Long-Term Outcomes of Everolimus Therapy in De Novo Liver Transplantation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background: Risk of nephrotoxicity in liver transplant patients on calcineurin inhibitors (CnIs) is a concern. Several controlled trials reported benefit of everolimus (EVR) in minimizing this risk when combined with a reduced CnI dose.

Background: To systematically review the efficacy and safety of EVR, alone or with reduced CnI dose, as compared to CnI alone post-liver transplantation.

Do differences in Toxoplasma prevalence influence global variation in secondary sex ratio? Preliminary ecological regression study.

Sex of the fetus is genetically determined such that an equal number of sons and daughters are born in large populations. However, the ratio of female to male births across human populations varies significantly. Many factors have been implicated in this.

Does the prevalence of latent toxoplasmosis and frequency of Rhesus-negative subjects correlate with the nationwide rate of traffic accidents?

Latent toxoplasmosis is probably the most common protistan parasitic disease with many indirect negative impacts on human health. One of the important impacts is impaired psychomotor function leading to reduced driving efficiency in Toxoplasma-seropositive subjects. Numerous case-control studies have established a positive relation between the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) and probability of traffic accidents in study populations.

Mobile phones affect multiple sperm quality traits: a meta-analysis.

As mobile phone usage is growing rapidly, there is a need for a comprehensive analysis of the literature to inform scientific debates about the adverse effects of mobile phone radiation on sperm quality traits. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis of the eligible published research studies on human males of reproductive age. Eleven studies were eligible for this analysis.

Cognitive ability correlates positively with son birth and predicts cross-cultural variation of the offspring sex ratio.

Human populations show remarkable variation in the sex ratio at birth which is believed to be related to the parental condition. In the present study, the global variation of sex ratio at birth (SRB, proportion of male offspring born) was analyzed with respect to indirect measure of condition, the intelligence quotient (IQ). IQ correlates strongly with lifespan across nations, which makes it a good indicator of health of the large populations.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Transcriptome profile alterations in asthenozoospermic and idiopathic infertile spermatozoa uncovered by microarray.

This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in- Chief. The original submission was made without the approval of the previously listed co-author Dr. Rajender Singh.

Parasite stress predicts offspring sex ratio.

In this study, I predict that the global variation of offspring sex ratio might be influenced in part by the level of parasite stress. From an energetic standpoint, higher gestational costs of producing a male offspring could decrease male births in a population with limited resources. This implies that, any factor that limits the parental resources could be expected to favor female offspring production.

Secular changes in the semen quality in India during the past 33 years.

Several studies have described a change in semen quality over last 60 years in many regions of the world, but such studies are lacking for the Indian population. In the present study, we aimed at investigating if semen quality has changed during the last 3 decades in normal healthy Indians. We retrieved data on semen quality for Indian men without a history of infertility from published studies and analyzed it for trends in individual semen quality parameters using regression modeling.

Sex ratio at birth and mortality rates are negatively related in humans.

Evolutionary theory posits that resource availability and parental investment ability could signal offspring sex selection, in order to maximize reproductive returns. Non-human studies have provided evidence for this phenomenon, and maternal condition around the time of conception has been identified as most important factor that influence offspring sex selection. However, studies on humans have reported inconsistent results, mostly due to use of disparate measures as indicators of maternal condition.

Strong association of 677 C>T substitution in the MTHFR gene with male infertility--a study on an indian population and a meta-analysis.

Background: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an important enzyme of folate and methionine metabolism, making it crucial for DNA synthesis and methylation. The objective of this study was to analyze MTHFR gene 677C>T polymorphism in infertile male individuals from North India, followed by a meta-analysis on our data and published studies.

Methodology/principal Findings: We undertook genotyping on a total of 837 individuals including well characterized infertile (N = 522) and confirmed fertile (N = 315) individuals.

High fat diet prevents over-crowding induced decrease of sex ratio in mice.

Adaptive theory predicts that mothers would be advantaged by adjusting the sex ratio of their offspring in relation to their offspring's future reproductive success. In the present study, we tested the effect of housing mice under crowded condition on the sex ratio and whether the fat content of the diet has any influence on the outcome of pregnancies. Three-week-old mice were placed on the control diet (NFD) for 3 weeks.

Nature versus nurture--plant resources in management of male infertility.

Male infertility, apart from being a multi-factorial disorder, has no defined etiology in almost half of the infertile men. The complex etiology demands a complex remedy which can heal several ailments together. Currently available specific treatments are largely inefficient in infertility treatment.

Withania somnifera improves semen quality by regulating reproductive hormone levels and oxidative stress in seminal plasma of infertile males.

Objective: To investigate the impact of Withania somnifera roots on semen profile, oxidative biomarkers, and reproductive hormone levels of infertile men.

Design: Prospective study.

Setting: Departments of Biochemistry and Urology, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University, Lucknow, India.

Hormonal treatment of male infertility: promises and pitfalls.

Approximately 50% of infertility issues are attributable to male factors. A number of different factors may result in similar reductions of sperm count or motility and affect sperm morphology. Not only is the etiology of male infertility difficult to understand, but it is equally challenging to treat male infertility because of its etiological heterogeneity.

Effect of trikatu pretreatment on the pharmacokinetics of pefloxacin administered orally in mountain Gaddi goats.

The pharmacokinetics of orally administered pefloxacin were studied to evaluate the bio-enhancing effect of the herbal bio-enhancer, trikatu, in mountain Gaddi goats (n = 6). The findings of the study revealed a decreased plasma concentration (p > 0.05) of pefloxacin following trikatu administration during the absorption phase (10, 15, 20 min post pefloxacin administration).