Royal jelly may improve sperm characteristics during preservation of rooster semen: Gene expression of antioxidant enzymes.

Sustainable production and the increasing number of embryonated hatching eggs are critical aspects of the poultry production industry. The present paper aims to appraise the effectiveness of royal jelly (RJ) on the semen characteristics of Native Mazandaran roosters in both liquid and frozen storage conditions. Semen collected from 10 sexually mature roosters and following dilution was supplemented with RJ at 0.0 (control), 5 (RJ5), 10 (RJ10), 20 (RJ20) and 40 (RJ 40) mg/ml. After cooling and freezing-thawing, the percentage of forward progressive motility, viability, abnormality, hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST) and the mRNA abundance of antioxidant enzymes of spermatozoa were measured. Our results revealed that the addition of 5 mg/ml RJ to the semen extender significantly increased (p < .05) the percentages of forward progressive motility, viability and HOST during liquid and frozen storage. The abnormality of spermatozoa in the RJ5 group was significantly lower compared to the other groups. During liquid storage, a significant decrease in forward progressive motility was found after 48 hr in comparison with 24 hr at 4°C. High levels of RJ (from 10 to 40 mg/ml) were severely decreased the characteristics of rooster spermatozoa in comparison with RJ5 and the control group. The inclusion of RJ at 5 mg/ml to the semen extender enhanced the mRNA transcript of antioxidant enzymes of spermatozoa during liquid preservation. The mRNA abundance of antioxidant enzymes did not influence by cryostorage. Overall, these data suggest that supplementation of RJ at 5 mg/ml to the extender improved semen characteristics and redox status of rooster spermatozoa.

Effect of Helicobacter pylori on metabolic syndrome parameters in diabetic patients.

AIM: The aim of this study is to survey the effect of Helicobacter Pylori on metabolic syndrome parameters in diabetic patients. BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection is the most common infection in developing countries. Some studies showed the association between HP infection and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a major mechanism in the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and it is said that MetS is more prevalent among HP infected subjects. Also, some studies have shown that MetS is common among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of MetS in diabetic patients and its association with HP. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out from May to December 2014 on 211 diabetic patients. For each patient, the following data were collected: age, gender, diabetes duration, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure (BP), HDL, cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol, and HbA1c. The lipid profile was performed on fasting samples. Anti- HP IgG antibody was measured and serum titer >30AU/mL was considered positive. MetS was diagnosed by The National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III report (NCEP-ATPIII) and IDF criteria. RESULTS: Totally 139 patients (65.9%) were HP+ and 72 patients (34.1%) were HP-. Age, gender and diabetes duration were not significantly different in both groups. BMI was significantly lower in HP+ women (29.05±5.26 vs. 31.45±4.8, p=0.02). Although the waist circumference of men was not different between the two groups but it was significantly lower in HP+ women (102.04±12.37 vs. 97.3±10, p=0.03). Although BP and TG levels were not statistically different in HP+ and HP- patients, but HP+ patients had lower HDL level (p=0.037) which was due to lower HDL in men (58.2±26.6 vs. 72.48±28.1, p=0.012). The prevalence of MetS according to the IDF criteria among HP+ and HP- patients was 76.6% vs. 69.8% (p=0.27). Also, the prevalence of MetS according to NCEP-ATP III criteria among HP+ and HP- patients was 90.4% vs. 87.2% (p=0.5). Duration of diabetes did not affect the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among HP+ and HP- patients. CONCLUSION: It seems that HP infection increases the prevalence of metabolic syndrome through an increase in insulin resistance. According to NCEP-ATPIII criteria, the increase in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in HP+ patients is almost significant, however more complete studies is recommended to investigate this relationship.