The reactive oxygen species, the highly reactive metabolites of oxygen, play a crucial role in both the normal function and the metabolism of sperm cells. Oxygen radicals achieve their physiological effects in the cells only if there is a proper balance between their production and degradation. In case of radicals' production exceeding the antioxidant capacity of the semen, there is an oxidative damage of the membrane lipids and proteins as well as the DNA damage followed by the fragmentation and decondensation of DNA. The ejaculates were obtained from seventy-seven infertile and fertile healthy individuals. The semen samples were collected and classified according to the WHO criteria. The activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase as well as the concentration of malondialdehyde were measured spectrophotometrically. The fertile, healthy donors showed the significantly higher activities of both superoxide dismutase and catalase, as well as the lower concentration of malondialdehyde compared to the infertile donors. The activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase, as well as the HOS test, correlated positively with the sperm cell number, but negatively with the concentration of malondialdehyde. The activity of superoxide dismutase and the concentration of malondialdehyde were highest in the group of patients with the lowest success of the HOS test. The assessment of the antioxidant enzymes and malondialdehyde in addition to the semen analysis and the HOS test may be greatly useful in diagnosing infertility in men having oxidative stress in their etiology.

BackgroundCervical dilation using mechanical dilators is associated with various complications, such as uterine perforation, cervical laceration, infections and intraperitoneal hemorrhage. To achieve safe and painless cervical dilation, we constructed a new medical device to achieve confident mechanical cervical dilation: a continuous controllable balloon dilator (CCBD).MethodsControlled pumping of incompressible fluid into the CCBD increases the pressure and outer diameter of the CCBD, continuously dilating the cervical canal. The reliability of the CCBD was confirmed in vitro (testing for consistency and endurance, with no detected risk for breakage) and in vivo. A multi-center clinical study was conducted,with 120 pregnant women randomly assigned to one of three groups: Group I,control group, no dilation;Group II,mechanical dilation, Hegar dilator (HeD); and Group III,CCBD. The tissue material for histological evaluation was obtained from the endocervical mucosa before and after dilation using the HeD or CCBD.ResultsThe CCBD dilations were successful and had no complications in all 40 patients of Group III. The cervical tissue was markedly less damaged after CCBD dilation compared with HeD dilation (epithelium damage: 95% (HeD) vs. 45% (CCBD), P <0.001; basal membrane damage: 82.5% (HeD) vs. 27.5% (CCBD), P <0.001; stromal damage: 62.5% (HeD) vs. 37.5% (CCBD), P <0.01). Cervical hemorrhagia was observed in 90% of the patients after HeD dilation versus in 32.5% of the patients after CCBD dilation.ConclusionsThe CCBD should be used as a replacement for mechanical dilators to prevent uterine and cervical injury during cervical dilation.Trial registrationISRCTN54007498

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The vaginal dynamometer has been presented as an attempt to overcome the limitations of the previously presented techniques for muscle force measurement. The application of the vaginal dynamometer in clinical practice makes objective and numerical assessment of pelvic floor muscle force possible, independent of the subjective assessment of the examiner. The usage of this instrument enables not only the diagnostics of women's pelvic floor muscle problem, but also the objective monitoring of rehabilitation gynaecological medicine results.