ABSTRACT
Background: Non-obstructive azoospermia [NOA] occurs in approximately 10% of infertile men. Retrieval of the spermatozoa from the testicle of NOA patients is an invasive approach. Seminal plasma is an excellent source for exploring to find the biomarkers for presence of spermatozoa in testicular tissue. The present discovery phase study aimed to use metabolic fingerprinting to detect spermatogenesis from seminal plasma in NOA patients as a non-invasive method
Methods: In this study, 20 men with NOA were identified based on histological analysis who had their first testicular biopsy in 2015 at Avicenna Fertility Center, Tehran, Iran. They were divided into two groups, a positive testicular sperm extrac-tion [TESE[+]] and a negative testicular sperm extraction [TESE[-]]. Seminal plasma of NOA patients was collected before they underwent testicular sperm extraction [TESE] operation. The metabolomic fingerprinting was evaluated by Raman spec-trometer. Principal component analysis [PCA] and an unsupervised statistical meth-od, was used to detect outliers and find the structure of the data. The PCA was ana-lyzed by MATLAB software
Results: Metabolic fingerprinting of seminal plasma from NOA showed that TESE [+] versus TESE[-] patients were classified by PCA. Furthermore, a possible subdi-vision of TESE[-] group was observed. Additionally, TESE[-] patients were in ex-treme oxidative imbalance compared to TESE[+] patients
Conclusion: Metabolic fingerprinting of seminal plasma can be considered as a breakthrough, an easy and cheap method for prediction presence of spermatogenesis in NOA
ABSTRACT
Nuclear transfer procedures have been recently applied for clinical and research targets as a novel assisted reproductive technique and were used for increasing the oocyte activity during its growth and maturation. In this review, we summarized the nuclear transfer technique for germinal vesicle stage oocytes to reconstruct the maturation of them. Our study covered publications between 1966 and August 2017. In result utilized germinal vesicle transfer techniques, fusion, and fertilization survival rate on five different mammalian species are discussed, regarding their potential clinical application. It seems that with a study on this method, there is real hope for effective treatments of old oocytes or oocytes containing mitochondrial problems in the near future
ABSTRACT
Background: Traditional medicines with anti-diabetic effects are considered suitable supplements to treat diabetes. Among medicinal herbs, Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni is famous for its sweet taste and beneficial effect in regulation of glucose. However, little is known about the exact mechanism of stevia in pancreatic tissue. Therefore, this study investigated the possible effects of stevia on pancreas in managing hyperglycemia seen in streptozotocin-induced Sprague-Dawley rats
Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups including normoglycemic, diabetic and two more diabetic groups in which, one was treated with aquatic extract of stevia [400 mg/kg] and the other with pioglitazone [10 mg/kg] for the period of 28 days. After completion of the experimental duration, rats were dissected; blood samples and pancreas were further used for detecting biochemical and histopathological changes. FBS, TG, cholestrol, HDL, LDL, ALT and AST levels were measured in sera. Moreover, MDA [malondialdehyde] level, catalase activity, levels of insulin and PPARgamma mRNA expression were also measured in pancreatic tissue
Results: Aquatic extract of stevia significantly reduced the FBS, triglycerides, MDA, ALT, AST levels and normalized catalase activity in treated rats compared with diabetic rats [p<0.05]. In addition to this, stevia surprisingly, increased PPARgamma and insulin mRNA levels in treated rats [p<0.05]. Furthermore, stevia compensated for the histopathological damage in diabetic rats
Conclusion: It is concluded that stevia acts on pancreatic tissue to elevate the insulin level and exerts beneficial anti-hyperglycemic effects through the PPARgamma-dependent mechanism and stevia's antioxidant properties