The present Fig. 6b shows that H 2 S was added at early time points (i.e.100 time/S). This was an oversight. Hcy induced a transient superoxide anion release in isolated myocardial mitochondria. However, in the early times, we found that H 2 S could not be added and a curve was not observed. So, we pre-incubated mitochondria with different concentrations of H 2 S, followed by the addition of Hcy. We found that pre-treatment with H 2 S at 10 -9 mol/L, mostly blocked superoxide anion release induced by Hcy, and treated with H 2 S from 10 -8 to 10 -4 mol/L completely abolished superoxide anion production, that is, the tracings were not elevated and remained at baseline.The correct Fig. 6 is given below:The online version of the original article can be found under doi:10.1007/s00726-007-0011-8. Hydrogen sulfide cleaved reactive oxygen species produced by Hcy in myocardial mitochondria. a Myocardial mitochondria were isolated from normal rat hearts and incubated with 0.1 mmol/L Hcy for 5 min followed by H 2 O 2 production triggered by succinate acid. At peak H 2 O 2 production, various dosages of H 2 S were added in the incubation buffer, step by step, from low to high dosage. The H 2 O 2 production curve was monitored by computerized chemilal machine. b Isolated myocardial mitochondria were incubated with 0.1 mmol/L Hcy for 5 min followed by measuring the superoxide anion production by lucigenin-derived chemiluminescence. At the peak of the curve, different concentrations of H 2 S were added and the alteration in superoxide anion was recorded. An amount of 0.1 mM hypoxanthine plus 10 mU xanthine oxidase induced superoxide anion was used as a positive control 123

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Purpose Zona pellucida (ZP)-bound sperm used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) enhances embryo quality, implantation, and clinical pregnancy rates. This study aimed to assess the pregnancy outcomes and clinical significance of ICSI with ZP-bound sperm. Method A total of 84 infertile couples who underwent cycles of ICSI following failed in vitro fertilization between June 2012 and February 2014 were enrolled and randomized (1:1): in the treatment group, ICSI was performed using ZPbound sperm; in the control group, ICSI was performed in a standard manner. Rates of fertilization, cleavage, high-quality embryos, and clinical pregnancy were compared between the two groups. Results There were no significant differences in age, infertile period, gonadotrophin dose, number of metaphase II oocytes, and number of embryo transfers between the two groups (P > 0.05). The clinical pregnancy rate was higher in the treatment group than in the control group, but without statistical significance (60.5 vs. 47.6 %, P > 0.05). No significant differences in the rates of fertilization and cleavage were observed (83.0 vs. 81.6 %, and 96.3 vs. 96.5 %, both P > 0.05), but higher rates of high-quality embryos and useable embryos were observed with ZP-bound sperm compared with controls (66.1 vs. 50.8 % and 76.0 vs. 66.3 %, both P < 0.05). Conclusions ICSI using ZP-bound sperm might increase the embryo quality and number of useable embryos, possibly improving the clinical pregnancy outcome of ICSI.

Reduced ATP content may be related to fertilization failure, arrested division and abnormal embryonic development. The differences observed in oocyte and embryo ATP content between women who became pregnant and those who did not suggests that mitochondrial function is correlated with individual fertility.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is considered as a multifactorial disorder involving complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors, while previous studies point to a pivotal role of neuroinflammation in the pathophysiology of PD. As a member of pattern recognition receptors, TLR4 plays an important role in the immune response and inflammatory responses. Growing evidences suggest that mutation of TLR4 gene may be connected with the development of PD. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether genetic polymorphisms of the TLR4 gene are associated with PD susceptibility. We genotyped three single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the TLR4 gene (rs1927911, rs1927914 and rs10116253) by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) in unrelated 380 PD patients and 380 healthy-matched controls. Our study revealed that rs1927914 C allele carriers and C allele were probably related to a decreased risk of PD (p = 0.032 and p = 0.028, respectively) as well as male PD (p = 0.034) and early-onset PD (EOPD) (p = 0.023). In addition, there were significant differences in genotype and allele distribution in male PD patients and its healthy-matched control subgroup (p = 0.035 and p = 0.012, respectively). For rs1927911 and rs10116253 polymorphisms, genotype or allele frequencies did not differ between groups. Our data suggest that the TLR4 gene might contribute to the risk of developing PD in Han Chinese and rs1927914 polymorphism may be a protective factor for sporadic PD, male PD and EOPD.