Examination of ejaculate fructose levels on male infertility patients at various times and centrifugation using semiautomatic method.

OBJECTIVE: Various factors, such as obstructive azoospermia, cause infertility in men. Biochemical examination of ejaculate, especially measurement of fructose, can be an additional investigation that can be used for this diagnosis in reproductive health. Examination of fructose is carried out after routine ejaculate analysis, resulting in prolonging the examination time so that it will affect the measurement of fructose level in the ejaculate and the accuracy of the diagnosis. This study aims to determine the best timing and procedure for measurement of fructose using a semiautomatic method. METHODS: This research is an analytic observational study conducted at Dr. Soetomo General Hospital, Surabaya. A total of 13 ejaculate samples from infertile male patients who met the inclusion criteria were evaluated. Each ejaculate was divided into eight aliquots that were examined for fructose using a semiautomated method after different intervals of time and centrifugation modalities. RESULTS: This study showed a significant difference in fructose levels when aliquots were centrifuged and examined immediately or after different interval of time (p=0.036). In addition, aliquots left standing for more than 60 minutes (p=0.012) and 120 minutes (p<0.001) before centrifugation, showed significantly lower levels compared to aliquots that were centrifuged and then immediately examined. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that measuring fructose immediately after centrifugation is more reliable than measuring fructose left standing before or after centrifugation. Leaving the ejaculate standing will reduce the fructose level so that it does not resemble its real level.

The interplay between neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-lymphocyte ratio, erectile dysfunction, and Peyronie's disease: A meta-analysis of observational studies.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to investigate the relationship between Neutrophil- Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR), Platelet-Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR) with Erectile Dysfunction (ED) and Peyronie's disease (PD). METHODS: We conducted a meta-analysis of the observational study by searching for the appropriate keywords in eight databases. The risk of publication bias of the included studies was assessed by Egger's test and Kendall's t. The data extraction was carried out for each study and analysed using Revman 5.0. RESULTS: There were eleven eligible studies out of the 411 studies retrieved. Eight studies were conducted on cases of erectile dysfunction, and three studies on Peyronie's disease. There was a significant relationship between NLR, PLR and ED (SMD: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.33-0.85 and SMD: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.13-1.16, respectively). The same was also found for PD. The active phase of PD tended to have higher NLR (SMD: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.43-0.92) and PLR (SMD: 0.27, 95% CI: 0.06-0.49) compared to the chronic phase. No publication bias was found in both ED and PD studies. CONCLUSIONS: NLR and PLR indicate an ongoing inflammatory process in both ED and PD. These findings can be used as markers of treatment and prognosis of both diseases in sexual health care.