Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P56851 (epididymal)
 11,273 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Dibromochloropropane (DBCP) is an effective nematocide which was shown to suppress spermatogenesis and cause infertility in men and rats exposed to the compound. These damages were described only after 6-8 weeks post injection. The present study was set to detect the early development of the testicular damages. Rats were injected s.c. with DBCP 50 mg/kg. Control animals were injected with the vehicle alone (DMSO). Groups of animals were sacrificed 24 h, 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks post injection. Body weight of DBCP treated animals was reduced from the second week post injection. Organs' weights of the DBCP treated rats, corrected for differences in body weights, were similar to those of controls. Four weeks post injection testes and accessory gland weights were significantly reduced as compared with controls. Percentage of damaged tubules in the DBCP treated animals were elevated from 16.6 +/- 3.5 at the first day to 70.2 +/- 6.4 at the 4th weeks. Concomitantly with the advance of tubular damage was a reduction in epididymal sperm count in the DBCP treated rats. One week post injection histological changes were evident. These included multinucleated giant cells and tubules blocked with sperm granuloma. It seems that alterations of spermatogenesis appear earlyer and are already noticeable one week post injection.
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PMID:Testicular damage development in rats injected with dibromochloropropane (DBCP). 319 26

Surgical treatment for obstructive azoospermia was introduced about 30 years ago with the development of Bayle's vasoepididymal fistula technique (Bayle: Enc Med Chir 41:435, 1966). More recently this has been replaced by single tubule end-to-end microvasoepididymal bypass procedures with improved success rates. We describe the use of animal models in the development and application of a modified end-to-end microanastomosis technique in which the vas deferens is attached to a single surface convolution of the ductus epididymidis. In comparison with other microvasoepididymostomy (micro-VE) procedures, this technique results in less postoperative scarring and allows for easier access to the epididymis in those patients requiring subsequent epididymal surgery. With this procedure 60% of patients produced spermatozoa after operation, and 10% of 102 patients have so far achieved pregnancies. For patients, such as those with congenital absence of the vasa deferentia, whose infertility cannot be corrected by microvasoepididymal surgery, we describe a microaspiration procedure that can be used to collect spermatozoa from the epididymis for use in in vitro fertilization (IVF). This procedure has a low success rate at present, with an 18% fertilization and 3% pregnancy rate per cycle. Improvements in treatment procedures for aspirated sperm samples, such as the use of motility stimulators and in vitro maturation by coculture with epididymal tubule segments before IVF, may enhance the success for this technique. Microinjection of sperm collected by epididymal microaspiration into oocytes may be an alternative method of treatment for these patients in the future. Two procedures (microepididymoepididymostomy and the vas bridge bypass) that are currently being modelled in the rabbit may provide new directions for epididymal microsurgery and for examining epididymal function. Although the two methods are technically more difficult than standard micro-VE procedures, preliminary studies are encouraging and suggest a future role for these techniques in treating obstructive azoospermia. Such techniques make use of the epididymis distal to the obstruction site and may be particularly important in improving the success of surgery for obstructive azoospermic patients with high-level obstructions in whom sperm quality following micro-VE surgery is often poor.
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PMID:Epididymal microsurgery: current techniques and new horizons. 323 Oct 76

Alpha-glucosidase, glycerophosphocholine, and L-carnitine were measured in sperm-free seminal plasma to determine whether these markers reflected the epididymal function of men attending an infertility clinic. The putative markers correlated well with each other (r = 0.66 to 0.70) and in 92% of 283 cases were accurate in categorizing semen as containing normal or subnormal amounts of markers. Glucosidase was considered the best index of epididymal function and was used for a further 306 samples. The ejaculate content of epididymal markers was correlated with testicular volume and serum testosterone below values of 30 ml and 30 nmol/l, respectively. Markers were also correlated with the concentration and motility of spermatozoa in semen. Seventy-one of 425 patients (17%) displayed subnormal epididymal secretions, mainly in association with hypogonadism (Klinefelter syndrome, Kallman syndrome, idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism) but also in cases of obstructed ducts, maldescended testicles, and local irradiation following hemicastration. Because azoospermic patients had reduced epididymal markers with both high and low FSH levels and a large proportion of men with reduced glucosidase and normal FSH suffered from testicular failure, it is suggested that other indices of testicular function are required for correct interpretation of reduced epididymal markers. Thirteen patients (3%) had low markers for which no cause was apparent; these may be cases of infertility due to isolated epididymal dysfunction.
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PMID:Epididymal markers in human infertility. 329 Jan 72

The present report focuses on novel animal models of male infertility: genetically defined mice bearing single-gene mutations that induce infertility. The primary goal of our investigations was to identify the reproductive defects in these mutant mice. The phenotypic effects of the gene mutations were deciphered by comparing the mutant mice to their normal siblings. Initially testicular steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis were investigated. The physiologic markers for testicular steroidogenesis were steroid secretion by testes perifused in vitro, seminal vesicle weight, and Leydig cell histology. Spermatogenesis was evaluated by the enumeration of homogenization-resistant sperm/spermatids in testes and by morphometric analyses of germ cells in the seminiferous epithelium. If testicular function appeared normal, we investigated the sexual behavior of the mice. The parameters of male sexual behavior that were quantified included mount patency, mount frequency, intromission latency, thrusts per intromission, ejaculation latency, and ejaculation duration. Females of pairs breeding under normal circumstances were monitored for the presence of vaginal plugs and pregnancies. The patency of the ejaculatory process was determined by quantifying sperm in the female reproductive tract after sexual behavior tests. Sperm function was studied by quantitatively determining sperm motility during videomicroscopic observation. Also, the ability of epididymal sperm to function within the uterine environment was analyzed by determining sperm capacity to initiate pregnancy after artificial insemination. Together, the experimental results permitted the grouping of the gene mutations into three general categories. We propose that the same biological markers used in the reported studies can be implemented in the assessment of the impact that environmental toxins may have on male reproduction.
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PMID:Animal models of physiologic markers of male reproduction: genetically defined infertile mice. 331 49

Ninety-six couples, consulting for primary (n = 73) or secondary (n = 23) infertility, and thought to be infertile due to a varicocele in the husband associated with sperm abnormalities, were subjected to a follow-up study. Of these, 57 were surgically corrected and 39 were not, depending only on the patient's choice. All women were intensively treated where necessary. All patients who were corrected were subjected to scrotal exploration in a search for epididymal anomalies. From our data we conclude that (1) on a statistical basis, comparing observed with expected pregnancy rates, varicocelectomy is useful in primary infertility and unnecessary in secondary infertility and (2) on an individual basis, patients with primary infertility and 'pure' varicoceles have a better prognosis than patients with concomitant epididymal dysfunction.
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PMID:Clinical aspects in the surgical treatment of varicocele in subfertile men. II. The role of the epididymal factor. 333 8

Experimental and clinical data reported in the literature emphasize the important role that immune factors may play in the genesis of male infertility even if many problems still remain to be solved. Auto or homo-sensitization in animals (and in male volunteers) can be obtained with testicular homogenate or epididymal spermatozoa and complete Freund's adjuvant. Immune orchitis in spontaneous human pathology has also been reported. Vasectomy for the voluntary control of male fertility may be considered a particular form of experimental autoimmunization; and many vasectomized individuals develop antisperm antibodies in blood serum and/or in seminal plasma. In spontaneous male infertility antisperm antibodies can: (i) be a mere epiphenomenon; (ii) be a factor aggravating a pathologic situation already able to cause infertility; (iii) play a pathogenetic role in some forms of so-called idiopathic infertility and so could be defined as infertility due to antisperm antibodies. If the antisperm autoimmune reaction represents the casual factor of infertility, corticosteroid therapy seems to give the most satisfactory results, administered either in high doses for a very short time period or in low doses over a prolonged period, or even after transient pharmacologically induced azoospermia.
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PMID:Immunobiology of male infertility. 335 Sep 39

Reproduction studies were performed with ornidazole, a compound with trichomonacidal activity. Male rats were treated for 61 days prior to mating and female rats were treated for 2 weeks prior to mating and throughout gestation and lactation at doses of 0 (control), 25, 100, and 400 mg of ornidazole/kg/day. A decrease in the pregnancy rate was observed in high-dose rats without altered mating performance. Crossover matings between high-dose treated and control male and female rats showed that male but not female fertility was affected and that the effect on fertility was reversible within several days after the cessation of treatment. Testicular and epididymal weights were not altered in treated male rats. Histopathological examination revealed that spermatogenesis and the testes were normal and that the epididymides of treated male rats contained normal appearing sperm. It is concluded that ornidazole, at high dosages, produces infertility in the male rat; however, unlike many other 5-nitroimidazole compounds which are reported to inhibit spermatogenesis, no effect on spermatogenesis was observed under the conditions of these studies. This in conjunction with the rapid reversibility of infertility suggests that the mode of action of ornidazole involves a rapidly reversible effect on epididymal sperm function.
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PMID:Reproduction studies in rats treated with ornidazole. 335 92

A comprehensive study of male fertility and sperm production and function was performed in 20 control and 20 rats treated with ornidazole, a compound with trichomonacidal activity. Rats were treated for 4 weeks at dosages of 0 (control) and 400 mg/kg/day of ornidazole during which fertility was assessed by weekly matings. Testicular sperm production and epididymal sperm function were assessed in one-half of the rats while the reversibility of effects after a 2-week recovery period was assessed in the remaining half. Male rats treated with ornidazole were infertile during the second week of treatment. After 4 weeks of treatment, testicular and epididymal weights, testicular spermatid counts, epididymal sperm reserves, sperm morphology, and sperm viability were similar in treated and control rats. A quantitative assessment of epididymal sperm motility using a dark-field photomicroscope with a stroboscopic light source revealed that ornidazole markedly inhibited sperm motility. Although the percentage of nonmotile sperm was not substantially increased in treated rats, the vigor of tail movement was markedly decreased which resulted in decreased sperm velocity. Restoration of fertility and normal sperm motility and velocity were observed in the group of recovery rats assessed 2 weeks after the cessation of ornidazole treatment. It is concluded that ornidazole, at a high dosage of 400 mg/kg/day, produces infertility in male rats by inhibiting epididymal sperm motility in terms of decreased sperm velocity. These effects are rapidly reversible after the cessation of treatment.
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PMID:The effect of ornidazole on fertility and epididymal sperm function in rats. 335 93

The prevalence and pattern of circulating antisperm antibodies were assessed in the serum of Korean males undergoing vasectomy, vasovasostomy, epididymovasostomy and in a control group of men with normal semen by means of the gelatin agglutination test and the tray agglutination test. Sperm-agglutinating antibodies in serum were positive at a titre of 1:32 or greater in 3% of normospermic control males and in 27% of vasectomized men. No significant changes were observed in prevalence of the antibodies over the period following vasectomy. There were no significant differences in prevalence of antibodies in patients with and without postoperative sperm granulomas. Antibodies were positive in 35% of vasectomized men just prior to vasovasostomy and in 29% of patients 12 months after a successful (patent) reversal operation. There was no significant difference in prevalence of antibodies in patients with successful and unsuccessful vasovasostomies. Antibodies were positive in 20% of men who achieved pregnancies and in 43% of those with persisting infertility in the presence of a patent vasovasostomy. Sperm agglutinating antibodies were present in 5% of the patients with pathological epididymal obstruction. They were negative in patients with a patent epididymovasostomy and positive in 17% of those with an unsuccessful epididymovasostomy. The four patients who achieved a pregnancy after epididymovasostomy were antibody-negative. The prevalence of antibodies in the serum of patients with azoospermia due to surgical vasal obstruction was higher than that in patients with azoospermia due to pathological epididymal obstruction. The agglutination patterns produced by sperm antibodies in the total group of positive sera were tail-to-tail in 56%, head-to-head in 30% and mixed in 14%.
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PMID:Sperm auto-immunity associated with vasectomy, vasovasostomy and epididymovasostomy in Korean males. 350 29

An antiserum raised against human epididymal proteins associated with ejaculated sperm was used to test the hypothesis that the amount and/or localization of these antigens may be altered in men with infertility. With the use of immunofluorescence we found that in sperm from fertile donors 88.4% of the cells had the antigens localized over the acrosomal cap only and 1.3% had most of the antigens at extraacrosomal sites. Fifteen of the 26 infertile men (P1) studied had a similar relative distribution of antigens, but the remaining 11 patients (P2) had a 38-fold increase in cells with extraacrosomal localization of the antigens (40%, P less than 0.005). Using flow cytometry to quantitate immunofluorescence, content of antigen on sperm from patients from population P1 (680 +/- 60 V X 10(-4)) was not different from that of control (835 +/- 53 V X 10(-4], whereas it was significantly lower in sperm from patients from population P2 (554 +/- 64 V X 10(-4), P less than 0.005). Differences could not be correlated with parameters measured by routine semen analysis. Our results suggest a possible relationship between the decreased amount of epididymal antigens or their altered localization on sperm and the infertility of patients from population P2.
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PMID:Abnormal distribution of epididymal antigens on spermatozoa from infertile men. 354 10


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