Time-resolved Fluorescence and Generalized Polarization: Innovative tools to assess bull sperm membrane dynamics during slow freezing.

During slow freezing, spermatozoa undergo membrane alterations that compromise their ability of fertilizing. These alterations are cause either by cold shock or by the use of cryoprotectants known to be cytotoxic. However, little is known about the membrane changes that occurred during freezing.

Analysis of multivariate images in fluorescence microscopy.

A multivariate image is an image stack in which each pixel contains several variables. Such images are common in many fields (medicine, imaging microscopy, satellite imaging..

Apolipoprotein B is regulated by gonadotropins and constitutes a predictive biomarker of IVF outcomes.

Background: Follicular fluid (FF) is an important micro-environment influencing oocyte growth, its development competence, and embryo viability. The FF content analysis allows to identify new relevant biomarkers, which could be predictive of in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes. Inside ovarian follicle, the amount of FF components from granulosa cells (GC) secretion, could be regulated by gonadotropins, which play a major role in follicle development.

Male infertility: an obstacle to sexuality?

Interactions between infertility and sexuality are numerous and complex. Infertile men may suffer from sexual dysfunction (SD) when undergoing an assisted reproductive technology programme. We undertook a review both in French and English of the available data on male SD when being diagnosed with a fertility problem with a specific focus on azoospermic men.

Reproductive outcome in globozoospermic men: update and prospects.

Infertility affects approximately 15% of couples in reproductive age. Male infertility is estimated to represent about 20% of the etiologies. Among them, a rare type of teratozoospermia known as globozoospermia leads to disappointing pregnancy outcomes.

Number of Intermediate Follicles. An Independent Risk Factor of Multiple Pregnancies in Intrauterine Insemination Cycles with Recombinant Follicle-Stimulating Hormone.

Objective: To identify risk factors for multiple pregnancies in intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles with recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone (r-FSH).

Study Design: A retrospective study including 205 IUI cycles with r-FSH which led to clinical pregnancies was conducted. A total of 145, singleton pregnancies and 60 multiple pregnancies were compared according to clinical characteristics and parameters of ovarian stimulation and IUI procedure.

Impact on ICSI outcomes of adding 24 h of in vitro culture before testicular sperm freezing: a retrospective study.

Purpose: To compare sperm parameters and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcomes for testicular spermatozoa frozen on the day of the biopsy (DO) with those frozen after 24 h of in vitro culture (D1).

Methods: In this retrospective study, from 1999 to 2012, forty-nine azoospermic patients were included to compare sperm (motility and viability) and outcomes (fertilization (FR), implantation (IR), pregnancy (PR) and delivery rates (DR)).

Results: The in vitro culture increased total motility (+2.

Outcomes with intracytoplasmic sperm injection of cryopreserved sperm from men with spinal cord injury.

Background: Erectile dysfunction, ejaculatory dysfunction and poor semen quality are the main causes of infertility in men with spinal cord injury (SCI). Different sperm retrieval techniques such as penile vibratory stimulation (PVS), electro-ejaculation (EEJ) or surgical sperm retrieval (SSR) associated or not with sperm cryopreservation can be offered to these patients to preserve their fertility. If fatherhood cannot be achieved naturally, assisted reproductive techniques can be offered to these patients using either fresh or frozen/thawed sperm.

Similarly increased congenital anomaly rates after intrauterine insemination and IVF technologies: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: While intrauterine insemination (IUI), a simple, inexpensive and non-invasive technique, is the most used assisted reproduction technology (ART) worldwide, the risk of major birth defects following IUI is paradoxically not well documented.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study performed in Burgundy, France, over a 9-year period which consisted of the cross analysis of two prospective databases, the Burgundy perinatal network database and the database of the assisted conception units in Burgundy. A total of 1348 ART singletons [in vitro fertilization technologies (IVFT): n= 903; IUI: n= 445] matched with 4044 infants conceived naturally, 552 ART twins (IVFT: n= 362; IUI: n= 190) matched with 1656 twins who were conceived naturally.

Successful childbirth after intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection without assisted oocyte activation in a patient with globozoospermia.

We here report a successful pregnancy and healthy childbirth obtained in a case of total globozoospermia after intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI) without assisted oocyte activation (AOA). Two semen analyses showed 100% globozoospermia on classic spermocytogram. Motile sperm organelle morphology examination (MSOME) analysis at ×10,000 magnification confirmed the round-headed aspect for 100% of sperm cells, but 1% of the spermatozoa seemed to present a small bud of acrosome.

Prostasomes as potential modulators of tyrosine phosphorylation in human spermatozoa.

Prostasomes, vesicles present in human semen, are known to play a role in male fertility. However, the mechanisms involved are still poorly understood. The present study looks at the direct influence of different concentrations of prostasomes on human sperm function in conditions supporting capacitation in vitro.

How to demonstrate that eSET does not compromise the likelihood of having a baby?

Background: In several randomized studies, elective single embryo transfer (eSET) has proven its effectiveness in reducing twin pregnancy rates while obtaining acceptable overall pregnancy rates. However, there is no outcome measurement consensus to evaluate the effectiveness of eSET versus double-embryo transfer (DET).

Methods: This study evaluated whether or not adopting an eSET strategy instead of a DET strategy lowers the probability of having at least one live-born infant in good prognosis couples.

Fertilisation and pregnancy outcome after ICSI in globozoospermic patients without assisted oocyte activation.

The successful outcome of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with globozoospermic sperm and non-activated oocytes is reported. Three couples underwent ICSI treatment and two of the patients were siblings. Forty-four non-activated oocytes were injected, 26 oocytes fertilised normally and 17 good quality embryos were obtained.

Alix (AIP1) is a vasopressin receptor (V2R)-interacting protein that increases lysosomal degradation of the V2R.

The vasopressin type 2 receptor (V2R) is a G protein-coupled receptor that plays a central role in renal water reabsorption. Termination of ligand (vasopressin) stimulation is an important physiological regulatory event, but few proteins that interact with the V2R during downregulation after vasopressin (VP) binding have been identified. Using yeast two-hybrid screening of a human kidney cDNA library, we show that a 100-kDa protein called ALG-2-interacting protein X (Alix) interacts with the last 29 amino acids of the V2R COOH terminus.

V-ATPase interacts with ARNO and Arf6 in early endosomes and regulates the protein degradative pathway.

The recruitment of the small GTPase Arf6 and ARNO from cytosol to endosomal membranes is driven by V-ATPase-dependent intra-endosomal acidification. The molecular mechanism that mediates this pH-sensitive recruitment and its role are unknown. Here, we demonstrate that Arf6 interacts with the c-subunit, and ARNO with the a2-isoform of V-ATPase.

Defective thyroglobulin storage in LDL receptor-associated protein-deficient mice.

The molecular chaperone receptor-associated protein (RAP) is required for biosynthesis of megalin, an endocytic receptor for follicular thyroglobulin (Tg), the thyroid hormone precursor. RAP also binds to Tg itself, suggesting that it may affect Tg trafficking in various manners. To elucidate RAP function, we have studied the thyroid phenotype in RAP-knockout (RAP-KO) mice and found a reduction of Tg aggregates into thyroid follicles.

Influence of very low dietary intake of marine oil on some functional aspects of immune cells in healthy elderly people.

Ageing is a multifactorial process involving decreased antioxidant defences and immune functions. n-3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids have been associated with human health benefits, especially against inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. However, their immunomodulatory effects were usually observed with high dosages (>2 g/d) known to increase lipid peroxidation.

Phospholipase D is required in the signaling pathway leading to p38 MAPK activation in neutrophil-like HL-60 cells, stimulated by N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine.

Human acute myelogenous leukemia cells (HL-60 cells) can be induced to differentiate to neutrophils by exposure to dibutyryl-cyclic AMP. The differentiation of HL-60 cells allowed the mitogen-activated protein kinases p38 and p44/p42 to be rapidly and transiently activated upon stimulation with N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP). Western blot analysis using phosphospecific p38 and p44/p42 mitogen-activated protein kinase antibodies showed that increasing concentrations of ethanol or 1-butanol but not 2-butanol (0.

Protective effect of docosahexaenoic acid against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress in human lymphocytes.

Oxidatively stressed lymphocytes exhibit decreased proliferative response to mitogenic stimulation. Although several sensitive targets involved in lymphocyte suppression have already been identified, little is known about the influence of oxidative stress on cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDE) (EC 3.1.

Docosahexaenoic acid lowers phosphatidate level in human activated lymphocytes despite phospholipase D activation.

N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids from marine oil have been shown to decrease T cell-mediated immune function both in animals and humans, and to inhibit the mitogen-induced lymphoproliferative response when added to lymphocyte culture medium. As phosphatidic acid (PA) is a key mediator of the mitogenic process, the present study aims to investigate whether docosahexaenoic (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic (EPA) acids, the main n-3 fatty acids from fish oil, are able to alter the mitogen-induced synthesis of PA, when added to the culture medium of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Incubation of PBMC in a medium containing 5 microM DHA bound to 5 microM human delipidated serum albumin induced a 2-fold increase in the basal PA mass whereas incubation with EPA, in the same conditions, had no effect.

Biogenesis and metabolic fate of docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acids in rat uterine stromal cells in culture.

To gain some insight into the mechanisms involved in the opposing effects of arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid on the growth of rat uterine stromal cells (UIII cells), the dynamics of the uptake, conversion, and incorporation of labeled 18:2(n-6), 18:3(n-3), 20:4(n-6), 20:5(n-3), and 22:6(n-3) into lipid pools and phospholipid subclasses were examined. A very active and time-dependent conversion of [14C]18:3(n-3) to higher homologs was observed; 64.7 +/- 0.