To investigate the ability of some hematologic prognostic scores demonstrating inflammation in predicting sperm presence in testicular sperm extraction (TESE). We retrospectively investigated the medical data of 430 patients with the diagnosis of non-obstruc tive azoospermia (NOA) who had undergone TESE operation consecutively in our institution between the dates of January 2009 and February 2017. In all, 352 patients with the diagnosis of NOA, with bilaterally palpable vas deferens, who had undergone TESE for the first time, were included in the study. Patients with genetic anomalies, genital infection, history of surgery or vasectomy, chronic diseases, history of inflammatory, metabolic, rheumatologic, or malignant diseases, morbid obesity, with the diagnosis of clinical varicocele, or patients who had undergone TESE for the second time were excluded from the study. According to the results of TESE, the patients were divided into two groups as those with sperm retrieval and those without sperm retrieval. These groups were compared in terms of age, infertility duration, body mass index, hormone profile, hematologic parameters, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NRL), monocyte-to-eosinophil ratio (MER), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR). The NLR and PLR levels were found to be significantly higher in patients without sperm retrieval at TESE compared to those with sperm retrieval. The logistic regression analysis showed NLR as an independent factor that showed the presence of spermatozoa at TESE (odds ratio: 4.786, %95 confidence interval: 2.667-8.589, p < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for the PLR was determined to be 0.574. As the calculated AUC value of the PLR was below 0.6, there was insufficient evidence determined at TESE to say that it was a reliable marker to indicate the presence of spermatozoa. The area of the MER value under the ROC curve was not statistically significant. It has been demonstrated that systemic inflammation negatively affects the probability of extracting spermatozoa in TESE and NLR is an independent factor indicating the presence of spermatozoa in TESE.

Three weeks of preoperative enteral administration of a synbiotic composition reduced peritonitis-induced acute lung injury in rats in a CLP model.

Angiogenic factor VEGF and its receptor Flk-1 is increased in AR. A similar increase in VEGF in AR with and without asthma despite a higher Flk-1 in AR patients with asthma may be a possible explanation for the presence of angiogenesis in the airway wall in patients with asthma but not in those with pure AR.

VPA or CBZ therapy may lead to dysregulation of sex hormones, sexual dysfunction, and alterations in semen analysis in male patients with epilepsy. This must be considered for the selection of antiepileptic drugs in young male patients.

a b s t r a c tObjective: Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (HB-EGF) has pleiotropic biological functions in the female reproductive tract. HB-EGF has a function in the menstruation cycle, implantation, decidualization, placenta development, and also inhibition of apoptosis. This study aims to investigate a possible role of HB-EGF in missed abortion. Materials and methods: Decidual and placental tissue samples were obtained from women with unwanted pregnancy as the control group and from women with missed abortions as the patient group. Immunohistochemistry was utilized to compare HB-EGF expression of fibroblast and decidual cells in uterine decidual stroma and fibroblasts and mesenchymal cells in placental villous stroma; the TUNEL technique was used to detect apoptotic cells within the decidual and placental tissues of the two groups. Results: It was demonstrated that HB-EGF expression in both uterine decidual stroma and placenta stroma was increased in the missed abortion group (142.70 ± 12.80; 116.10 ± 14.16, respectively), compared with the normal pregnancy group (101.60 ± 14.18; 81.60 ± 10.74, respectively). It was also shown that there was no difference in TUNEL (Terminal deoxynucleotide transferase dUTP Nick End Labelling) positive cells between the uterine decidual stroma (11.4 ± 3%; 13.6 ± 3%, respectively), placental villous stroma (13.7 ± 3%; 15.9 ± 3%, respectively), and cytotrophoblast-syncytiotrophoblast cells (7.3 ± 2; 9.8 ± 3, respectively) of the two groups. Conclusion: This data supports the hypothesis that increased HB-EGF expression in a missed abortion may prevent the discharge of the dead fetus.

In aged ovariectomized rats, the administration of both raloxifene and atorvastatin significantly decreased the levels of ET-1 and TNF-α on endothelial cells. Combined treatment with these drugs shortly after menopause might play a potential preventive role in the early stages of atherosclerosis development.

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