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Query: UNIPROT:P56851 (epididymal)
 11,273 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The flow rate and composition of boar rete testis fluid were similar to those in other species studied previously. The total phospholipid phosphorus and phospholipid fatty acid content of boar spermatozoa decreased during maturation in the epididymis but the level of phospholipid phosphorus was slightly higher in ejaculated spermatozoa than in epididymal spermatozoa. During passage of the spermatozoa from the testis to the cauda epididymidis, loss of the major saturated acids (palmitic, 16:0, and stearic, 18:0) was extensive but partly recovered in the ejaculated spermatozoa. The mass of docosapentaenoic (22:5) and docosahexaenoic (22:6) acids tended to decrease continuously during maturation but the percentage of 22:6 by weight of total phospholipid fatty acid reached a maximum in the epididymis. Ejaculated boar spermatozoa contained considerably more phospholipid and phospholipid fatty acid than did ejaculated bull or ram spermatozoa.
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PMID:Lipid changes in boar spermatozoa during epididymal maturation with some observations on the flow and composition of boar rete testis fluid. 51 1

Spermatozoa do not achieve full maturation and fertilizing capacity until passage through the epididymis. During this time they also gain motility, although spermatozoa do not move until after ejaculation. The organic fraction of human seminal plasma contains phosphate esters, particularly glycerylphosphorylcholine (GPC), phosphorylcholine (PCh), and inorganic phosphate (Pi). GPC is found in relatively high concentrations in the semen of many male animals, including man. GPC is synthesized by the epithelial cells of the epididymis, apparently under androgenic control. Consequently, it has been suggested that GPC might be a useful indicator of epididymal function. We have measured GPC, Pi, and PCh in fresh and frozen semen samples, using phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance (31P NMR). All samples were assayed for phosphate esters. It was found that PCh was totally hydrolized to Pi. The average ratio of GPC to total phosphate (TP = GPC + Pi) remained constant at a value of about 0.1 for sperm counts over 20 million/ml. The ratio for azoospermic specimens was 0.02 or less; the same results were obtained from vasectomy specimens. This finding indicates that most of the GPC comes from the epididymis. There was a significant correlation between motility, progression, and the GPC ratio. Poor motility and progression in the specimens were accompanied by low GPC ratios regardless of the sperm counts.
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PMID:The role of phosphate esters in male fertility. 71 Jun 5

Plerocercoids of the tapeworm, Spirometra mansonoides, produce a potent growth stimulating substance which is active in several species of mammals. While most of the actions of the plerocercoid growth factor (PGF) are similar to those of growth hormone (GH), lipid metabolism is one area where their actions are not alike. This report demonstrates that plerocercoid infection not only stimulates growth of intact male hamsters but is lipogenic as well. The lipogenic effects of plerocercoid infection were demonstrated by increases in epididymal fat pad weights, serum triglycerides, cholesterol, and total lipid. The livers of the plerocercoid-infected hamsters also had more cholesterol and more lipid phosphorus than controls. Incorporation studies using [2-14C]acetate showed that infected hamsters incorporated significantly higher levels of the radionuclide in their livers and serum after 1 hr than the controls. The lipogenic effect of plerocercoid infection is distinctly unlike the reported lipolytic action of GH and the lack of any stimulation of [2-14C]acetate incorporation into the epididymal fat pads is unlike the reported acute actions of insulin as well.
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PMID:A lipogenic effect in intact male hamsters infected with plerocercoids of the tapeworm, Spirometra mansonoides. 88 6

In colony-bred Wistar rats maintained for several weeks on a high-percent fatty food (fat content 50%) compared with controls (3% fat in food) the concentrations of the following lipids were determined quantitatively: In serum lipid phosphorus (Lip. P.), free fatty acids (FFA), triglycerides (TG), free cholesterole (FC) and cholesteryl ester (CE), in liver Lip. P,TG, FC and CE, in epididymal adipose tissue Lip. P. FFS and TG. With increasing weight differences between the two animals groups, in the phase of steady weight growth (,,dynamic phase", age of investigation 9 weeks, after 4 weeks on fatty food) a significant rise in serum FFS over the controls is observed with increases in TG and CE concentrations in the liver. After about 20 weeks of life the weight growth slows down; in this subsequent "static phase" the TG and CE accumulation in the liver further increases. Investigation of the epididymal adipose tissue suggests hypertrophy of the adipose cells. The results obtained with both phases are discussed with regard to possible metabolic alterations.
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PMID:[Changes in the lipid concentration in serum, liver and adipose tissue in alimentary obesity in Wistar rats]. 99 14

In their transit from the caput to the cauda segments of the epididymis, rat spermatozoa undergo significant modifications in lipid content and composition. The amount of lipid phosphorus per cell decreases, and most lipid classes show specific changes in their constituent fatty acids. A depletion of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, concomitant with a virtually unchanged amount of the corresponding plasmalogens, are the major alterations, plasmenylcholine thereby becoming the major phospholipid. Diphosphatidylglycerol, sphingomyelin and the phosphoinositides decrease to a lesser extent or do not change at all, also resulting in relative increases with sperm maturation. Concerning the fatty acids, the proportions of oleate (C18:1, n-9) and linoleate (C18:2, n-6) in most lipids decrease on movement of sperm from caput to cauda, augmenting in turn the proportions of longer-chain (C20 to C24) and more unsaturated fatty acids. Docosapentaenoate (C22:5, n-6) is a major acyl chain present in all lipids at both stages, but uncommon long-chain polyenoic fatty acids of the n-9 series are also present, being almost exclusively found in the choline glycerophospholipids. These fatty acids are found to undergo the most significant changes during sperm maturation. They are minor components of plasmenylcholine in immature spermatozoa, but increase severalfold on maturation, representing more than half of the acyl chains of this major lipid in cells from the cauda. The high concentration of n-9 polyenes in mature sperm plasmenylcholine raises intriguing questions on the possible role epididymal cells may play in providing spermatozoa with such an unusual phospholipid. These plasmenylcholines could contribute to the characteristic lipid domain organization of the mature spermatozoa plasma membrane.
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PMID:Lipid remodelling during epididymal maturation of rat spermatozoa. Enrichment in plasmenylcholines containing long-chain polyenoic fatty acids of the n-9 series. 156 71

Glycerylphosphorylcholine (GPC), one of the major phosphorus-containing-choline compounds of seminal plasma, is secreted mainly by the epididymal epithelium under androgenic control. This study reports a new method that uses chemiluminescence to determine seminal GPC content, comparing it with a spectrophotometric technique. The results, obtained with both techniques studying 20 fertile patients (as control), 35 infertile patients with normospermia, 23 infertile patients with oligozoospermia and impaired motility and 9 patients with excretory azoospermia, demonstrate that the GPC chemiluminescent assay is more sensitive, simple and rapid than the spectrophotometric assay. Our data confirm that GPC may be used as a marker of vas deferens and ejaculatory duct perviousness, suggesting a possible role of this glycerophosphodiester in sperm motility.
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PMID:A highly sensitive chemiluminescent assay for glycerylphosphorylcholine in human seminal plasma. 177 88

The present study is to investigate the pathological changes in the epididymis of the rats within a period of 90 days after third degree phosphorus burns involving 30% of TBSA. By light microscopy and electron microscopy and histochemistry, varying degrees of degeneration and necrosis of epididymal epithelial cells, peritubular tissues and luminal spermatozoa and degenerative spermatid were found. The occurrence and development of all these changes might be divided into: the initiation and reaction phase of injury; the advanced phase; and the recovering phase. It is considered that epididymal tissue damage in advanced phase is so extensive and severe that the morphological, physiological and metabolic maturation of the spermatozoa may be affected, and the storing function of the epididymis as well. With the recovery of the burns, there was repair of the damaged tissues, and it could be inferred that the effect of phosphorus burns on the long-term reproductive capacity of male animals is probably mild.
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PMID:[Pathological changes in epididymis of rats after phosphorus burns and mechanism of development]. 178 88

To evaluate the usefulness of phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS) in assessing male infertility, we compared it with conventional semen analysis. Specimens were obtained from otherwise healthy patient groups as follows: group A, 7 fertile control subjects; group B, 12 azoospermic men after vasectomy; and group C, 11 patients presenting for infertility evaluation. Correlations between established semen analysis parameters and the 31P-MRS-derived ratio of glycerylphosphorylcholine to total phosphate (GPC/TP) were investigated. Group A controls had a mean GPC/TC ratio of 0.10 +/- 0.05, which was the same as that of group C. With the exception of significantly lowered motility and normal morphology in group C (p less than 0.001 and 0.05, respectively) semen analysis parameters in these two groups were similar. In contrast, the GPC/TP ratio in group B (0.05 +/- 0.04) was significantly different from the control (p less than 0.05), which appropriately reflected complete vasal occlusion. The results suggest that a significant portion of seminal GPC is derived from epididymal secretion and that 31P-MRS is useful for monitoring the GPC/TP levels when assessing epididymal function and male infertility.
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PMID:Assessment of male infertility: correlation between results of semen analysis and phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy. 291 84

The specific activity of the gamma-32P position of ATP was measured in various tissue preparations by two methods. One employed HPLC and the enzymatic conversion of ATP to glucose 6-phosphate and ADP. The other was based on the phosphorylation of histone by catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (Hawkins, P.T., Michell, R.H. and Kirk, C.J. (1983) Biochem. J. 210, 717-720). The HPLC method also allowed the incorporation of 32P into the (alpha + beta)-positions of ATP to be determined. In rat epididymal fat-pad pieces and fat-cell preparations the specific activity of [gamma-32P]ATP attained a steady-state value after 1-2 h incubation in medium containing 0.2 mM [32P]phosphate. Addition of insulin or the beta-agonist isoprenaline increased this value by 5-10% within 15 min. Under these conditions the steady-state specific activity of [gamma-32P]ATP was 30-40% of the initial specific activity of the medium [32P]phosphate. However, if allowance was made for the change in medium phosphate specific activity during incubations the equilibration of the gamma-phosphate position of ATP with medium phosphate was greater than 80% in both preparations. The change in medium phosphate specific activity was a combination of the expected equilibration of [32P]phosphate with exchangeable intracellular phosphate pools plus the net release of substantial amounts of tissue phosphate. At external phosphate concentrations of less than 0.6 mM the loss of tissue phosphate to the medium was the major factor in the change in medium phosphate specific activity. It is concluded that little advantage is gained in employing external phosphate concentrations of less than 0.6 mM in experiments concerned with the incorporation of phosphate into proteins and other intracellular constituents. Indeed, a low external phosphate concentration may cause depletion of important intracellular phosphorus-containing components.
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PMID:Studies on the specific activity of [gamma-32P]ATP in adipose and other tissue preparations incubated with medium containing [32P]phosphate. 351 72

Sperm nuclear zinc content (expressed as zinc/phosphorus and zinc/sulphur ratios) was determined with X-ray microanalysis in individual, air-dried, epididymal spermatozoa from elderly men, and in ejaculated spermatozoa from healthy donors. Ejaculated sperm nuclei contained (also after treatment with sodium dodecyl sulphate) more zinc than epididymal spermatozoa. The results indicate that the human spermatozoon accumulates zinc from the prostatic fluid upon ejaculation.
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PMID:Nuclear zinc in human epididymal and ejaculated spermatozoa. 407 13


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