Evaluation of seminal plasma proteomics and relevance of FSH in identification of nonobstructive azoospermia: A preliminary study.

Nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA) patients present with high levels of serum FSH. At the protein level, the aetiology and pathways underlying different subtypes of NOA are unclear. The aim was to evaluate quantitatively differences in proteomic profiles of NOA patients presenting with normal serum FSH and normal testicular volume and high serum FSH and small testicular volume. The study comprised of 14 nonobstructive azoospermic men (N = 4; normal FSH and normal testicular volume and N = 10; high FSH and small testicular volume) and seven normozoospermic men. Proteomic analysis was done using LC-MS. GSTM3 and PGK2 were less abundant in the normal and high FSH group compared to controls. HSPA4L and HSPA4 were exclusively present in control group whereas HSP90AB1, HSPA1B, HSP90AA1 and HSPA2 were less abundant and exclusive to the normal and high FSH group. We have identified six heat-shock proteins that may have a role in the pathology of NOA. FSH and testicular volume by itself are not good markers of NOA. The inverse association of GSTM3 and PGK2 regulation with FSH levels along with 12 proteins exclusively in NOA groups suggests further evaluation of their predictive potential in a larger cohort of patients.

Psychometric evaluation of a Brazilian version of the impact of weight on quality of life (IWQOL-Lite) instrument.

PURPOSE: The impact of weight on quality of life (IWQOL-Lite) is a self-administered instrument that assesses quality of life in obesity. It is composed of 31 items and five domains (physical function, self-esteem, sexual life, public distress, and work). The aim of the present study was to evaluate reliability (test-retest), internal structure, construct validity and discriminant validity. METHODS: IWQOL-Lite scores were obtained from 89 people in a Weight Watchers institution (clinical sample) and 156 community volunteers (community sample). The participants were selected based on the same criteria: gender (female) and age (> 24 years), except for BMI. The community sample also completed the SF-36, a generic measure of health-related quality of life. RESULTS: The Brazilian IWQOL-Lite demonstrated good test-retest reliability, internal consistency, discriminative validity and convergent validity. CONCLUSIONS: The IWQOL-Lite is the first specific instrument validated in Brazil for assessing quality of life in obesity. The results reveal that IWQOL-Lite is an instrument with good psychometric properties. Nevertheless, in some cases results were dissimilar to those reported in earlier studies using the original American English.