Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0432222 (SEM)
 47,337 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Varicocele is a common cause of male infertility; it can be treated by percutaneous retrograde embolization of the internal spermatic vein in order to improve sperm parameters and male fertility. The aim of this study was to verify the improvement of semen parameters after varicocele retrograde sclerotherapy. We evaluated 223 patients with left (206) or bilateral (17) varicocele (mean age +/- SD, 27.3 +/- 4.7 yr, range 18-37) by clinical, Doppler and seminal examinations; all the patients underwent phlebography, using 5F Cobra catheter from the right femoral vein access to the internal spermatic vein and varicocele sclerosing with Hydroxy-polyaethoxydodecanol. Doppler and seminal examinations 6 months after sclerotherapy were requested for the follow-up. Sixty-seven patients with left or bilateral varicocele who did not undergo sclerotherapy were studied as controls. Six months after sclerotherapy, a complete resolution of left varicocele was present in 172 patients (77.1%), while a partial improvement was obtained in 34 patients (15.3%). In these 206 patients seminal examination showed a significant improvement of sperm concentration (mean +/- SEM, 52.1 +/- 4.1 vs 44.2 +/- 3.6 million/ml, p = 0.002) and progressive motility (40.5 +/- 2.2 vs 33.3 +/- 2.0%, p = 0.0001), but not of normal sperm morphology (38.9 +/- 2.3 vs 37.4 +/- 2.1%, ns). In the control group no significant variations of seminal parameters were observed 6 months after the basal examination. In conclusion, varicocele retrograde sclerotherapy is a well-tolerated technique with a low cost-benefit ratio, able to improve semen parameters.
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PMID:Follow-up of varicocele treated with percutaneous retrograde sclerotherapy: technical, clinical and seminal aspects. 1500 41

The aim of the present study is to evaluate tissue nitric oxide (NO) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) levels in testicular tissue, and to determine their relationship with seminal parameters in order to explain possible effects on varicocele pathophysiology. Ten adult male Wistar rats at 8 weeks old underwent partial left renal vein ligation. A sham operation was performed on control rats in a second group of another ten rats. All animals were killed 4 weeks after surgery. The testes were removed and histological changes were observed by light microscopy with haematoxylin and eosin stain on half of each testis. The rest of testis was used for the evaluation of testicular tissue NO and TBARS levels. Epididymal aspirated seminal plasma was used for semen analysis and morphological analysis was carried out according to Kruger's criteria. Statistical analysis was performed by using Mann-Whitney U-tests and Spearman rank correlations between the two groups for NO and TBARS levels and for seminal parameters. Testicular tissue NO and TBARS levels (mean+/-SEM) were 62.8+/-10.1 micromol/g protein and 4.7+/-0.3 nmol/g protein in group 1. These parameters were 16.9+/-2.2 micromol/g protein and 3.1+/-0.2 nmol/g protein in the group 2 controls. There were significant differences between these parameters ( P(NO)=0.000, P(TBARS)=0.001). Although a positive and significant correlation between testicular tissue NO and TBARS levels was found ( r(s)=0.739, P=0.014), there was only a strong negative correlation between NO levels and sperm motility in group 1 ( r(s)=-0.815, P=0.004). We found that this effect of NO on sperm motility was independent from TBARS levels after regression analysis ( r(2)=-0.687, beta=0.825, P=0.034). Although there were statistically significant differences in seminal parameters between the two groups, there was no difference between them in the histopathological examination. We found that sperm motility was significantly related to testicular tissue NO levels only. Thus, we suggest that NO is an important mediator in the pathogenesis of varicocele. TBARS and other substances have been effective via NO pathways.
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PMID:Testicular tissue nitric oxide and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance levels: evaluation with respect to the pathogenesis of varicocele. 1520 52

Coenzyme Q10 in seminal fluid shows a direct correlation with seminal parameters except in patients with varicocele. To evaluate whether surgical treatment of varicocele could revert CoQ10 abnormalities, we have studied CoQ10 distribution in thirty-three VAR patients, before and 6-8 months after varicocelectomy, twenty patients with idiopathic oligozoospermia, eleven with isolated asthenozoospermia and sixteen normal fertile men. CoQ10 was assayed in total seminal fluid, plasma or cell pellet by HPLC. A significantly higher CoQ10 proportion in seminal plasma in VAR vs. controls (mean +/- SEM: 61.68 +/- 2.41 vs. 41.60 +/- 1.99%, respectively) was present; total CoQ10 correlated with sperm motility in controls, but not in VAR; an inverse correlation between cellular CoQ10 and motility was present in VAR, but not in controls. Postoperatively, a partial reversion was observed, since the plasma-to-total CoQ10 ratio decreased, but the correlation between total CoQ10 and motility was not restored. On the contrary, the peculiar correlation between cellular CoQ10 and motility was no more detectable in postoperative VAR patients. A partial postoperative reversal of abnormalities in CoQ10 distribution and correlation with seminal parameters was therefore present. As seminal plasma CoQ10 reflects an interchange between intracellular and extracellular compartments, its different distribution could cause a greater sensitivity to peroxidative damage and a reduced utilization for energetic purpose.
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PMID:Seminal antioxidants in humans: preoperative and postoperative evaluation of coenzyme Q10 in varicocele patients. 1603 15


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