Oxalate in human seminal plasma: possible significance and problems of oxalate determination.

Objective: To determine the level of oxalate in seminal plasma and to correlate it with andrologic variables.

Design: Laboratory examination.

Setting: University-based department of andrology and department of clinical chemistry.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in human seminal plasma.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was measured in seminal plasma and serum of 113 men under investigation for involuntary barrenness. PSA in seminal plasma was 0.4 +/- 0.

Sperm motility index.

Within 40 s the Sperm Quality Analyzer (United Medical Systems, Santa Ana, CA, USA) provides a numerical value called the sperm motility index. This index reflects both the concentration of motile sperm cells and the intensity of their motility and cannot be determined by conventional semen analysis. To assess the diagnostic value and reliability of the sperm motility index, 155 ejaculates were investigated by the sperm quality analyzer and routine manual methods.

Mercury in urine and ejaculate in husbands of barren couples.

Mercury concentrations in morning urine and ejaculate were detected in 80 husbands of women presenting for infertility treatment. Additionally, the number of their dental amalgam fillings was documented. A routine spermiogram was performed, from which a numerical "fertility index" was calculated.

Triprolidine: 104-week feeding study in rats.

The antihistamine triprolidine hydrochloride, was fed at dietary concentrations of 0, 250, 1000, or 2000 ppm (as the free base) to groups of 60 Fischer 344 (F344) rats of each sex for up to 2 years to evaluate its potential carcinogenicity. Up to 12 per sex from each group were killed at 65 weeks, and hematology, clinical chemistry, and histopathology were evaluated. A complete histopathological evaluation was performed on all other animals; survivors were killed at 2 years.

Chronic study of triprolidine for oncogenicity in mice.

Triprolidine hydrochloride was fed to groups of 60 B6C3F1 mice per sex at dietary levels of 0, 500, 2000, or 4000 ppm (as the free base) for up to 2 years. Up to 12 mice of each sex and dose group were terminated after 65 weeks for hematology and clinical chemistry. The control and high-dose groups were examined histologically.

Immunoreactive ubiquitin in human seminal plasma.

The polypeptide ubiquitin, up to now almost exclusively discovered in intracellular spaces, was measured immunologically in a total of 187 samples of human seminal plasma. The values were between 1.83 and 19.

[Toxic epidermal necrolysis (Lyell's syndrome) after rubella].

Rubella was confirmed clinically and serologically in a 14-year-old boy who had been admitted with mild general symptoms and an exanthematous rash presenting with medium size maculae. Within only three days the exanthema had faded. Five days later the boy again became ill with high fever (40 degrees C) and renewed erythema with at first irregular then rosette-like and widely confluent spots.

Extracellular tubules in semen.

Tubules were observed in the semen of two patients, one of whom was fertile. The tubules measured 75 to 90 nm in diameter and were extracellular. However, they frequently were found in amorphous material reminiscent of cell debris and in association with cells, most of which were immature.

Monoclonal antibodies against antigens expressed by human sperm.

The production and characterization of 21 mouse monoclonal antibodies (TüS1-TüS21) with specificity predominantly for human spermatozoa antigens is described. Reactivity of cells from human ejaculates, peripheral blood and several organs was determined using the alkaline phosphatase-anti-alkaline phosphatase (APAAP)-technique as well as the indirect immunofluorescence test. 15 of the monoclonal antibodies reacted with various regions of human sperm and often also with their precursor cells in the testis.

Carcinogenicity study of 3,3'-dimethylbenzidine dihydrochloride in BALB/c mice.

BALB/c mice (120/sex/dose) were given 0, 5, 9, 18, 35, 70 or 140 ppm of 3,3'-dimethylbenzidine dihydrochloride in their drinking-water and killed after 13, 26, 39, 52, 78 or 116 wk. Full histopathological evaluations were performed on all animals that were found dead or moribund, or that were killed on schedule. Fatal lung alveolar cell neoplasms began to appear in males receiving 140 ppm at 78 wk and there was a significant dose-related decrease in the time-to-death from this cause.

Immunocytochemical characterization of round cells in human semen using monoclonal antibodies and the APAAP-technique.

Round cells of 42 ejaculates were characterized by their surface antigens using monoclonal antibodies and the immunocytochemical APAAP-technique. In this way immature germ cells, polymorphonuclear leukocytes, lymphocytes and their subpopulations could be distinguished. It was also attempted to correlate the incidence of these cells, sperm parameters and other clinical data.

Immunoreactive relaxin in seminal plasma of man.

Relaxin in seminal fluid was determined radioimmunologically in 238 andrological patients with various ejaculate qualities. In 52 cases, a second ejaculate was examined 4 to 6 weeks later. Relaxin was found present in each ejaculate sample.

Identification of human spermatozoa antigens using monoclonal antibodies and the alkaline phosphatase anti-alkaline phosphatase-technique.

Both cytoplasmic and surface-membrane antigens of human spermatozoa were detected by means of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) and of the alkaline phosphatase anti-alkaline phosphatase- (APAAP-) technique. Several advantages of this technique for the identification of sperm could be demonstrated. The labeling of cytocentrifuge preparations from 16 ejaculates proved the presence of glycosphingolipids, nuclear and mitochondrial antigens of spermatozoa.

Subchronic toxicity study of 1,4-dithiane in the rat.

In a 90-day study, CD strain rats were dosed with 1,4-dithiane by daily gavage at 0, 105, 210, and 420 mg/kg/day (30 rats/sex/dose) in order to calculate a suggested drinking water criterion. No overt toxicity, treatment-related mortality, or ophthalmologic changes were found. Treatment-related decreases were found in female amylase, sorbitol dehydrogenase, and reticulocyte count, and in LDH 1 in both sexes, in LDH 3 in the males, and in LDH 5 in both sexes.

[Value of detecting pathogens in fertility disorders].

The present study was carried out on 1092 asymptomatic male patients suffering from unexplained infertility without any history or clinical signs of inflammatory diseases of the genital tract. Semen samples were cultured for mycoplasma. In 214 of the patients, we additionally performed bacteriological investigations on seminal fluid, smears from the glans penis or prepuce, and urine specimens.

[Therapeutic results with tamoxifen in oligospermia. II. Hormonal analysis and semen parameters].

During a five months lasting treatment with tamoxifen (2 X 10 resp. 2 X 20 mg daily) a significant increase of testosterone, LH, FSH, estradiol, free testosterone and SHBG was found. The prolactin levels diminished.

[Tamoxifen treatment of oligospermia. Mechanism of action and metabolism].

210 males with idiopathic oligozoospermia or oligo-astheno-teratozoospermia were treated with tamoxifen (2 X 10 resp. 2 X 20 mg daily) over a period of five months. Investigations which were performed concomitantly revealed no significant changes in body weight, blood pressure, blood sedimentation rate, red and white blood count including the number of thrombocytes.

Mammary tumorigenesis in C3H/HeN-MTV + mice treated with diethylstilboestrol for varying periods.

C3H/HeN-MTV+ female mice were fed diets containing 320 or 640 ppb diethylstilboestrol (DES). DES feeding was started at 3 wk of age and was either continued throughout life or discontinued after 4, 8 or 26 wk of administration. A control group consisted of mice fed the same diet without DES, for the duration of the experiment.

[Stiff-tail or midpiece syndrome].

A rare spermatological malformation was seen in a 40 year old Turkish man with unexplained infertility since 17 years. Most of the spermatozoa were completely stiff, some of them developed a decreased motility confined only to the end of the flagellum. Electron microscopy studies revealed strongly elongated and partly disorganized mitochondrial sheaths; cytoplasma droplets were found frequently.

Influence of age on induction of mammary tumors by diethylstilbestrol in C3H/HeN mice with low murine mammary tumor virus titer.

C3H/HeN female mice with low murine mammary tumor virus titer (MTV-) were fed diets containing a targeted concentration of 640 ppb diethylstilbestrol [(DES) CAS: 56-53-1; 4,4'-(1,2-diethyl-1,2-ethenediyl)bis-phenol]. Mice were started on DES at 3, 5, 7, or 9 weeks of age. Some continued on the diet throughout the rest of their life-spans, whereas others were killed as soon as they had been fed DES for 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 weeks.

[The phenomenon of coiled spermatozoan tail].

The phenomenon of tail coiling in human spermatozoa is demonstrated by means of some clinical cases. The coiling of the free tail below the head is differentiated from the coiling of the axonema around the head and within a cytoplasmic droplet. The first phenomenon is caused probably by exogenous factors outside the testes such as pH-value and chemical constitution of the fluids in the seminiferous pathway; the latter may be caused genetically.