No abstract

Previous reports showed altered fatty acid content in subjects with altered sperm parameters compared to normozoospermic individuals. However, these studies focused on a limited number of fatty acids, included a short number of subjects and results varied widely. We conducted a case-control study involving 155 patients allocated into four groups, including normozoospermia (n = 33), oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (n = 32), asthenozoospermia (n = 25), and varicocoele (n = 44). Fatty acid profiling, including 30 species, was analyzed by a validated gas chromatography (GC) method on the whole seminal fluid sample. Multinomial logistic regression modeling was used to identify the associations between fatty acids and the four groups. Specimens from 15 normozoospermic subjects were also analyzed for fatty acids content in the seminal plasma and spermatozoa to study the distribution in the two compartments. Fatty acids lipidome varied markedly between the four groups. Multinomial logistic regression modeling revealed that high levels of palmitic acid, behenic acid, oleic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) confer a low risk to stay out of the normozoospermic group. In the whole population, seminal fluid stearic acid was negatively correlated (r = -0.53), and DHA was positively correlated (r = 0.65) with sperm motility. Some fatty acids were preferentially accumulated in spermatozoa and the highest difference was observed for DHA, which was 6.2 times higher in spermatozoa than in seminal plasma. The results of this study highlight complete fatty acids profile in patients with different semen parameters. Given the easy-to-follow and rapid method of analysis, fatty acid profiling by GC method can be used for therapeutic purposes and to measure compliance in infertility trials using fatty acids supplements.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) of the n-3 series have been linked to brain physiology and cognitive decline, but little is known about the other components of the complex fatty acids category. Here, we compared 30 molecular species pertaining to saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and trans fatty acids, measured in plasma by gas chromatography, in 14 patients with a diagnosis of amnestic single domain mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), 30 patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 30 healthy controls (HC). As no participants showed neuroimaging evidence of cerebrovascular disease, patients could be considered as purely neurodegenerative. We found differences in specific components of almost all fatty acid classes except n-3-polyunsaturated fatty acids. Compared with HC, aMCI and AD patients had higher levels of arachidic (C20:0), erucic (C22:1, n-9), and vaccenic acid (C18:1, n-9) and lower levels of cerotic (C26:0) and linoleic acid (C18:2, n-6). In particular, level of linoleic acid decreased and level of mead acid increased progressively from HC to aMCI to AD patients, and they were also inversely correlated in AD and aMCI patients. In conclusion, we found a previously unrecognized linoleic acid deficiency in the early phase of neurodegeneration that was strongly supported by an increased, compensatory mead acid level. These findings suggest the importance of creating new dietary manipulation strategies to counteract disease progression.

Lipid accumulation is the hallmark of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and has been suggested to play a role in promoting fatty liver inflammation. Previous findings indicate that during oxidative stress conditions excess cholesterol autoxidizes to oxysterols. To date, the role of oxysterols and their potential interaction with fatty acids accumulation in NASH pathogenesis remains little investigated.We used the nutritional model of high fatty acids (HFA), high cholesterol (HCh) or high fat and high cholesterol (HFA+FCh) diets and explored by a lipidomic approach, the blood and liver distribution of fatty acids and oxysterols in response to dietary manipulation. We observed that HFA or HCh diets induced fatty liver without inflammation, which was otherwise observed only after supplementation of HFA+HCh. Very interestingly, the combination model was associated with a specific oxysterol fingerprint.The present work provides a complete analysis of the change in lipids and oxysterols profile induced by different lipid dietary model and their association with histological alteration of the liver. This study allows the generation of interesting hypotheses on the role of interaction of lipid and cholesterol metabolites in the liver injury during NAFLD development and progression. Moreover, the changes in the concentration and quality of oxysterols induced by a combination diet suggest a novel potential pathogenic mechanism in the progression from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis.

Fever of unknown origin (FUO) can be an unusual first clinical manifestation of pheochromocytoma. Pheochromocytomas are tumors that may produce a variety of substances in addition to catecholamines. To date, several cases of IL-6-producing pheochromocytomas have been reported. This report describes a 45-year-old woman with pheochromocytoma who was admitted with FUO, normal blood pressure levels, microcytic and hypochromic anemia, thrombocytosis, hyperfibrinogenemia, hypoalbuminemia, and normal levels of urine and plasma metanephrines. After adrenalectomy, fever and all inflammatory findings disappeared.