Intravaginal exposure to seminal plasma after ovum pick-up does not increase live birth rates after in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment: a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial.

Objective: To detect whether intravaginal exposure to prepared seminal plasma led to an absolute increase in live birth rate (LBR) after in vitro fertilization (IVF) by 10% compared with placebo. It has been suggested that intravaginal deposition of seminal plasma after ovum pick-up (OPU) for IVF treatment, increases pregnancy and LBRs.

Design: Double-blind, placebo-controlled prospective study.

Human sperm displays rapid responses to diet.

The global rise in obesity and steady decline in sperm quality are two alarming trends that have emerged during recent decades. In parallel, evidence from model organisms shows that paternal diet can affect offspring metabolic health in a process involving sperm tRNA-derived small RNA (tsRNA). Here, we report that human sperm are acutely sensitive to nutrient flux, both in terms of sperm motility and changes in sperm tsRNA.

Diagnostics of DNA fragmentation in human spermatozoa: Are sperm chromatin structure analysis and sperm chromatin dispersion tests (SCD-HaloSpermG2 ) comparable?

Men affected with idiopathic infertility often display basic spermiogramme values similar to fertile individuals, questioning the diagnostic impact of the World Health Organization (WHO) thresholds used. This study explored sperm DNA fragmentation in single ejaculates from 14 fertile donors and 42 patients with idiopathic infertility providing semen for assisted reproductive techniques in a university fertility clinic. Each ejaculate was simultaneously studied for sperm DNA fragmentation by the flow cytometer-based sperm chromatin structure analysis (SCSA) and the new light-microscopy-based sperm chromatin dispersion assay (SCD-HaloSpermG2 ), before and after sperm selection for in vitro fertilisation with a colloid discontinuous gradient.

Cross-talk between adenosine and the oxatriazole derivative GEA 3175 in platelets.

We examined the interplay between adenosine and the nitric oxide (NO)-containing oxatriazole derivative GEA 3175 in human platelets. The importance of cyclic guanosine 3'5'-monophosphate (cGMP)-inhibited phosphodiesterases (PDEs) was elucidated by treating the platelets with adenosine combined with either GEA 3175 or the PDE3-inhibitor milrinone. The drug combinations provoked similar cyclic adenosine 3'5'-monophosphate (cAMP) responses.