuses was less than 10. In conclusion, although reproductive performance attained maturity by age of 10 weeks, spermatogenesis was not fully established at 10-week-old, which could result in a low fertility index. Therefore, we recommend that Wistar Hannover male rats at 12-week-old or older are used to conduct DART study properly and evaluate any adverse effects on dams and embryo-fetal development.
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PMID:Effects of male sexual maturity of reproductive endpoints relevant to DART studies in Wistar Hannover rats. 2464 8

Since autophagy was suspected to occur in the pathological situation of varicocele (VCL), we have attempted to confirm it here using a surgical model of varicocele-induced rats. Thirty Wistar rats were divided into three groups (varicocele/sham/control) and analyzed two months after the induction of varicocele. Testicular tissue sections and epididymal mature sperm were then monitored for classic features of varicocele, including disturbance of spermatogenesis, impaired testicular carbohydrate and lipid homeostasis, decreased sperm count, increased sperm nuclear immaturity and DNA damage, oxidative stress, and lipid peroxidation. At the same time, we evaluated the Atg7 protein content and LC3-II/LC3-1 protein ratio in testis and mature sperm cells, two typical markers of early and late cellular autophagy, respectively. We report here that testis and mature sperm show higher signs of autophagy in the varicocele group than in the control and sham groups, probably to try to mitigate the consequences of VCL on the testis and germ cells.
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PMID:Signs of ROS-Associated Autophagy in Testis and Sperm in a Rat Model of Varicocele. 3235 74