The decline of fertility in male uremic patients is correlated with low expression of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator protein (CFTR) in human sperm.

Background: The present study was designed to investigate the possible association between infertility of male uremic patients and expression of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein in their sperm.

Methods: Semen was collected and analyzed. Serum levels of FSH, LH and testosterone were measured by radioimmunoassay.

[Sperm morphology does not influence fertilization rate in vitro].

Objective: To determine the correlation of the rate of morphologically normal sperm, sperm head defect, teratozoosperm index (TZI) and sperm deformity index (SDI) with the fertilization outcome of IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Methods: We detected normal sperm morphology, sperm head defect, TZI and SDI by Krüger's strict criteria and compared them with the rate of fertilization.

Results: In either IVF or ICSI, the fertilization rate did not show any correlation with the normal sperm morphology rate, the head defect rate, TZI and SDI, nor any statistic differences were found in the rates of fertilization, clinical pregnancy and quality embryos either between the SDI > 1.

[Impregnate occasion for male renal transplant recipients].

Objective: To explore the impregnate occasion for male renal transplant recipients.

Methods: Twenty-six male renal transplant recipients were divided into 3 groups according to the post-transplantation time and the administered dose of Cyclosporine A: 7 in Group A (less than 6 months after renal transplantation and at the dose of 4.1-6 mg/[kg x d]), 11 in Group B (6-24 months and 2.

Marital status and fertility of 185 male renal transplant recipients in China.

A questionnaire was designed to assess the effects of renal transplantation in men of reproductive age on marital status and fertility. The study sought to correlate recipients' marital status and fertility with the health of the recipients after the transplantation, the health of children they fathered after the procedure, and the functioning of the transplanted kidney. Male recipients (n = 243) who were single and of reproductive age before renal transplantation were selected from 2007 recipients of a renal transplant recorded in the authors' hospitals in China.

[Effects of different segments of acupuncture serum on eosinophil counts in the rat with eosinophilia].

Objective: To further analyze and identify effective components of anti-asthma in acupuncture serum.

Methods: Changes of eosinophils in the peripheral blood of rats with eosinophilia were observed for 10 days after intravenous injection of the different segments of serum (serum: normal saline = 1:20, 2.5 mL/kg, from the first day of the model establishment, for 3 consecutive days).

Morphological characteristics of spermatozoa before and after renal transplantation.

Aim: To investigate the changes of the spermatozoa ultrastructures before and after renal transplantation in uremic patients.

Methods: The sperm of five uremic patients before and after transplantation and four healthy volunteers were collected and examined by scanning electron microscopy.

Results: Abnormal spermatozoa were found in patients pre-transplantation; abnormalities included deletion of the acrosome, absence of the postacrosomal and postnuclear ring, dumbbell-like changes of the head, tail curling, and absence of the mitochondrial sheath in the mid-segment.

Montelukast, a cysteinyl leukotriene receptor-1 antagonist, dose- and time-dependently protects against focal cerebral ischemia in mice.

Our previous studies showed that cysteinyl leukotriene receptor-1 (CysLT1) antagonist pranlukast has a neuroprotective effect on cerebral ischemia in rats and mice. However, whether the neuroprotective effect of pranlukast is its special action or a common action of CysLT1 receptor antagonists remains to be clarified. This study was performed to determine whether montelukast, another CysLT1 receptor antagonist, has the neuroprotective effect on focal cerebral ischemia in mice, and to observe its dose- and time-dependent properties.

Wwp2, an E3 ubiquitin ligase that targets transcription factor Oct-4 for ubiquitination.

The POU transcription factor Oct-4 is a master regulator affecting the fate of pluripotent embryonic stem cells. However, the precise mechanisms by which the activation and expression of Oct-4 are regulated still remain to be elucidated. We describe here a novel murine ubiquitin ligase, Wwp2, that specifically interacts with Oct-4 and promotes its ubiquitination both in vivo and in vitro.

[Effects of different dosages of cyclosporine A on the semen parameters of renal transplant patients].

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of different dosages of cyclosporine A (CsA) on the main semen parameters and sperm morphology of the patients after renal transplantation.

Methods: The semen of 18 patients after renal transplantation treated with different dosages of CsA was analyzed and the semen parameters and sperm morphology were compared with those of 12 normal volunteers.

Results: There was not significant difference between the main parameters of the patients treated with 1.

[Expression and purification of recombinant huwentoxin-I in Pichia pastoris].

HWTX-I is a peptide neurotoxin purified from the crude venom of the Chinese bird Spider Selenocosmia Huwena, which has analyesic activity. rHWTX-I expressed by P. pastoris and secreted to culture supernatant was first precipitated by (NH4)2SO4, then it was isolated and desalted by ultrofiltration following by ion exchange chromatography of CM column, after reverse phase HPLC of C18 column and vacuum drying, the pure HWTX-I protein was obtained which was proved to be recombinant HWTX-I by Tricine SDS-PAGE, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, amino acid composition analysis, the N-terminal amino acid sequence and its biological activity.