Chromosomal abnormalities in oocyte donor candidates: a French survey of over 8,200 karyotypes.

Objective: To study karyotypes of >8,200 oocyte donor candidates in nulliparous or multiparous women compared with a reference population.

Design: A retrospective observational multicentric study.

Setting: University Hospital Centers.

Impact of non-ionising radiation of male fertility: a systematic review.

Exposure to non-ionizing radiation has become inevitable because people cannot escape sources of electromagnetic fields, such as Wi-Fi or cell phones. Among the mechanisms mentioned, the energy emitted by this non-ionizing radiation could cause heating which would have harmful effects on semen quality. The objective of our study was to carry out a systematic review of the literature concerning the impact of exposure to non-ionizing radiation from mobile phones (or other sources) on sperm parameters.

Heterotopic ovarian transplantation instead hormonal replacement therapy after radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer: case report and review of literature.

Purpose: Only a few case reports have described heterotopic ovarian tissue transplantation (OTT) with the only objective of restoring ovarian function.

Methods: Case report and review of the literature for reporting cases of heterotopic OTT with the only aim of restoring ovarian endocrine function. In a cancer survivor woman with a history of hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy for cervical cancer and because she poorly tolerated hormone replacement therapy (HRT), we performed a heterotopic OTT in a pelvic subcutaneous "pocket" after an OT cryostorage of 17 years.

Spermatozoa in mice lacking the nucleoporin NUP210L show defects in head shape and motility but not in nuclear compaction or histone replacement.

Biallelic loss-of-function mutation of NUP210L, encoding a testis-specific nucleoporin, has been reported in an infertile man whose spermatozoa show uncondensed heads and histone retention. Mice with a homozygous transgene intronic insertion in Nup210l were infertile but spermatozoa had condensed heads. Expression from this insertion allele is undefined, however, and residual NUP210L production could underlie the milder phenotype.

[EUGIC (Extension of the Use of Gametes in Intra-Conjugal): New uses of gametes within the couple].

Objective: New possibilities for using gametes within a couple were created by the French law of August 2, 2021 related to bioethics by opening Assisted Reproductive Technics (ART) to all women. It concerns previously self-preserved gametes, thus avoiding the need for gamete donation. The objective of our study is to evaluate the perception of these new uses by ART practitioners.

Motivations and personality characteristics of candidate sperm and oocyte donors according to parenthood status: a national study from the French CECOS network.

Study Question: In a non-commercial national gamete donation programme, do the motivations and personality characteristics of candidate sperm and oocyte donors differ according to their parenthood status?

Summary Answer: Moderate differences exist between non-parent and parent candidate donors in motivations for gamete donation and representations as well as in personality characteristics.

What Is Known Already: Several studies have analysed the motivations and experiences of oocyte or sperm donors, but mainly in countries where gamete donation is a commercial transaction, and very few studies have reported results of personality traits using personality inventory tests. No study has specifically investigated the motivations and personality characteristics of candidate gamete donors according to parenthood status.

Subfertile patients underestimate their risk factors of reprotoxic exposure.

Background: Exposure of men and women to environmental reprotoxic agents is associated with impaired fertility and pregnancy rates after assisted reproductive treatment (ART). Nevertheless, such exposures are generally not systematically assessed in current practice before ART and subfertile men are generally less explored than women. Our objective was to study subfertile men and women's level of knowledge about reprotoxic agents, their perception of their own risk factors and the correlation between perceived and identified circumstances of exposure.

Fertility preservation after fertility-sparing surgery in women with borderline ovarian tumours.

Objective: To present a case series of women with borderline ovarian tumours (BOTs) who underwent oocyte vitrification in addition to fertility-sparing surgery.

Study Design: Observational study of all women referred to a French fertility preservation unit between 2015 and 2019 for counselling regarding a fertility preservation (FP) strategy after BOT fertility-sparing surgery. All eligible women underwent one or more cycles of controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) using an antagonist protocol, followed by oocyte retrieval.

Loss of Calmodulin- and Radial-Spoke-Associated Complex Protein CFAP251 Leads to Immotile Spermatozoa Lacking Mitochondria and Infertility in Men.

Flagella and motile cilia share a 9 + 2 microtubule-doublet axoneme structure, and asthenozoospermia (reduced spermatozoa motility) is found in 76% of men with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). Nevertheless, causal genetic variants in a conserved axonemal component have been found in cases of isolated asthenozoospermia: 30% of men with multiple morphological anomalies of sperm flagella (MMAF) carry bi-allelic mutations in DNAH1, encoding one of the seven inner-arm dynein heavy chains of the 9 + 2 axoneme. To further understand the basis for isolated asthenozoospermia, we used whole-exome and Sanger sequencing to study two brothers and two independent men with MMAF.

The involvement of the nuclear lamina in human and rodent spermiogenesis: a systematic review.

The nuclear lamina (NL) is a filamentous protein meshwork, composed essentially of lamins, situated between the inner nuclear membrane and the chromatin. The NL is a component of the nuclear envelope, interacts with a wide range of proteins and is required for normal nuclear structure and physiological development. During spermiogenesis the spermatid nucleus is elongated, and dramatically reduced in size with protamines replacing histones to produce a highly compacted chromatin.

Abnormal retention of nuclear lamina and disorganization of chromatin-related proteins in spermatozoa from DPY19L2-deleted globozoospermic patients.

The aim of this study was to characterize the nuclear lamina (NL) and lamin chromatin-partners in spermatozoa from four DPY19L2-deleted globozoospermic patients. We tested for spermatid transcripts encoding lamins and their chromatin-partners emerin, LAP2α, BAF and BAF-L, by reverse transcriptase-PCR using spermatozoa RNA. We also determined the localization of lamin B1, BAF and BAF-L by immunofluorescent analysis of spermatozoa from all patients.

Sperm donor conception and disclosure to children: a 10-year retrospective follow-up study of parental attitudes in one French center for the study and preservation of eggs and sperm (CECOS).

Objective: To evaluate the percentage of parents in one French center for the study and preservation of eggs and sperm who disclose their use of donated spermatozoa to their children.

Design: A questionnaire survey of couples who had a child using donated spermatozoa.

Setting: University hospital laboratory.

LEM-domain proteins are lost during human spermiogenesis but BAF and BAF-L persist.

During spermiogenesis the spermatid nucleus is elongated, and dramatically reduced in size with protamines replacing histones to produce a highly compacted chromatin. After fertilisation, this process is reversed in the oocyte to form the male pronucleus. Emerging evidence, including the coordinated loss of the nuclear lamina (NL) and the histones, supports the involvement of the NL in spermatid nuclear remodelling, but how the NL links to the chromatin is not known.

The impact of drugs on male fertility: a review.

Beside cytotoxic drugs, other drugs can impact men's fertility through various mechanisms. Via the modification of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis hormones or by non-hormonal mechanisms, drugs may directly and indirectly induce sexual dysfunction and spermatogenesis impairment and alteration of epididymal maturation. This systematic literature review summarizes existing data about the negative impact and associations of pharmacological treatments on male fertility (excluding cytotoxic drugs), with a view to making these data more readily available for medical staff.

SPINK2 deficiency causes infertility by inducing sperm defects in heterozygotes and azoospermia in homozygotes.

Azoospermia, characterized by the absence of spermatozoa in the ejaculate, is a common cause of male infertility with a poorly characterized etiology. Exome sequencing analysis of two azoospermic brothers allowed the identification of a homozygous splice mutation in encoding a serine protease inhibitor believed to target acrosin, the main sperm acrosomal protease. In accord with these findings, we observed that homozygous KO male mice had azoospermia.