Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to F Dondero.
The authors report the results of antisperm antibody tests carried out on a group of 159 pre-pubertal boys suffering from various testicular pathologies. The data show that 21% of the patients' sera showed antibody activity against antigens on the sperm of healthy fertile donors. None of the control sera was ASA positive. Some differences were observed in pathology and age distribution of positivity.
Twenty infertile patients with normal tubal patency were inseminated intraperitoneally (11 once, seven twice, and two three times) with spermatozoa (mean 14 x 10(6), range 0.6-48 x 10(6)) prepared by the standard swim-up technique. The occurrence of immunization to spermatozoa was looked for by the Gelatin Agglutination Test (GAT) and Tray Agglutination Test (TAT). Both tests gave negative results for all the controls (10 pregnant and 10 puerperal women). Antisperm antibodies were measured in the serum before, 30 d and 4-7 months after Intraperitoneal Insemination (IPI). The last check was done for only 14 patients, since six became pregnant as a consequence of the first treatment. Of the 14 patients studied after 4-7 months, seven had two, and two had three IPI. In the group of inseminated patients, 18 women with no basal sperm antibody did not show evidence of antibody formation after the treatment and it was not increased after insemination in the two patients who already had low antibody titre (1/32). In conclusion, despite the large number of spermatozoa inseminated and even after several IPI attempts, there was no evidence of de novo production of or increase in already present anti-sperm antibodies according to the methods used for the detection of ASA in this study.
The authors began a statistical study on a file group of 9384 records of semen analyses and anamnestic data (P-1). From this file, they selected a group of 5191 patients having undergone analysis at least one time (P-2) and a file of 850 patients having undergone analysis at least three times (P-3). Finally a new group, derived from P-3, of 203 patients followed by their medical team was created (P-4). Two control groups-composed of 20 sperm-bank donors (DON) and 740 prevasectomy subjects (VAS)-were also created. Frequency distributions and cluster analyses were carried out. The multivariate statistical analysis allows a distinction to be made between fertile and infertile subjects regarding a patient's clinical condition. The most discriminating parameters appear to be sperm concentration and, above all, forward motility and sperm morphology.
Eleven infertile men were treated with glutathione (600 mg/day IM) for 2 months. The patients were suffering from dyspermia associated with various andrological pathologies. Standard semen and computer analyses of sperm motility were carried out before treatment and after 30 and 60 days of therapy. Glutathione exerted significant effect on sperm motility patterns. Glutathione appears to have a therapeutic effect on some andrological pathologies causing male infertility.
Results are reported of a statistical evaluation of the variables obtained by standard microscopic semen analysis and by computer-assisted sperm motility analysis. Descriptive statistical analysis and cluster analysis were carried out on both sets of data. A contingency table was created to compare the classifications obtained by the two clustering procedures. A canonical correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the classification power of the variables obtained by the two semen analyses. The results show that the two techniques of semen analysis are complementary and not substitutive and that the correlated variables "percentage forward motility" and "sperm velocity" are the most discriminating.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Surgical liver resection has been demonstrated in Asian countries to be the best therapeutic option in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Because the value of this treatment is still debated in Western countries, the aim of this paper was to report a European experience of resection for hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODOLOGY: From 1990 to 1999, 239 men and 61 women aged from 15 to 77 years old underwent 328 resections including major resection in 138 (42%) cases. Normal liver was present in 53 patients (17%) and chronic liver disease was present in 247 including 152 (50%) with cirrhosis. RESULTS: In-hospital mortality was 6.4% and was significantly influenced by the presence of chronic liver disease (1.7% vs. 7.4%). Mortality after resection in alcoholic patients (14%), in patients with hepatitis C (9%) was significantly higher than in patients chronic hepatitis B (1%) (P < 0.05). The overall survival rates were 81%, 57%, 37%, and 13% at 1, 3, 5 and 10 years. Five-year survival rate was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in patients with normal liver as compared to chronic liver disease (50% vs. 34%). In patients with chronic liver disease parameters, which significantly influenced survival rate, were vascular invasion, tumor differentiation and the extent of resection. CONCLUSIONS: In this European study with varied profile of etiologies associated with hepatocellular carcinoma we showed that a five-year survival rate of 40% can be expected after resection and that chronic liver disease is a major factor influencing short and long-term prognosis.
In order to screen for spermiophages in human semen, a Neutral Red Test was carried out in: a) normal subjects (NORMAL); b) male partners of infertile couples (INFERT); c) subjects with selected diseases. Spermiophages were observed only in 7.5% of the normospermic subjects, while the test was positive in 26.5% of INFERT. Positivity was higher in the selected pathological groups, even compared to the INFERT group. This observed increase in spermiophage activity could be an important pathogenetic factor in some cases of male infertility.
The CellSoft system was employed to study its reliability in the evaluation of seminal data in fertile and infertile subjects. In addition new motility data were introduced and added to the classic parameters. Various clinical and experimental applications are reported. The system is valid and extremely useful in seminal research. In order to obtain the above mentioned benefits it is necessary for the users to have extensive experience of seminology and computer technology.
The authors mention many tests to study sperm function. On their opinion, the best model to evaluate spermo-oocyte interaction is the in vitro fertilization but it cannot be considered a test for ethical and practical problems. To overcome these problems they propose the Salt Stored Zona Assay to evaluate the spermatozoa.
Infertility afflicts 10-15% of the couples and the incidence is progressively increasing. There are many possible causes for infertility, but immunological factors are among the most recently proposed causes. Once have ascertained that couple's infertility problem is due to sperm antibodies, the next obvious step is to attempt some form of therapy. In this paper we review the various classic and up-to-date methods of management of immunologic infertility.
Direct tests for antisperm antibody detection are considered one of the first steps in the screening of a suspected male immunological infertility especially when one of the assisted fertilization protocols is being considered. With these techniques we can detect the presence of antisperm antibodies bound to the sperm surface. In this work we report the results of a laboratory correlation study carried out on the three direct techniques: IgG-MAR Test, the IgG-Latex Sperm MAR Test and the IgG-IgA-IgM-Immunobead Test. We analyzed data on 96 subjects, examined in our laboratory for a suspected antisperm antibody pathology. The three techniques were carried out in a blind experimental protocol by different technicians and the main results can be summarized as a strict correlation with regard to percentage and degree of positivity and a poor correlation with regard to the localization of the marker of the immune reaction (red blood cells, latex particles, polyacrylamide spherules).
The aim of the present paper was to study the effect of forced lipid peroxidation upon human spermatozoa and its relation with motility, velocity, linearity and ATP content. Forty-three pools of semen samples were studied one hour after liquefaction. After washing, normal and pathological spermatozoa presented no variations in motility, velocity or linearity with respect to basal values. Forced peroxidation produced a significant decrease of motility, velocity and linearity (p less than 0.02) with respect to control. Spermatic ATP was not significantly different in control vs forced peroxidation groups in normozoospermic samples. In contrast, a significant decrease of ATP between control and peroxidation groups was observed in asthenozoospermia at 120 minutes of incubation (p less than 0.02). In the asthenozoospermic group, a significant LPO-p increase was observed in comparison with the normal group.
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The authors report trials carried out in the preparation of semen for homologous artificial insemination in subjects with antisperm autoantibodies. The tests have demonstrated that swim-up is not able to select spermatozoa free of antibodies bound to the sperm surface. All the experiments of migration, dilution, antigenic competition and cryoconservation, carried out to evaluate the theoretical possibility of a better recovery of non "immunologically compromised" spermatozoa, have confirmed such negative results both with the Immunobead Test and Cytofluorimetric analysis.
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