Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0848676 (male subfertility)
 265 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The average person in Hong Kong consumes fish or shellfish four or more times a week averaging about 60 Kg of fish per year. Even though the mean mercury level in store-bought Hong Kong fish was only 0.12 mg/kg, corroborating evidence is presented from numerous studies to support the view that mercury bioaccumulates. By the time a typical Hong Kong male reaches 30 years of age he will have accumulated approximately 4 mg/kg mercury in his hair. By age 60, his hair mercury levels will have increased to about 7.5 mg/kg. Hair is a useful indicator of mercury exposure. In the U.S. over a million hair samples have been examined for mercury (mean, 1.5 mg/kg). The mean hair mercury concentration for over 200 Hong Kong residents was 3.3 mg/kg which is more than double the U.S. mean (well over one standard deviation above the U.S. mean). Two lines of evidence support the hypothesis that fish is the major source of methyl mercury in the diet of Hong Kong residents. 1. Individuals consuming 4 or more meals of fish per week had a hair mercury of 4.07 mg/kg dry weight of hair while those consuming fish less frequently had significantly lower levels (2.56 mg/kg). 2. Hong Kong residents that consume no fish had only 0.38 mg/kg hair mercury. The World Health Organization has adopted the U.S. EPA levels for mercury and recommends that food with mercury concentrations of 0.5 mg/kg or more should not be sold for human consumption. Data presented in this paper are consistent with the notion that adoption of a 0.3 mg/kg mercury guideline would benefit residents in countries where rates of fish consumption are significantly higher than in the U.S. Japan, for example, has already adopted a 0.3 mg/kg mercury guideline. In Hong Kong there is a significant correlation (p < 0.05) between male subfertility and the level of mercury in the hair of males between the ages of 25 and 75. Our study of individuals who have been eating mercury contaminated fish steadily for many years suggests that a daily mercury intake of only 0.3 to 0.7 mg/kg body weight may be sufficient to inhibit spermatogenesis in some Hong Kong males. Male subfertility has been correlated with both elevated mercury and the presence of various organochlorines in the diet. To determine whether fish sold in Hong Kong with elevated levels of mercury also had elevated levels of organochlorines we analyzed fish for both mercury and organochlorine content of their dorsal muscle tissue. Because analysis of fish tissue for lipids and a wide range of organochlorines is both very time consuming and expensive, only 15 different species of fish were tested. Organochlorine concentrations were low and there was no correlation between mercury and organochlorine in the 15 fish tested for both organochlorines and mercury. As a result of these tests we concluded that mercury could not be ruled out as the principal causal factor associated with the lack of fertility in Hong Kong males.
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PMID:Mercury and organochlorine exposure from fish consumption in Hong Kong. 971 48

Currently, in highly developed, industrialized countries male factors are identified as the primary cause of infertility in about 60% of childless couples. Standard semen analysis parameters, such as sperm morphology, number and motility, are important in predicting the fertility of large populations, but they are not sufficient to fully specify a particular donor sperm's ability to fertilize the egg. The semen also comprises components, which may also affect sperm fertilizing ability and which have thus far remained little explored: the biochemical parameters of the seminal plasma secreted by the testis, the seminiferous tubules and the prostate gland, such as: matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) and their specific tissue inhibitors (TIMP-1 and TIMP-2). We highlight the need for a better determination of prooxidant-antioxidant balance parameters such as: melatonin, advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in human semen when establishing the diagnostics of male subfertility or infertility. We also discuss their connection with seminal plasma metalloproteinases and their inhibitors. In particular, we believe that the cumulative and synergic effects of the sperm redox parameters on male fertility need to be better explored and we suggest that they should be studied in conjunction with other biologically active parameters of the ejaculate such as the expression of metalloproteinases and their tissue inhibitors. This will enable a better understanding of how their correlated effects impact semen condition.
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PMID:Melatonin, advanced oxidation protein products and total antioxidant capacity as seminal parameters of prooxidant-antioxidant balance and their connection with expression of metalloproteinases in context of male fertility. 2937 40