Use of negative staining technique and electron microscopy for the study of structural anomalies of outer dense fibres of human flagellum.

Motility disorders due to tail defects are often seen in clinical andrology. Sperm motility should be assessed with regard to the morphology of the flagellum. Since suitable longitudinal sections are rarely obtained by routine transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and in view of the importance of dense fibres in modulating sperm motility and providing tensile strength, a detailed, study of human sperm flagellum by negative staining and TEM was attempted. The study was undertaken in two groups of men (I) fertile and (ll) asthenozoospermic. The study revealed that outer dense fibres extend to 50-60% of the principal piece. Normal dense fibres were seen in 83% sperms and 23% sperms in groups I and II respectively. The characteristics seen were variation in diameter, breakage or degradation with lacking or extended endpiece. The negative staining method provides an easy and useful analytical tool for identifying the defects of dense fibres and quantifying them.

Contraceptive potential of an antiprogestin ZK 98.734: reversal of ZK 98.734--induced blockade of folliculogenesis with FSH and LH and their differential effects in bonnet monkeys.

Studies were undertaken in adult bonnet monkeys to investigate whether treatment with an antiprogestin ZK 98.734 at weekly intervals, starting from day one of menstrual cycle, could arrest ovulation and also to determine if ZK 98.734 induced blockade of ovulation could be reversed with gonadotropins. Adult animals have ovulatory menstrual cycles of normal duration were treated at weekly intervals with ZK 98.734 (25 mg/dose, sc, oil base) for 10 consecutive weeks and its effects on serum levels of estradiol, bioactive LH and progesterone, and endometrial histology were investigated. Following treatment with the antiprogestin they were treated with hMG or hFSH alone. Ovulation was blocked during treatment period in all the animals (n = 14). Typical follicular phase rise in estradiol levels was inhibited, mid cycle surge in the levels of bioactive LH was abolished and serum progesterone levels remained below 1 ng/ml throughout the treatment period. However, prolonged treatment had no significant effect on the basal levels of estradiol which were around 50 pg/ml. ZK 98.734 also had no significant effect on cortisol levels. In animals (n = 4) followed for recovery after the last dose, the treatment cycle length was increased to 117.8 + 6.8 days. In three animals the treatment cycles were anovulatory, whereas in one delayed ovulation with luteal insufficiency was observed. The endometrium had become atrophic. Treatment with hMG (Pergonal: 35 I.U. hLH and 35 I.U. hFSH) or hFSH (Metrodin, 35 I.U.) for 7 consecutive days initiated folliculogenesis and the animals ovulated either spontaneously or after a single im injection of hCG (100 I.U.) on day 8 in ZK 98.734 treated animals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effect of freezing on ultrastructure of chimpanzee sperms as revealed by ethanol cryofracture and scanning electron microscope.

Ultrastructural features of fresh chimpanzee spermatozoa were studied following ethanol cryofracture of sperm pellets. Fresh and freeze preserved semen samples used for artificial insemination were fixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer. The centrifuged cells in the form of a pellet were post fixed in 1% osmium tetroxide in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer. The ethanol dehydrated pellets were cryofractured, critical point dried from liquid CO2, mounted on stubs and decorated with 5-6 nm gold palladium. When compared with fresh samples the ultrastructural features of spermatozoa showed the following changes. The most conspicuous changes were noted in the acrosomal membrane region. The acrosomal membrane becomes swollen wavy and broken at several points. The plasma membrane around the neck region was thinned out with mitochondrial sheath being pulled back. The general 9 + 2 arrangement of the axoneme was unchanged. Thus critical changes in the membrane structure and mid piece morphology may account for the present failure of artificial insemination procedure using frozen sperm in this primate species.

A case of pre-leukaemia masquerading as haemolytic anaemia due to multi-enzymopathy of the red cell.

A 19 year old woman presented as a case of haemolytic anaemia due to multi-enzyme deficiency of the erythrocyte. After a transient improvement with folic acid therapy, she developed acute myeloblastic leukaemia. This is the second reported case of a myelodysplastic syndrome presenting with a haemolytic picture and subsequently developing an acute myeloblastic leukaemia.

WHO puts the water in the taps?: community participation in Third World drinking water; sanitation; and health

Reports on community participation programmes in Third World drinking water; sanitation and health in keeping with the key strategies of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation