A bolt from the blue in a testicular mass - continuous Splenogonadal fusion with maturation arrest

ABSTRACT Splenogonadal fusion is an infrequent cause of testicular or scrotal swelling with less than 250 cases reported. We report the case of a 27-year-old male who presented with painless scrotal swelling. The sonography showed a homogeneous, well-encapsulated left extratesticular mass, which was surgically removed. The gross examination revealed a grey-brown tissue below the left testis. The microscopy of the grey-brown mass revealed splenic tissue, and the testis showed maturation arrest, resulting in the diagnosis of splenogonadal fusion. These can be easily mistaken for a tumor, especially in this age group. Reporting such an entity increases awareness among clinicians, radiologists and pathologists, which will aid in preventing an orchiectomy for these patients.

CEP55 may be a potential therapeutic target for non-obstructive azoospermia with maturation arrest / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the effect of small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated CEP55 gene silencing on the proliferation of mouse spermatogonia.@*METHODS@#Six patients with azoospermia diagnosed to have maturation arrest (3 cases) or normal spermatogenesis (3 cases) based on testicular biopsy between January 1 and December 31, 2017 in our center were examined for differential proteins in the testicular tissue using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ), and CEP55 was found to differentially expressed between the two groups of patients. We constructed a CEP55 siRNA for transfection in mouse spermatogonia and examined the inhibitory effects on CEP55 expressions using Western blotting and qPCR. The effect of CEP55 gene silencing on the proliferation of mouse spermatogonia was evaluated with CCK8 assay.@*RESULTS@#In the testicular tissues from the 6 patients with azoospermia, iTRAQ combined with LC/MS/MS analysis identified over two hundred differentially expressed proteins, among which CEP55 showed the most significant differential expression between the patients with maturation arrest and those with normal spermatogenesis. The cell transfection experiment showed that compared with the cells transfected with the vehicle or the negative control sequence, the mouse spermatogonia transfected with CEP55 siRNA showed significantly lowered expressions of CEP55 mRNA and protein ( < 0.05) and significantly decreased proliferation rate as shown by CCK8 assay ( < 0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#CEP55 may play a key role in spermatogenesis and may serve as a potential therapeutic target for non-obstructive azoospermia with maturation arrest.

Multivitamin and micronutrient treatment improves semen parameters of azoospermic patients with maturation arrest.

The study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of multivitamin and micronutrient supplementation in azoospermic patients with maturation arrest. A total of 35 azoospermic patients showing maturation arrest on testicular biopsy were recruited in this study. The patients were divided into two groups. Untreated group (n=11) without any treatment and treated group (n=24) who received multivitamins, micronutrients and co-enzyme Q10. The sperm concentration, motility and morphology were evaluated at monthly interval. The results showed reduction in liquefaction time and relative viscosity of the semen in the treated group. Further, in treated group there was appearance of spermatozoa (4.0 million/ml) exhibiting progressive motility (7%) and normal morphology (6%), even in the first follow up visit. The sperm count, motility and normal morphology increased significantly on subsequent visits. Within 3 months (3 visits) 2 pregnancies were reported. These observations indicate that multivitamin and micronutrient supplementation improve the qualitative and quantitative parameters of seminogram in patients with azoospermia of maturation arrest.

Late-onset Neutropenia Following Rituximab Therapy as a Treatment of Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma: A Single Institution Study / 대한진단검사의학회지

BACKGROUND: Late-onset neutropenia (LON) following rituximab therapy has been reported in recent years. However, its incidence has not been reported in Korea. The aim of this study is to investigate the incidence of LON after rituximab therapy in Korean patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). METHODS: Ninety-eight cases of DLBCL treated with rituximab between 2004 and 2008 were evaluated. We identified LON as defined by the neutrophil count of <1.5x10(9)/L without apparent cause after the recovery of neutrophil count following rituximab therapy. Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy specimens at the time of neutropenia were available for retrospective review in only 5 of the patients. RESULTS: LON was observed in 15 (15.3%) of the 98 patients. In the bone marrow specimens of the 5 patients, promyelocytes were relatively increased and the maturation index of the granulopoiesis was 2:1-3:1, which reflects maturation arrest. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of LON following rituximab therapy was 15.3% in Korean patients with DLBCL. Although there are several hypotheses about the causative mechanisms of LON, we suggest that maturation arrest at the promyelocyte stage of granulopoiesis may be one of the mechanisms involved in the development of LON.

Effects of dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) and trimethylphosphate (TMP) on spermatogenesis of rat testis

Both dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) and trimethylphosphate (TMP) are organophosphorous compounds that can evoke sterility in male rodents. The following studies examined the pathology of reproductive organ, especially on the testis, by light microscopy after treatment with both agents. Adult male rats were treated per oral with DMMP, 1,750 mg/Kg, for up to 12 weeks and per oral with TMP, 400 mg/Kg for up to 5 weeks. After 5 weeks of treatment with DMMP there were occasional multinucleated giant cells composed of late spermatids in stages X, XI, XII as well as cytoplasmic vacuolation of Sertoli cell. Anachronistic spermiations were seldom, if ever, seen throughout the experiment. After 7 weeks of DMMP those were markedly diminished. The overall changes after treatment with TMP are somewhat similar to those treated with DMMP. The major changes were composed of aggregate of multinucleated giant cells and maturation arrest at spermatid level, which appear immediately after administration of TMP. The peak frequency in the emergence of multinucleated giant cells in treatment with TMP was noted just a week after treatment, but afterwards declined. Maturation arrest was prominent after 3 weeks in the cases treated with TMP.