Role of environmental factors & oxidative stress with respect to fertilization outcome.

Background & Objectives: Oxidative stress, lifestyle factors as also exposure to certain environmental factors are known to affect the fertility status in human beings. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of OS and lifestyle and environmental factors affecting IVF outcome.

Methods: A total of 253 couples were included, and biological samples such as blood, follicular fluid (FF), cumulus cells and semen were collected.

Assessment of estrogenic potential of di-n-butyl phthalate and butyl benzyl phthalate in vivo.

Phthalate compounds are widely used industrial chemicals; when incorporated into polyvinyl chloride, they are not covalently bound and released into the surrounding media. Some of them have estrogenic potential in vitro but data on in vivo studies are scanty. For the 3-day uterotrophic assay, di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP;10 and 100 mg/kg), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP; 20 and 200 mg/kg), and diethylstilbestrol (DES, 40 µg/kg, positive control) were administered orally to immature female rats for three consecutive days from postnatal day (PND) 21.

Assessment of genetic damage among chewers of mixture containing mainly areca nut and tobacco.

Unlabelled: Chewing mixture containing areca nut and tobacco is believed to be associated with oral cancer. Habit of chewing such mixture is prevalent among South Asian countries. This study aimed to evaluate the genotoxic effect of areca nut and tobacco on human lymphocytes.

Association between sperm quality, oxidative stress, and seminal antioxidant activity.

Objectives: To determine seminal antioxidant capacity, oxidative stress markers, and their association with semen quality as oxidative stress is considered to be a major etiological factor in male infertility.

Subjects And Methods: Semen samples were obtained from 138 men and categorized on the basis of sperm count, motility, and morphology. Seminal oxidative and antioxidant markers are as follows: lipid peroxidation (LPO), protein carbonyls (PC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), thiols, and ascorbic acid were determined.

Semen quality of industrial workers occupationally exposed to chromium.

A total of sixty-one subjects occupationally exposed to chromium in an industry which manufactures chromium sulphate and fifteen control subjects from a nearby industry which does not manufacture any chromium related compounds were studied. The history of each subject was recorded on pre-designed form through interview and a routine medical examination was carried out. Blood samples (5-6 ml) were collected for the estimation of chromium and semen samples were collected for semen analysis and the determination of copper and zinc levels in the seminal plasma.