AndrologyPub Date : 2024-08-30DOI: 10.1111/andr.13749
Andrew Shin, Matthew Miyasaka, Caitlin Ambrose, Emma Waddell, John Ernandez, Catherine Gu, Alexandra Berger-Eberhardt, Martin Kathrins
{"title":"Fertility services for gay men: A website content analysis of US fertility clinics and sperm banks.","authors":"Andrew Shin, Matthew Miyasaka, Caitlin Ambrose, Emma Waddell, John Ernandez, Catherine Gu, Alexandra Berger-Eberhardt, Martin Kathrins","doi":"10.1111/andr.13749","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/andr.13749","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Fertility preservation and subsequent third-party reproduction represents a principal pathway by which gay and bisexual cisgender men may have biologically related children. Previous studies of a similar design have commented on the availability of fertility services for sexually and gender diverse communities, but none have investigated access to the aforementioned services for this specific population.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To assess the availability of fertility preservation and third-party reproduction services for gay and bisexual cisgender men across US fertility clinics and sperm banks.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>A content analysis was performed on a sample of fertility clinic and sperm bank websites compiled from three online sources. Sample construction and analysis were completed in 2023. Each website was systematically examined by two separate coders with a third coder deciding any discrepancies. Website coding followed a pre-constructed standardized questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify statistically significant differences.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 675 clinic and sperm bank websites (136 academic and 539 private) were analyzed. Five hundred and two (74.4%) offered third-party reproduction and 326 (48.3%) offered fertility preservation for gay and bisexual cisgender men. Furthermore, 248 websites (36.7%) featured some form of disqualifying language either directly communicating or implying exclusion of gay and bisexual cisgender men from these services. Private facilities were more likely to offer third-party reproduction (odds ratio [OR] = 1.88, p < 0.01) but less likely to offer fertility preservation (OR = 0.68, p < 0.05) compared with academic affiliated facilities. Lastly, states in the highest Human Rights Campaign Equality Index tier were significantly more likely to offer third-party reproduction (OR = 2.50, p < 0.01) than the lowest tier.</p><p><strong>Discussion and conclusion: </strong>These findings demonstrate great variability in access to fertility preservation and third-party reproduction services. Geography and ambiguity in facility-specific policies represent persistent barriers to family building for gay and bisexual cisgender men.</p>","PeriodicalId":7898,"journal":{"name":"Andrology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142103711","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AndrologyPub Date : 2024-08-30DOI: 10.1111/andr.13732
Ludovic Vinay, Rex A Hess, Clémence Belleannée
{"title":"Human efferent ductules and epididymis display unique cell lineages with motile and primary cilia.","authors":"Ludovic Vinay, Rex A Hess, Clémence Belleannée","doi":"10.1111/andr.13732","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/andr.13732","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Previous research has illustrated the role of cilia as mechanical and sensory antennae in various organs within the mammalian male reproductive system across different developmental stages. Despite their significance in both organ development and homeostasis, primary cilia in the human male reproductive excurrent duct have been overlooked due to limited access to human specimens.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to characterize the unique cellular composition of human efferent and epididymal ducts, with a focus on their association with primary cilia.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Human efferent ductules/epididymides from five donors aged 32-47 years, were obtained through our local organ transplant program. Cell lineage specificity and primary cilia features were examined by immunofluorescent staining and confocal microscopy in the efferent ductules and the distinct segments of the epididymis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The epithelium of the human efferent duct exhibited estrogen receptor-positive cells with primary cilia, FoxJ1-positive multiciliated cells with numerous motile cilia, and non-ciliated intraepithelial immune cells. Notably, intraluminal macrophages, identified by CD163/CD68 positivity, were observed to engage in sperm phagocytosis. In all three segments of the human epididymis, primary cilia were found on the surface of principal and basal cells.</p><p><strong>Discussion and conclusions: </strong>Our research indicates that the human efferent ductules create a distinct environment, characterized by the presence of two types of ciliated cells that are in contact with immune cells. The discovery of sensory primary cilia exposed on the surface of reabsorptive cells in the efferent ductules, as well as on basal and principal cells in the epididymis, lays the foundation for complementary functional studies. This research uncovers novel characteristics exclusive to human efferent ductules and epididymides, providing a basis for exploring innovative approaches to male contraception and infertility treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":7898,"journal":{"name":"Andrology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142103712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AndrologyPub Date : 2024-08-28DOI: 10.1111/andr.13746
Huaming Xi, Wenjing Shan, Minghui Li, Ziqian Wang, Yuan Li
{"title":"Trehalose attenuates testicular aging by activating autophagy and improving mitochondrial quality.","authors":"Huaming Xi, Wenjing Shan, Minghui Li, Ziqian Wang, Yuan Li","doi":"10.1111/andr.13746","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/andr.13746","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Reproductive aging can adversely affect male fertility and the health of offspring. The aging process is accompanied by impaired autophagy. Recent studies have shown that Trehalose plays an important role in the prevention of various diseases by regulating autophagy. However, the roles of Trehalose in testicular aging and reproductive decline remain to be clarified.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The present study aimed to evaluate the protective effects of Trehalose on testes in an aging mouse model.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>In this study, an in vivo aging model in mice by administering D-galactose was established to explore the protective effect of Trehalose on testicular aging. We examined histological changes and related indicators of apoptosis, autophagy, mitochondrial biogenesis, and sperm quality.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>D-galactose treatment induced oxidative stress, apoptosis, and impairment of autophagy of testicular cells in mouse testes. Trehalose administration significantly reduced germ cell apoptosis and DNA damage caused by D-galactose-induced oxidative stress. Notably, Trehalose activated autophagy activity and improved mitochondrial function in testicular cells. Furthermore, Trehalose treatment increased the expression level of the tight junction protein ZO-1, and accelerated clearance of damaged mitochondria in Sertoli cells, indicating that Trehalose ameliorated Sertoli cell function in D-galactose-induced aging testes.</p><p><strong>Discussion and conclusion: </strong>These findings suggest that Trehalose administration activated the autophagy activity in testicular cells and improved mitochondrial function, thereby effectively preventing testicular aging. Trehalose and its activated autophagy are crucial for preventing testicular aging, thus restoring autophagy activity by administering Trehalose could be a promising means to delay aging.</p>","PeriodicalId":7898,"journal":{"name":"Andrology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142078914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"High risk of low birth weight in couples with advanced paternal age in in vitro fertilization treatment.","authors":"Yangyang Wan, Zhu Wen, Wenjing Liu, Xiaohua Jiang, Limin Wu, Hui Jiang, Xiansheng Zhang, Qinghua Shi, Juan Hua","doi":"10.1111/andr.13745","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/andr.13745","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>With the development of socio-economic conditions and a shift in attitudes towards fertility, there has been a gradual increase in delayed childbearing since the 2000s. Age plays a significant role in the decline of fertility. However, we know very little about the association of paternal age with reproductive outcomes.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To investigate the correlation between advanced paternal age and semen quality, embryo quality, pregnancy, and neonatal outcomes in IVF cycles.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>In this study, after excluding female partners aged ≥35 years, we analyzed data from 761 infertile couples who underwent in vitro fertilization cycles at the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC between June 2020 and March 2023. Cases were classified into three groups according to the age of the male: <35 years (530 infertile couples), 35 years ≤ paternal age <40 years (125 infertile couples), and ≥40 years (106 infertile couples). Then, we compared the general clinical data arising from in vitro fertilization cycles between the three groups, including semen parameters, embryonic parameters, and pregnancy and neonatal birth outcomes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Data analysis showed that the duration of infertility and the incidence of secondary infertility were significantly higher in paternal age ≥35 years groups than those aged <35 years (all p < 0.05). We also observed a significant difference between ≥40 years and <35 years groups in terms of the normal fertilization rate, high-quality embryo rate, clinical pregnancy rate, miscarriage rate, live birth rate, Apgar scores, and the low birth weight neonatal rate (all p < 0.05). The group with paternal age ≥40 years showed statistically significant differences in terms of clinical pregnancy rate, miscarriage rate, live birth rate, and low birth weight on multivariable logistic regression (all p < 0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The results of our study indicate that advanced paternal age (≥40 years) has a significant impact on the embryo quality, pregnancy outcome, and neonatal outcome. Paternal age over 40 years is a risk for in vitro fertilization success rate.</p>","PeriodicalId":7898,"journal":{"name":"Andrology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142078913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AndrologyPub Date : 2024-08-27DOI: 10.1111/andr.13736
Vázquez Mendoza Luis Heriberto, Mailloux Salinas Patrick, Campos Pérez Elihu, Guadalupe Bravo, Arias Chávez David Julian
{"title":"Whole tomato lipidic extract improved sperm quality in obese rats induced by a high-carbohydrate diet.","authors":"Vázquez Mendoza Luis Heriberto, Mailloux Salinas Patrick, Campos Pérez Elihu, Guadalupe Bravo, Arias Chávez David Julian","doi":"10.1111/andr.13736","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/andr.13736","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Obesity represents a risk in the development of metabolic and oxidative stress (OS), as well as in male infertility. There is still no pharmacological treatment for obesity-induced male infertility, but the use of natural antioxidants has been proposed as a treatment.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The aim of this work is to evaluate the effect of a whole tomato lipid extract on rats that decreased their fertility and spermatogenesis after being induced obese with a high carbohydrate diet.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>One hundred fourteen male Wistar rats of 12 weeks of age were used. Two groups were randomly formed non-obese control group (C, n = 54) and obese group (Ob, n = 54) that received 30% w/v sucrose solution for 3 months. Subsequently, the C and Ob group were divided into two groups: vehicle (C-Vh and Ob-Vh) that received corn oil as vehicle and tomato lipid extract (C-Ex and Ob-Ex) that received whole tomato lipid extract. The groups that received a hypercaloric diet had a gain in visceral and retroperitoneal adipose tissue, an increase in total cholesterol and triglyceride levels, increased OS in the testis, and lesions in testicular histology, as well as a reduction in testicular size and sperm quality parameters (motility, viability, and concentration).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Treatment with whole tomato lipid extract significantly decreased the weight of gonadal adipose tissue and OS, maintained testicular size, showed a significant increase in sperm quality parameters and improved histology of seminiferous tubules.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These results demonstrate a greater therapeutic and beneficial effect of the tomato lipid extract on sperm quality parameters in obese rats and therefore on fertility.</p>","PeriodicalId":7898,"journal":{"name":"Andrology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142071792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Novel and recurrent hemizygous variants in BCORL1 cause oligoasthenoteratozoospermia by interfering transcription.","authors":"Yu Wang, Mingfei Xiang, Yiru Zhou, Na Zheng, Jingjing Zhang, Xiaomin Zha, Zongliu Duan, Fengsong Wang, Ying Zhang, Zhongxin Wang, Yunxia Cao, Fuxi Zhu","doi":"10.1111/andr.13743","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/andr.13743","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT) is a common cause of male infertility, of which the causes remain largely unknown. Recently, BCORL1 was identified as a contributor to male infertility from non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) to OAT.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To identify novel and hotspot variants in BCORL1 from infertile men with OAT and reveal their outcomes of assisted reproductive treatments (ARTs).</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Forty-six infertile men characterized by OAT were recruited from 2017 to 2022. Variants in OAT patients were identified by whole-exome sequencing (WES) and verified by Sanger sequencing. Papanicolaou staining was used for sperm morphology analysis. Pathogenicity of BCORL1 variants were analyzed by bioinformatics analysis, and further confirmed in vitro by using recombinant plasmids and cells. Meanwhile, ARTs were performed on these patients to investigate the appropriate clinical treatment strategy.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified a novel hemizygous missense variant (NM_021946: c.G4171A; p.G1391R) and a recurrent variant (NM_021946: c.T2615G; p.V872G) in BCORL1 from four OAT patients. Notably, routine semen assessment and Papanicolaou staining revealed a special OAT phenotype of patients with BCORL1 variants, whose rare mature sperm characterized by acephalic and abnormal acrosome. Pathogenicity analysis showed the interaction between BCORL1 with histone deacetylases (HDACs) were disrupted after variance, accompanied with epigenetic alterations and finally the orderly transcriptions of spermatogenetic genes were interfering. Besides, clinical record presented the poor outcomes of ARTs in these patients with BCORL1 variants.</p><p><strong>Discussion and conclusions: </strong>Our findings further expand the variant spectrum of BCORL1 related to OAT, and provide new evidences that BCORL1 acts as an important transcriptional regulator, participating in epigenetic regulation and directing the expression of key genes throughout spermatogenesis. The outcomes of ARTs will facilitate the genetic counseling and clinical treatment of infertile men with BCORL1 variants in the future.</p>","PeriodicalId":7898,"journal":{"name":"Andrology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142071790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AndrologyPub Date : 2024-08-27DOI: 10.1111/andr.13741
Janna Pape, Jancy Fernando, Dimitrios Megaritis, Susanna Weidlinger, Angela Vidal, Frédéric D Birkhäuser, Tanya Karrer, Michael von Wolff
{"title":"Oncological treatments have limited effects on the fertility prognosis in testicular cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Janna Pape, Jancy Fernando, Dimitrios Megaritis, Susanna Weidlinger, Angela Vidal, Frédéric D Birkhäuser, Tanya Karrer, Michael von Wolff","doi":"10.1111/andr.13741","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/andr.13741","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Testicular cancer is the most common solid tumour among young men in the reproductive phase. After completing cancer treatment, up to 77% of cancer survivors report an interest in paternity after completing cancer treatment. To preserve fertility, most guidelines recommend that physicians should counsel their patients about sperm cryopreservation before initiating gonadotoxic therapy. However, few studies have assessed fertility parameters after testicular cancer therapies over the last 20 years.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To close the gap of data regarding gonadotoxicity of testicular cancer therapies to enable more accurate counselling regarding fertility preservation.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>A systematic literature search was conducted in Medline, Embase and Cochrane until December 2022. The systematic review included studies of men who had undergone all types of unilateral testicular cancer treatment, whereas the meta-analysis excluded studies with unspecified treatments, less than 10 patients for outcome evaluation or rare tumours. Infertility (i.e. azoospermia, failure to achieve paternity or the usage of cryosperm) was defined as outcome.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The qualitative analysis included 30 studies with a total of 13,718 men after unilateral testicular cancer. Treatment comprised active surveillance after unilateral orchidectomy (32.7%), radiotherapy (23.1%), standard- or low-dose chemotherapy (33.7%) and high-dose chemotherapy (1.4%). Post-treatment spermiograms were analysed in 17 studies. The quantitative synthesis included 23 studies, revealing an overall pooled prevalence of infertility (95% CI) of 14% (9%-21%). Azoospermia occurred in 8% (6%-12%). For good-prognosis patients who received standard therapy, the overall prevalence of infertility was only 4% (2%-10%).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>So far, this very first meta-analysis of overall infertility prevalence provides the best approximation of fertility prognosis for men who have undergone testicular cancer therapy. Despite the low prevalence of infertility, it is still recommended to undergo sperm cryopreservation because of the uncertainty of the subsequent therapy and the lack of large longitudinal data on individual treatment effects.</p>","PeriodicalId":7898,"journal":{"name":"Andrology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142071791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}