Seventeen consecutively recruited candidates for semen donation were evaluated by a psychologist with testing and a structured interview. Most men (71%) were motivated by financial compensation. Only 29% would donate semen if records were open to potential offspring. Fifty-nine per cent of the men were rated as excellent candidates from a psychological perspective and 35% were rated as acceptable with slight reservations. One was excluded as a donor. Psychological testing revealed mildly abnormal subscale scores for 35% of donors. Forty-seven per cent had histories of minor depressive or anxiety episodes and 35% had had periods of heavy alcohol use. Compared to oocyte donors at the same institution, the men were less altruistic, more affluent, and more likely to have abused alcohol. Women had more traumatic family and reproductive histories. Psychological evaluation can be a valuable tool in gamete donor selection.
Sperm morphology is an important measure of testicular health, spermiation, and fertility potential. The World Health Organization (WHO) Semen Manuals advocate different sperm morphology schemes, but, like the schemes themselves, do not describe classification sequence or rules that can be unambiguously applied in a standard method. Our novel dichotomous key provides a rational decision framework for a sperm morphology classification algorithm. Classification order hierarchy is standardized and sperm characteristics are defined. Normal morphology is derived after eliminating abnormal and borderline normal forms. By defining and categorizing borderline normal forms separately from either normal or abnormal, the method can simultaneously produce results for Strict and traditional morphology schemes as adopted by different versions of the WHO Semen Manuals. The algorithm can be used for "recalibration" to a less stringent and potentially more relevant standard of normal, while reducing shift, drift, and variation in classification within and among analysts.
Collection of ejaculated semen at a remote site (outside of the laboratory) would facilitate participation rates and geographic diversity in reproductive epidemiology studies. Our study addressed concerns that remote collection and overnight mail return might induce chromosome/DNA damage. We collected semen from 10 healthy men. Part of each sample was snap frozen in liquid nitrogen and the rest held at 22 +/- 1 degrees C for 24 hours in a transport container (simulating ambient temperature during overnight return) then snap frozen. DNA breakage and fragmentation were measured using tandem-label sperm-fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL), and neutral comet assay. Tandem-label sperm-FISH and TUNEL detected no statistically significant difference between sperm fresh frozen (FF) and those frozen after 24 hours (F24). The mean frequency of chromosome breakage per 10 000 cells scored in sperm-FISH for FF and F24 was 10.5 +/- 1.3 breaks and 11.2 +/- 1.1 breaks, respectively (P =.69, Student's t test). The mean frequency of TUNEL-positive cells per 2000 cells scored in FF and F24 was 136 +/- 29 and 213 +/- 28 cells, respectively, which approached but did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.07, Student's t test). The neutral comet assay detected a statistically significant difference in DNA strand breakage between the 2 groups (percentage of DNA in the tail P = 0.037; tail moment P = 0.006; and tail length P = 0.033, all Student's t test). The mean frequency of damage denoted by tail length in micro m per 100 cells scored in FF and F24 was 175.0 +/- 15.5 and 152.2 +/- 17.6 micro m, respectively. Tandem-label sperm-FISH, TUNEL, and neutral comet assay are useful analytical techniques for laboratory-based studies of human sperm genomic integrity; however, for field studies incorporating the nonrefrigerated return of semen after 24 hours, only chromosome breakage at a level that can be detected using tandem-label sperm-FISH was unaffected. TUNEL and neutral comet assay need further study before they are used in specimens collected at remote sites and transported to a central laboratory.
Studies were conducted to determine whether the progressive development of anemia associated with the antineoplastic drug cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (cDDP) was the consequence of decreased erythropoietin (Epo) production due to cDDP-induced nephrotoxicity or selective inhibition of erythroid progenitor cells. Five days after a single intraperitoneal injection of cDDP, hypoxia-induced Epo production was not decreased in mice and was increased significantly in rats in spite of severe multifocal tubular necrosis. In both species, colony-forming units-granulocyte macrophage (CFU-gm) and colony-forming units-erythroid (CFU-e) were reduced significantly, with a greater decrease in CFU-e. Studies of an anemic patient receiving cDDP also showed elevated Epo and decreased CFU-gm and CFU-e. In vitro exposure of mouse and human bone marrow to cDDP caused a dose-dependent inhibition of CFU-gm and CFU-e in both species, with human CFU-e showing greatest sensitivity. The results indicate that the primary hematologic toxicity of cDDP is directed at the hematopoietic stem cell compartment.
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