According to World Health Organization guidelines, ejaculatory abstinence (EA) of 2 to 7 days is recommended for semen analysis. This study aimed to determine how seminal quality may be affected by two EA periods from the same man. We evaluated seminal samples from 65 men by conventional semen analysis and qualitative characteristics after 1 day and 4 days of EA (two samples/man). We qualitatively analyzed the semen by examining oxidative activity (intracellular and seminal plasma), sperm function (acrosome integrity, mitochondrial activity, and nuclear DNA integrity), and epididymal function. As expected, samples collected after 1 day of EA showed a decrease in volume and sperm total number compared to samples collected after 4 days of EA. The sperm motility of the samples collected after 1 day of EA was better compared to samples collected after 4 days of EA. Oxidative activity measured was lower after 1 day of EA compared to those measured after 4 days of EA. Regarding sperm function, samples collected after 1 day of EA showed an increase in acrosome integrity, mitochondrial activity, and nuclear DNA integrity compared to samples collected after 4 days of EA. Epididymal function showed no difference between the two-time points. Although samples collected after 4 days of EA showed better results concerning sperm quantity, samples collected after 1 day of EA showed better qualitative results, including motility, oxidative activity, and sperm function. Thus, we conclude that sperm storage at the epididymal tail may make spermatozoa more susceptible to oxidative damage.

Arterial hypertension is a cardiovascular disease that leads to important systemic alterations and drastically impairs normal organ function over time. Hypertension affects around 700 million men of reproductive age and hypertensive men present increased risk for reproductive disorders, such as erectile dysfunction. However, the link between arterial hypertension and male reproductive disorders is associative at best. Moreover, many studies have reported associations between decreased male fertility and/or semen quality and alterations to general male health. In this study we aim to investigate the effect of systemic high blood pressure in sperm quality, sperm functional characteristics and testicular physiology in a rat model. Hypertensive rats presented altered testicular morphology – mainly vascular alterations and impaired testicular vasomotion. Hypertensive rats also presented decrease in sperm concentration, DNA integrity and increased percentages of sperm with dysfunctional mitochondria, intracellular superoxide anion activity and abnormal morphology. This study provides mechanistic insights by which arterial hypertension affects the testes, evidencing the testes as another target organ for hypertension as well as its impact on sperm quality.

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The aim of this article was to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of carnosine added during human semen processing. Semen samples from 34 patients were submitted to processing by discontinuous density gradient centrifugation without (control) or with different concentrations of carnosine supplementation as follows: (a) 20 mM of carnosine supplementation on the layers of Percoll; and (b) 50 mM carnosine supplementation. Sperm samples were then washed with human tubal fluid medium and evaluated according to sperm kinetics and functional assessment. For statistical analysis, data were evaluated by a general linear model or a Friedman test, whenever appropriate. The 50 mM carnosine supplementation led to improved sperm mitochondrial activity when compared to untreated samples. Motility variables, such as percentage of motile and progressively motile spermatozoa, average path velocity, straight line velocity, curvilinear velocity and linearity, showed an improvement after semen processing irrespective of carnosine supplementation. Both concentrations of carnosine increased the beat‐cross frequency (BCF) when compared to samples before processing. We conclude that carnosine supplementation in semen samples benefits sperm mitochondrial activity and BCF.

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Carbamazepine (CBZ) is used in the control of seizure and affective disorders, causing hypothyroidism. Thyroid hormones regulate the Sertoli cell proliferation and differentiation. Clinical aspects must be considered since epileptic fertile women need to continuously use CBZ during pregnancy and lactation. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of CBZ on testis development of rat offspring from dams treated during pregnancy/lactation. Rat dams received CBZ (20 mg kg−1 day−1) or vehicle by intra‐peritoneal route during gestation and lactation. Progenies were euthanised at 4, 14, 41, 63 and 93‐days post‐partum (dpp) for the evaluation of T3, T4 and TSH plasma total levels. Testicular cross sections were submitted to anti‐Ki67, anti‐PCNA, anti‐p27kip1 and anti‐transferrin immunolabelling for the evaluation of Sertoli cells. There was a significant reduction in p27kip1‐positive Sertoli cell numerical densities and an increase in TSH level at 14 dpp. CBZ exposure affected the volume density of transferrin‐positive immunolabelling at 63 dpp. These results suggest that CBZ may cause a dysregulation of the controller system of thyroid hormones homeostasis leading to an increase in the proliferation rate at the neonatal phase and a differentiation delay of the Sertoli cell, culminating in an altered function at late puberty. The occurrence of hypothyroidism cannot be completely discarded.

PurposeCarbamazepine (CBZ) is widely used in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, affective disorders, and mainly as an anticonvulsant, specially by fertile women, due to their need to continuously use CBZ during pregnancy and the lactation period. CBZ crosses the placenta barrier and may impair pregnancy and the embryonic development. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of CBZ on maternal reproductive outcome, besides fetal growth and development in Wistar rats.MethodsRat dams received CBZ (20mg/Kg/day) or propylene glycol (vehicle) via intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection throughout the gestational period. On the 19th day of gestation, the ovary and uterine contents were examined, and the placenta and fetuses were analyzed.ResultsThe CBZ exposure during pregnancy caused a reduction in fetal weight, fetal weight classification, and crown-rump distance. CBZ also decreased the implantation index, average number of corpora lutea, fetal weights and crown-rump length and increased the pre and post-implantation loss rate. The CBZ-exposed fetus also presented external congenital malformations.ConclusionThe results suggest that maternal exposure to CBZ interfered on several maternal reproductive outcomes and can cause severe fetal intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).