Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, idiopathic, inflammatory bowel disease, characterized by al... more Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, idiopathic, inflammatory bowel disease, characterized by alternating stages of clinically active and inactive disease. UC exhibits several inflammatory characteristics, including immune activation, leukocyte infiltration, and altered vascular density. In UC, many of the upregulated inflammatory cytokines are proangiogenic and are released by diverse cell populations, such as infiltrating immune cells and endothelial cells (EC). Increasing evidences suggest that neovascularisation may involve also endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). In this study we evaluated EPCs recruitment and homing, assessed by CXCR4 expression, in both acute and remitting phase of UC. We report an overall decrease of EPCs in UC patients (controls = 97,94 ± 37,34 cells/mL; acute = 31,10 ± 25,38 cells/mL; remitting = 30,33 ± 19,02 cells/mL; P < 0.001 for both UC groups versus controls). Moreover CXCR4(+)-EPCs, committed to home in inflammatory conditions, were found to be...
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, idiopathic, inflammatory bowel disease, characterized by al... more Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, idiopathic, inflammatory bowel disease, characterized by alternating stages of clinically active and inactive disease. UC exhibits several inflammatory characteristics, including immune activation, leukocyte infiltration, and altered vascular density. In UC, many of the upregulated inflammatory cytokines are proangiogenic and are released by diverse cell populations, such as infiltrating immune cells and endothelial cells (EC). Increasing evidences suggest that neovascularisation may involve also endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). In this study we evaluated EPCs recruitment and homing, assessed by CXCR4 expression, in both acute and remitting phase of UC. We report an overall decrease of EPCs in UC patients (controls = 97,94 ± 37,34 cells/mL; acute = 31,10 ± 25,38 cells/mL; remitting = 30,33 ± 19,02 cells/mL; P < 0.001 for both UC groups versus controls). Moreover CXCR4(+)-EPCs, committed to home in inflammatory conditions, were found to be...
The objectives of this study were to investigate the implications of human papillomavirus (HPV) s... more The objectives of this study were to investigate the implications of human papillomavirus (HPV) sperm infection on male fertility, impairment of sperm parameters, and possible alteration of sperm nuclear status and to identify a possible effective management of infertile men with HPV sperm infection. We employed a systematic review and clinical management proposal at the Centers for Reproductive and Health care for treating infertile male patients with HPV infection. Literature search was carried out in electronic databases in the last two decades. We focused our attention on: (i) HPV sperm prevalence (ii) HPV-related alteration of sperm parameters; (iii) molecular mechanisms of HPV semen infection and infertility. The main outcome measures were HPV prevalence in infertile male patients and semen parameters. The prevalence of HPV sperm infection ranges between 2 and 31% in men from general population and between 10 and 35.7% in men affected by unexplained infertility. The presence o...
Relationships between anthropometric measures, body proportions, weight and penile dimensions in ... more Relationships between anthropometric measures, body proportions, weight and penile dimensions in young adult males have not been previously analyzed. Furthermore, although male fertility has declined in last decades, no data on testicular volume (the best surrogate measure for spermatogenic potential) are available for the general population of young men in Italy. To analyze anthropometric measures and proportions, testicular volumes, and penile dimensions in a large cohort from the general population of young Italian men aged 18-19 yr. MATERIALS/SUBJECTS: We analyzed 2019 students aged 18-19 years for height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, arm span, pubis-to-floor and crown-to-pubis length, and penile dimensions. Testicular volumes were measured by ultrasound in 776 subjects. Thirty-six percent of the subjects had a pathological arm span-height difference (>3 cm) and 44.7% had a pathological pubis-to-floor/ crown-to-pubis ratio (≤ 0.92). The mean penis lengt...
The paper entitled "Expression of phosphodiesterase type 5A in human spermatozoa and influen... more The paper entitled "Expression of phosphodiesterase type 5A in human spermatozoa and influence of its inhibition on motility and functional sperm parameters" by C. Foresta et al, which was published online on 1 July 2010, has been withdrawn at the authors' request.
Annali italiani di medicina interna : organo ufficiale della Società italiana di medicina interna
We investigated the possible role of Y chromosome microdeletions in regions previously shown to b... more We investigated the possible role of Y chromosome microdeletions in regions previously shown to be important for male germ cell development in unilateral ex-cryptorchid subjects manifesting important bilateral testiculopathy, in order to clarify whether cryptorchidism could be the expression of an intrinsic congenital testicular abnormality. Microdeletion analysis of the Y chromosome long arm was performed by polymerase chain reaction and confirmed by Southern blot in 40 selected unilateral ex-cryptorchid patients with azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia sustained by severe bilateral testiculopathy (Sertoli cell-only syndrome and severe hypospermatogenesis, respectively), 20 unilateral ex-cryptorchid men with moderate oligozoospermia and normal function of the descended testis, 110 patients affected by severe idiopathic primary testiculopathies, 20 patients affected by moderate idiopathic testiculopathy and, as controls, 50 patients affected by known causes of testiculopathy and 5...
To characterize the testicular cytologic pictures in cryptorchild and contralateral testis relate... more To characterize the testicular cytologic pictures in cryptorchild and contralateral testis related to seminal pattern. Controlled clinical study. Andrological and urologic academic setting. One hundred nine patients orchidopexied because of unilateral cryptorchidism compared with 35 normospermic subjects. Bilateral testicular fine-needle aspiration cytology. Seminal parameters; testicular cytologic features; plasma levels of FSH, LH, and T; and ultrasound testicular examination. The cytologic analysis revealed an important quantitative and qualitative impairment of spermatogenic line in all the excryptorchid testes. These alterations are present in the contralateral testes only when azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia were observed, whereas in moderate oligozoospermic subjects a normal tubular status was evident. A compensatory activity in normally descended testis of normozoospermic patients was present. In unilateral cryptorchidism, a frequent testicular damage in the orchidopex...
The AZFa region on the Y-chromosome long arm has been recently assembled in a complete sequence m... more The AZFa region on the Y-chromosome long arm has been recently assembled in a complete sequence map contained in a contig and shown to span more than 1 Mb. It contains three genes, USP9Y, DBY and UTY, but only the former two can be at present considered candidate genes for the infertile phenotype associated with deletion of this interval. These genes have X-homologues and are expressed in many tissues, even if DBY has a shorter transcript expressed in the testis only, strengthening its role in spermatogenesis. Only few patients with gene-specific deletion have been reported and a clear genotype-phenotype relation is still lacking. While deletions or even smaller mutations in USP9Y seem to be associated with a testicular phenotype of severe hypospermatogenesis, patients with deletions of DBY may present both Sertoli cell-only syndrome and severe hypospermatogenesis. On the contrary, the phenotype of patients with deletion of both USP9Y and DBY seem to be invariably azoospermia with a testicular histology of Sertoli cell-only.
FSH plays a crucial role in spermatogenesis. In the fetal and neonatal development stages, FSH ac... more FSH plays a crucial role in spermatogenesis. In the fetal and neonatal development stages, FSH activates the proliferation of the Sertoli cells and successively, during the pubertal phase, it influences the mitotic activity of the spermatogonia and encourages cellular differentiation, until arrival at the round spermatid stage. Because of its physiological role in spermatogenesis, various attempts have been made to treat idiopathic oligozoospermic men with FSH. However, the results obtained so far are still controversial. In this research, attention was focused on the possible criteria able to predict a seminal response to this specific hormonal treatment. Furthermore, the effectiveness of FSH therapy was evaluated in terms of sperm count and pregnancy rate. Thus far, based on more recent knowledge about the FSH receptor gene, the authors have correlated different polymorphisms of this gene with the outcome of FSH treatment. In this paper, the literature is reviewed and the authors&#39; experience on using FSH in male infertility is discussed.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed A case is reported in which a high fertilization rate... more 1To whom correspondence should be addressed A case is reported in which a high fertilization rate was achieved by conventional in-vitro fertilization (IVF), using spermatozoa from an oligozoospermic man carrying a microdeletion of the long arm of the Y chromosome. The patient presented with idiopathic infertility of 10 years duration; the fertility status of his wife was completely normal. After IVF, five out of eight oocytes retrieved showed normal fertilization and four showed normal embryo cleavage. Four embryos were transferred; however, pregnancy did not result. These results demonstrate that spermatozoa from oligozoospermic patients carrying a Yq microdeletion are fully competent in achieving capacitation, acrosome reaction and fertilizing ability during IVF. Therefore, although definitive conclusions cannot be made from a single case report, we suggest that Yq microdeletion analysis should be considered in oligozoospermic patients undergoing conventional IVF.
Clinical investigation of canine testicular function is complicated by the difficulty in the eval... more Clinical investigation of canine testicular function is complicated by the difficulty in the evaluation of seminiferous tubules. Until recently, testicular biopsy was the only diagnostic option for dogs with persistent oligo/azoospermia. In human andrology, testicular fine needle aspiration (TFNA) is currently considered a useful method in the evaluation of azoospermia and severe oligozoospermia, and has long replaced classical biopsy to evaluate spermatogenesis. In order to verify its diagnostic efficacy for the clinical approach to canine oligo- or azoospermia, TFNA was performed in seven adult (two oligozoospermic and five azoospermic) dogs. After sedation, a fine (21-23 gauge) butterfly needle connected to a 50-ml syringe was inserted into each testicle; strong suction was applied and the aspirated fluid squirted on a glass slide, smeared out, air-dried and stained with a modified May-Grunwald-Giemsa. Under light microscopy, Sertoli cells (all those found in each investigated field) and spermatogenic cells (n = 100) were counted on each smear in order to differentiate spermatogonia, primary spermatocytes, secondary spermatocytes, early spermatids, late spermatids and spermatozoa, and calculate their relative percentages. Cytological analysis showed the following testicular pictures: normal spermatogenesis (compatible with obstruction of the seminal ducts), hypospermatogenesis, maturative disturbances and Sertoli cell-only syndrome. Two dogs with an obstructive lesion were treated with corticosteroids; one of them recovered and sired two litters of puppies.
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, idiopathic, inflammatory bowel disease, characterized by al... more Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, idiopathic, inflammatory bowel disease, characterized by alternating stages of clinically active and inactive disease. UC exhibits several inflammatory characteristics, including immune activation, leukocyte infiltration, and altered vascular density. In UC, many of the upregulated inflammatory cytokines are proangiogenic and are released by diverse cell populations, such as infiltrating immune cells and endothelial cells (EC). Increasing evidences suggest that neovascularisation may involve also endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). In this study we evaluated EPCs recruitment and homing, assessed by CXCR4 expression, in both acute and remitting phase of UC. We report an overall decrease of EPCs in UC patients (controls = 97,94 ± 37,34 cells/mL; acute = 31,10 ± 25,38 cells/mL; remitting = 30,33 ± 19,02 cells/mL; P < 0.001 for both UC groups versus controls). Moreover CXCR4(+)-EPCs, committed to home in inflammatory conditions, were found to be...
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, idiopathic, inflammatory bowel disease, characterized by al... more Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, idiopathic, inflammatory bowel disease, characterized by alternating stages of clinically active and inactive disease. UC exhibits several inflammatory characteristics, including immune activation, leukocyte infiltration, and altered vascular density. In UC, many of the upregulated inflammatory cytokines are proangiogenic and are released by diverse cell populations, such as infiltrating immune cells and endothelial cells (EC). Increasing evidences suggest that neovascularisation may involve also endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). In this study we evaluated EPCs recruitment and homing, assessed by CXCR4 expression, in both acute and remitting phase of UC. We report an overall decrease of EPCs in UC patients (controls = 97,94 ± 37,34 cells/mL; acute = 31,10 ± 25,38 cells/mL; remitting = 30,33 ± 19,02 cells/mL; P < 0.001 for both UC groups versus controls). Moreover CXCR4(+)-EPCs, committed to home in inflammatory conditions, were found to be...
The objectives of this study were to investigate the implications of human papillomavirus (HPV) s... more The objectives of this study were to investigate the implications of human papillomavirus (HPV) sperm infection on male fertility, impairment of sperm parameters, and possible alteration of sperm nuclear status and to identify a possible effective management of infertile men with HPV sperm infection. We employed a systematic review and clinical management proposal at the Centers for Reproductive and Health care for treating infertile male patients with HPV infection. Literature search was carried out in electronic databases in the last two decades. We focused our attention on: (i) HPV sperm prevalence (ii) HPV-related alteration of sperm parameters; (iii) molecular mechanisms of HPV semen infection and infertility. The main outcome measures were HPV prevalence in infertile male patients and semen parameters. The prevalence of HPV sperm infection ranges between 2 and 31% in men from general population and between 10 and 35.7% in men affected by unexplained infertility. The presence o...
Relationships between anthropometric measures, body proportions, weight and penile dimensions in ... more Relationships between anthropometric measures, body proportions, weight and penile dimensions in young adult males have not been previously analyzed. Furthermore, although male fertility has declined in last decades, no data on testicular volume (the best surrogate measure for spermatogenic potential) are available for the general population of young men in Italy. To analyze anthropometric measures and proportions, testicular volumes, and penile dimensions in a large cohort from the general population of young Italian men aged 18-19 yr. MATERIALS/SUBJECTS: We analyzed 2019 students aged 18-19 years for height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, arm span, pubis-to-floor and crown-to-pubis length, and penile dimensions. Testicular volumes were measured by ultrasound in 776 subjects. Thirty-six percent of the subjects had a pathological arm span-height difference (>3 cm) and 44.7% had a pathological pubis-to-floor/ crown-to-pubis ratio (≤ 0.92). The mean penis lengt...
The paper entitled "Expression of phosphodiesterase type 5A in human spermatozoa and influen... more The paper entitled "Expression of phosphodiesterase type 5A in human spermatozoa and influence of its inhibition on motility and functional sperm parameters" by C. Foresta et al, which was published online on 1 July 2010, has been withdrawn at the authors' request.
Annali italiani di medicina interna : organo ufficiale della Società italiana di medicina interna
We investigated the possible role of Y chromosome microdeletions in regions previously shown to b... more We investigated the possible role of Y chromosome microdeletions in regions previously shown to be important for male germ cell development in unilateral ex-cryptorchid subjects manifesting important bilateral testiculopathy, in order to clarify whether cryptorchidism could be the expression of an intrinsic congenital testicular abnormality. Microdeletion analysis of the Y chromosome long arm was performed by polymerase chain reaction and confirmed by Southern blot in 40 selected unilateral ex-cryptorchid patients with azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia sustained by severe bilateral testiculopathy (Sertoli cell-only syndrome and severe hypospermatogenesis, respectively), 20 unilateral ex-cryptorchid men with moderate oligozoospermia and normal function of the descended testis, 110 patients affected by severe idiopathic primary testiculopathies, 20 patients affected by moderate idiopathic testiculopathy and, as controls, 50 patients affected by known causes of testiculopathy and 5...
To characterize the testicular cytologic pictures in cryptorchild and contralateral testis relate... more To characterize the testicular cytologic pictures in cryptorchild and contralateral testis related to seminal pattern. Controlled clinical study. Andrological and urologic academic setting. One hundred nine patients orchidopexied because of unilateral cryptorchidism compared with 35 normospermic subjects. Bilateral testicular fine-needle aspiration cytology. Seminal parameters; testicular cytologic features; plasma levels of FSH, LH, and T; and ultrasound testicular examination. The cytologic analysis revealed an important quantitative and qualitative impairment of spermatogenic line in all the excryptorchid testes. These alterations are present in the contralateral testes only when azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia were observed, whereas in moderate oligozoospermic subjects a normal tubular status was evident. A compensatory activity in normally descended testis of normozoospermic patients was present. In unilateral cryptorchidism, a frequent testicular damage in the orchidopex...
The AZFa region on the Y-chromosome long arm has been recently assembled in a complete sequence m... more The AZFa region on the Y-chromosome long arm has been recently assembled in a complete sequence map contained in a contig and shown to span more than 1 Mb. It contains three genes, USP9Y, DBY and UTY, but only the former two can be at present considered candidate genes for the infertile phenotype associated with deletion of this interval. These genes have X-homologues and are expressed in many tissues, even if DBY has a shorter transcript expressed in the testis only, strengthening its role in spermatogenesis. Only few patients with gene-specific deletion have been reported and a clear genotype-phenotype relation is still lacking. While deletions or even smaller mutations in USP9Y seem to be associated with a testicular phenotype of severe hypospermatogenesis, patients with deletions of DBY may present both Sertoli cell-only syndrome and severe hypospermatogenesis. On the contrary, the phenotype of patients with deletion of both USP9Y and DBY seem to be invariably azoospermia with a testicular histology of Sertoli cell-only.
FSH plays a crucial role in spermatogenesis. In the fetal and neonatal development stages, FSH ac... more FSH plays a crucial role in spermatogenesis. In the fetal and neonatal development stages, FSH activates the proliferation of the Sertoli cells and successively, during the pubertal phase, it influences the mitotic activity of the spermatogonia and encourages cellular differentiation, until arrival at the round spermatid stage. Because of its physiological role in spermatogenesis, various attempts have been made to treat idiopathic oligozoospermic men with FSH. However, the results obtained so far are still controversial. In this research, attention was focused on the possible criteria able to predict a seminal response to this specific hormonal treatment. Furthermore, the effectiveness of FSH therapy was evaluated in terms of sperm count and pregnancy rate. Thus far, based on more recent knowledge about the FSH receptor gene, the authors have correlated different polymorphisms of this gene with the outcome of FSH treatment. In this paper, the literature is reviewed and the authors&#39; experience on using FSH in male infertility is discussed.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed A case is reported in which a high fertilization rate... more 1To whom correspondence should be addressed A case is reported in which a high fertilization rate was achieved by conventional in-vitro fertilization (IVF), using spermatozoa from an oligozoospermic man carrying a microdeletion of the long arm of the Y chromosome. The patient presented with idiopathic infertility of 10 years duration; the fertility status of his wife was completely normal. After IVF, five out of eight oocytes retrieved showed normal fertilization and four showed normal embryo cleavage. Four embryos were transferred; however, pregnancy did not result. These results demonstrate that spermatozoa from oligozoospermic patients carrying a Yq microdeletion are fully competent in achieving capacitation, acrosome reaction and fertilizing ability during IVF. Therefore, although definitive conclusions cannot be made from a single case report, we suggest that Yq microdeletion analysis should be considered in oligozoospermic patients undergoing conventional IVF.
Clinical investigation of canine testicular function is complicated by the difficulty in the eval... more Clinical investigation of canine testicular function is complicated by the difficulty in the evaluation of seminiferous tubules. Until recently, testicular biopsy was the only diagnostic option for dogs with persistent oligo/azoospermia. In human andrology, testicular fine needle aspiration (TFNA) is currently considered a useful method in the evaluation of azoospermia and severe oligozoospermia, and has long replaced classical biopsy to evaluate spermatogenesis. In order to verify its diagnostic efficacy for the clinical approach to canine oligo- or azoospermia, TFNA was performed in seven adult (two oligozoospermic and five azoospermic) dogs. After sedation, a fine (21-23 gauge) butterfly needle connected to a 50-ml syringe was inserted into each testicle; strong suction was applied and the aspirated fluid squirted on a glass slide, smeared out, air-dried and stained with a modified May-Grunwald-Giemsa. Under light microscopy, Sertoli cells (all those found in each investigated field) and spermatogenic cells (n = 100) were counted on each smear in order to differentiate spermatogonia, primary spermatocytes, secondary spermatocytes, early spermatids, late spermatids and spermatozoa, and calculate their relative percentages. Cytological analysis showed the following testicular pictures: normal spermatogenesis (compatible with obstruction of the seminal ducts), hypospermatogenesis, maturative disturbances and Sertoli cell-only syndrome. Two dogs with an obstructive lesion were treated with corticosteroids; one of them recovered and sired two litters of puppies.
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