Effects of a Lifestyle Change Intervention on Semen Quality in Healthy Young Men Living in Highly Polluted Areas in Italy: The FASt Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Human semen quality is affected by lifestyle and environmental factors.

Objective: To evaluate the short-term effects of a diet and physical activity intervention on semen quality of healthy young men living in highly polluted areas of Italy.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A randomized controlled trial was conducted.

Semen Quality and Sperm DNA Integrity in Patients With Severe Active Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Effects of Tumour Necrosis Factor-alpha Inhibitors.

Background And Aims: The impact of severe inflammation on semen quality, including sperm DNA integrity, in men with inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] is unknown, as are the potential effects of anti-tumour necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-alpha] therapy. We investigated the influence of severe active IBD and anti-TNF-alpha treatment on semen quality.

Methods: We prospectively included 20 patients admitted with severe active IBD.

Sperm DNA Integrity is Unaffected by Thiopurine Treatment in Men With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background And Aims: Sperm DNA integrity, concentration, and motility are suspected to be altered by thiopurines (azathioprine [AZA] and 6-mercaptopurine [6-MP]). We investigated the impact of thiopurines on semen quality in men with inflammatory bowel disease [IBD], by a comprehensive panel of semen analyses.

Methods: Semen from 40 men with IBD, in remission on AZA/6-MP therapy, was prospectively collected and compared with samples from 40 healthy volunteers.

Critical issues in genotoxicity assessment of TiO nanoparticles by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

In the last years, a number of in vitro studies have been performed to assess the genotoxic activity of titanium dioxide (TiO ). To resolve the contradictory results, in this study, we investigated the genotoxic activity of commercial TiO nanoparticles (NPs) and microparticles of different forms (anatase, rutile and mix of both). We evaluated micronucleus formation in stimulated lymphocytes, as well as DNA strand breaks and 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), a mixed population of lymphocytes and monocytes.

Exposure to persistent organic pollutants and sperm DNA methylation changes in Arctic and European populations.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and DDT [1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane], are environmental contaminants with potential endocrine disrupting activity. DNA methylation levels in peripheral blood lymphocytes have been associated with serum concentrations of POPs in Greenland Inuit and Korean populations. Greenland Inuits are characterized by the highest worldwide POP levels.

Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and sperm DNA global methylation in Arctic and European populations.

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are widely used in a variety of industrial processes and products, and have been detected globally in humans and wildlife. PFASs are suspected to interfere with endocrine signaling and to adversely affect human reproductive health. The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations between exposure to PFASs and sperm global methylation levels in a population of non-occupationally exposed fertile men.

Biodistribution and acute toxicity of a nanofluid containing manganese iron oxide nanoparticles produced by a mechanochemical process.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are candidate contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging and targeted drug delivery. Biodistribution and toxicity assessment are critical for the development of nanoparticle-based drugs, because of nanoparticle-enhanced biological reactivity. Here, we investigated the uptake, in vivo biodistribution, and in vitro and in vivo potential toxicity of manganese ferrite (MnFe2O4) nanoparticles, synthesized by an original high-yield, low-cost mechanochemical process.

Flow cytometry applications in the evaluation of sperm quality: semen analysis, sperm function and DNA integrity.

Flow cytometry (FCM) has been extensively used to study mammalian sperm in the areas of reproductive toxicology (to monitor effects from environmental, occupational and therapeutic exposures), veterinary science (to preselect the gender of offspring by sorting X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm) and clinical andrology (to assess individual fertility potential). Using FCM, a variety of sperm features can now be rapidly measured on a cell-by-cell basis such as sperm count, viability, acrosomal integrity, mitochondrial function and DNA integrity; the last one is involved in postfertilization failure and embryo toxicity. It is foreseen that only a multiplex approach, which includes FCM assays together with the new genomics/proteomics methods, could increase the predictive power of fertility status and help identify susceptible subpopulations of men at risk for infertility, spontaneous abortions and birth defects.

Long-term effects of lonidamine on mouse testes.

Lonidamine (LND) [1-(2,4-dichlorobenzyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxylic acid] is a well-known antispermatogenic drug. The aim of this study was to identify its possible long-term sequelae on the reproductive system of mice as compared with rats, where most data have been obtained until now. Sexually mature CD1 male mice were administered a single dose of LND (200 mg/kg bw by gavage) and killed 24 and 48 h, 6 days and 2, 4 and 8 weeks after the treatment.

Lonidamine transiently affects spermatogenesis in pubertal CD1 mice.

Lonidamine (LND) [1-(2,4-dichlorobenzyl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxylic acid], a well-known antispermatogenic drug, was studied for the first time in pubertal mice to assess its possible effects on spermatogenesis. Male CD1 mice were orally treated on Postnatal Day (PND) 28 with a single dose of LND (100 mg/kg body weight) and sacrificed on PND30, PND42, PND74 and PND123. On PND30 (48 h after dosing), severe testicular effects were evidenced in the treated animals: (a) reduction of the testicular sperm head concentration (approximately 50% of the control value); (b) changes in the spermatogenic cell type distribution (mild decrease of the elongated spermatids and S-phase cells fractions); and (c) morphological alterations of the Sertoli cell cytoplasm and germ cell exfoliation.

Exposure to PCBs and p,p'-DDE and human sperm chromatin integrity.

Persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE), the major metabolite of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), are stable lipophilic compounds widely found in the environment and in the general population. They can enter the food chain, and their negative impact on male reproduction is currently under active scrutiny. To explore the hypothesis that environmental exposure to these compounds is associated with altered sperm chromatin structure integrity in human sperm, we conducted a study of 176 Swedish fishermen (with low and high consumption of fatty fish, a very important exposure source of POPs).

Long-lasting effects of lindane on mouse spermatogenesis induced by in utero exposure.

Long-lasting effects on mouse spermatogenesis induced by prenatal exposure to the insecticide lindane have been investigated by conventional reproductive endpoints complemented by the flow cytometric (FCM) DNA content analysis of testis cells and by the Sperm Chromatin Structure Assay (SCSA). Two lindane dose levels, 15 and 25 mg/kg bw, and diethylstilboestrol (DES, 10 microg/kg bw) as positive control, were administered daily by gavage to pregnant CD1 mice on gestation days (GD) 9-16. Reproductive endpoints were evaluated on F1 male mice on postnatal day (PND) 60; additionally, animals treated with lindane 25 mg/kg per day and DES were examined on PND 100 to evaluate the possible reversibility of the effects.