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This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of probiotics administration on the metabolic and genetic profiles in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN). This was a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial with homeostasis model of assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) as the primary and other metabolic profiles, and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress as the secondary outcomes. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was performed on 60 patients with DN. The patients were randomly assigned into two groups to receive either 8 × 109 CFU day-1 probiotic supplements or placebo (n = 30 in each group) for 12 weeks. Fasting blood was collected at the baseline and end of intervention to measure glycemic control, lipid profiles, biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress. Multiple linear regression models were used to assess the treatment effects on the outcomes adjusting for confounding variables. Probiotics supplementation, compared with the placebo, resulted in a significant reduction in fasting plasma glucose (P = 0.01), serum insulin concentrations (P = 0.01) and HOMA-IR (P = 0.007), and a significant increase in the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (P = 0.04). Additionally, compared with the placebo, probiotic intake resulted in a significant reduction in triglycerides (P = 0.001) and total-/HDL-cholesterol ratio (P < 0.001), and a significant increase in HDL-cholesterol levels (P < 0.001). Supplementation with probiotics, compared with the placebo, was associated with a significant reduction in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (P = 0.001), malondialdehyde (P < 0.001) and advanced glycation end products (P < 0.001), and a significant elevation in plasma total glutathione (P < 0.001). Overall, our study indicated that probiotics supplementation had beneficial effects on glycemic control and markers of cardio-metabolic risk.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of sperm chromatin anomalies on fertilization outcome post-intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Therefore, along with semen parameters, Chromomycin A3 (CMA3) staining for protamine deficiency, aniline blue staining for excessive histones, SDS for sperm chromatin stability and SDS + EDTA for the ability of sperm to undergo decondensation were carried out on 55 semen samples from patients referred to the Isfahan Fertility and Infertility Center for ICSI. The results showed that among the aforementioned tests and semen parameters only CMA3 showed a significant correlation with fertilization outcome post-ICSI. Patients were also grouped according to CMA3 level of <30% or >30% or fertilization rate of <50% or >50%. The results show that the mean percentage fertilization and mean percentage of CMA3 positivity is different in both groups, respectively. The area under receiver operator characteristics curve shows that CMA3 is a highly sensitive and specific test for prediction of fertilization outcome post-ICSI. In conclusion, that sperm protamine deficiency has profound effect on fertilization failure in ICSI.