Pueraria mirifica (PM) extract contains phytoestrogen daidzein and genistein. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of PM extract, daidzein and genistein on a testosterone-induced prostatic hyperplasia in rats. Testosterone was administered at 3 mg kg(-1) to rats followed by the PM extract, daidzein and genistein for a period of 30 days with finasteride as positive control. The testosterone level was increased, indicating inhibition of 5α-reductase converting testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. This was confirmed by prostate-specific antigen level that significantly decreased when treated with PM extract, daidzein and genistein. The PM extract, daidzein and genistein reduced the increase in the prostate/body weight ratio in testosterone-induced rats. This gives indication that PM extract, daidzein and genistein possessed protective activity for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. The analysis of histoarchitechture of the prostate has also shown that there was a significant improvement in prostatic cells of the testosterone-induced rats when treated with PM extract, daidzein and genistein.
Altered epididymal sperm count and morphology following leptin treatment has been reported recently. This study examined the effects of 42 days of leptin treatment on sperm count and morphology and their reversibility during a subsequent 56-day recovery period. Twelve-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomised into four leptin and four saline-treated control groups (n = 6). Intraperitoneal injections of leptin were given daily (60 μg Kg(-1) body weight) for 42 days. Controls received 0.1 ml of 0.9% saline. Leptin-treated animals and their respective age-matched controls were euthanised on either day 1, 21, 42 or 56 of recovery for collection of epididymal spermatozoa. Sperm concentration was determined using a Makler counting chamber. Spermatozoa were analysed for 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine and DNA fragmentation (Comet assay). Data were analysed using anova. Sperm concentration was significantly lower but fraction of abnormal spermatozoa, and levels of 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine were significantly higher in leptin-treated rats on day 1 of recovery. Comet assays revealed significant DNA fragmentation in leptin-treated rats. These differences were reduced by day 56 of recovery. It appears that 42 days of leptin treatment to Sprague-Dawley rats has significant adverse effects on sperm count and morphology that reverse following discontinuation of leptin treatment.
The testosterone deficiency syndrome (TDS) is characterised by numerous symptoms, including low libido, increased fat mass, fatigue, erectile dysfunction or osteoporosis, and up to 80% of men will experience some kind of ageing males' symptoms. This is caused by the age-depending decline in serum testosterone levels with concentrations being about 40-50% lower in men older than 60 years compared with young men. This significant decline in testosterone levels is further closely linked with medical conditions such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes or hypertension. The conventional way of treating TDS is the testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), for which preparations are on the market. Apart from the beneficial effects of TRT, significant adverse side effects have been described, and prostate cancer (PCa) as absolute contraindication is debated. Eurycoma longifolia (Tongkat Ali; TA) is natural alternative to TRT and has been shown to restore serum testosterone levels, thus significantly improving sexual health. This includes significant positive effects on bone health and physical condition of patients. In addition, a significant antihyperglycaemic effect and cytotoxicity against PCas cells has been shown. Thus far, at therapeutic concentrations, no significant side effects of the treatment were obvious. Therefore, TA might be a safe alternative to TRT.
Azoospermia factor region (AZF) deletions (AZFa, AZFb, AZFc and AZFd) in the Y chromosome were analysed in male infertility subjects in various populations with conflicting results. This study comprised of 54 infertile males and 63 fertile controls, and the frequency of AZFa, AZFb, AZFc and AZFd deletions were determined using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as well as real-time PCR-high resolution melting analysis-based methods. The results of this study showed that, three of 54 cases (5.55%) had AZF (a, b and c) deletions (two had AZFc and one had AZFa deletions). Four cases were found to have AZFd deletions (7.4%) with two of them being associated with AZFc deletions (P = 0.028). The frequency of AZF (a, b and c) deletions in Malaysian infertile male subjects was found to be comparable with other populations. AZFd deletions were found to be significant (P < 0.05) in male infertility and it may be associated with other types of AZF deletions.
Liquid nitrogen preservation in remote farms is a limitation. The goal of this study was to determine optimum temperature above freezing point for bovine spermatozoa preservation using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a supplementation. Pooled semen sample from three ejaculates was subjected to various BSA concentration (1, 4, 8 and 12 mg ml(-1)), before incubation in different above freezing point temperatures (4, 25 and 37 °C). Viability assessment was carried out against time from day 0 (fresh sample) until all spermatozoa become nonviable. Optimal condition for bovine spermatozoa storage was at 4 °C with 1 mg ml(-1) BSA for almost 7 days. BSA improved bovine spermatozoa viability declining rate to 44.28% at day 4 and 57.59% at day 7 compared to control, with 80.54% and 98.57% at day 4 and 7 respectively. Increase in BSA concentration did not improve sperm viability. Our results also confirmed that there was a strong negative correlation between media osmolarity and bovine spermatozoa survival rate with r = 0.885, P < 0.0001. Bovine serum albumin helps to improve survival rate of bovine spermatozoa stored above freezing point.
In most countries, millions of people are relying on herbal medicines as remedy for numerous ailments. In South-East Asia, Eurycoma longifolia Jack, also known as 'Malaysian ginseng' or Tongkat ali, is used to combat stress and disease and to improve physical strength. Moreover, the compounds of the roots of this plant are reported to have aphrodisiac and testosterone enhancing effects in the rat. Considering that human studies are not available, 76 of 320 patients suffering from late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) were given 200 mg of a standardised water-soluble extract of Tongkat ali for 1 month. The Ageing Males' Symptoms (AMS) according to the standardised rating scale and the serum testosterone concentration were taken. Results show that treatment of LOH patients with this Tongkat ali extract significantly (P < 0.0001) improved the AMS score as well as the serum testosterone concentration. While before treatment only 10.5% of the patients did not show any complaint according to the AMS scale and 35.5% had normal testosterone levels, after the completed treatment 71.7% and 90.8% of the patients showed normal values, respectively. Thus, Tongkat ali extract appears to be useful as a supplement in overcoming the symptoms of LOH and for the management of hypogonadism.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different doses of Malaysian honey on male reproductive parameters in adult rats. Thirty-two healthy adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups (eight rats per group). Group 1 (control group) was given 0.5 ml of distilled water. Groups 2, 3 and 4 were given 0.2, 1.2 and 2.4 g kg(-1) body weight of honey respectively. The rats were treated orally by gavage once daily for 4 weeks. Honey did not significantly alter body and male reproductive organs weights. The rats in Group 3 which received honey at 1.2 g kg(-1) had significantly higher epididymal sperm count than those in Groups 1, 2 and 4. No significant differences were found for the percentage of abnormal sperm, elongated spermatid count, reproductive hormonal levels as well as the histology of the testis among the groups. In conclusion, Malaysian honey at a dose of 1.2 g kg(-1) daily significantly increased epididymal sperm count without affecting spermatid count and reproductive hormones. These findings might suggest that oral administration of honey at this dose for 4 weeks may enhance spermiogenesis in adult rats.
Exposure to prenatal stress is associated with impaired reproductive function in male rat offspring. Honey is traditionally used by the Malays for enhancement of fertility. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of honey on reproductive system of male rat offspring exposed to prenatal restraint stress. Dams were divided into four groups (n = 10/group): control, honey, stress and honey + stress groups. Dams from honey and honey + stress groups received oral honey (1.2 g kg(-1) body weight) daily from day 1 of pregnancy, meanwhile dams from stress and honey + stress groups were subjected to restraint stress (three times per day) from day 11 of pregnancy until delivery. At 10 weeks old, each male rat offspring was mated with a regular oestrus cycle female. Male sexual behaviour and reproductive performance were evaluated. Then, male rats were euthanised for assessment on reproductive parameters. Honey supplementation during prenatal restraint stress significantly increased testis and epididymis weights as well as improved the percentages of abnormal spermatozoa and sperm motility in male rat offspring. In conclusion, this study might suggest that supplementation of honey during pregnancy seems to reduce the adverse effects of restraint stress on reproductive organs weight and sperm parameters in male rat offspring.
The effect of the methanolic extract of Alchornea cordifolia leaves on the fertility of senescent male rats was assessed in this study. 40 rats received daily distilled water, testosterone, 200 and 400 mg/kg of extract of Alchornea cordifolia. The reproductive organs weight, the gonadotropins, testosterone and cholesterol level, the sperm parameters, histology of the testes and epididymis were assessed. The weight of testes and prostate (400 mg/kg) significantly increased (p
Plagiarism is a common form of academic misconduct that extensively jeopardises the quality of scientific publication. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent of plagiarism in the most influential andrology articles. A total of 77 highly cited andrology articles were analysed for their similarity index using iThenticate and Turnitin. The articles were categorised based on the year (before and on/after 2000) and type of publication (review and research articles), and the similarity indices were compared. Furthermore, the analysed articles were categorised based on the level of similarity using an arbitrary similarity index range (low: ≤10, moderate: 11-20, high: 21-50 and very high: >50) and average incidence rate (%) was determined. Our analysis revealed a higher percentage of the similarity indices for reviews than research articles. We noticed a higher similarity index for articles published on/after 2000 than those published before. The majority of the influential articles in the field of andrology showed a low similarity index, while some articles exhibited moderate to high levels of similarity. These findings support the need for the development of similarity index guidelines as a major pre-requisite for establishing a more transparent and efficient system to address plagiarism in scientific publications.
This study evaluated the effects of the methanolic extract of Guibourtia tessmannii (GT) and selenium (Se) on cell viability, intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+ ]i ), apoptosis and oxidative stress through transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channel activity in CCL-97 (R2C) tumour Leydig cells. The cells were divided into nine groups and treated as follows: (a)-Control, (b)-Capsazepine (CPZ, 0.1 mM, a TRPV1 channel blocker), (c)-Capsaicin (CAP, 0.01 mM, a TRPV1 channel activator), (d)-GT (500 μg/ml), (e)-GT+CPZ, (f)-GT+CAP, (g)-Se (200 nM), (h)-Se+CPZ and (i)-Se+CAP. After treatments, cell viability, [Ca2+ ]i , apoptosis, caspase 3/9, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane depolarisation (MMD) were evaluated. The [Ca2+ ]i , apoptosis, caspase 3/9, MMD and ROS levels were significantly (p
The worldwide declining trend in male fertility has been a steady concern since the past few decades. Male infertility reportedly accounts for half of the overall infertility cases in the world. Despite the evidences of reduced fertility rates in Malaysia in the recent years, there is lack of interventions regarding the reproductive parameters in Malaysian men. Complexity in determining the underlying causatives in most of the male subfertility and infertility cases limits the scope of management. The sociodemographic impacts upon overall health as well as on reproductive health of men are undeniable. The present study has analysed the data collected from patients' records in the Fertility Clinic, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), from the January 2009 until December 2018. A total of 300 male patients were included in the study and were categorised according to their seminal fluid analysis (SFA) records. The sociodemographic characteristics for each subject were analysed. The results presented significant correlations among essential sociodemographic factors, such as educational attainment, marital duration as well as the age of wife, with the levels of semen abnormalities in the subjects. The study thereby unleashes scope for further investigations focusing upon the demographic factors for better insights to ameliorate male reproductive health in the Malaysian population.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to the suspension of the annual Summer Internship at the American Center for Reproductive Medicine (ACRM). To transit it into an online format, an inaugural 6-week 2020 ACRM Online Mentorship Program was developed focusing on five core pillars of andrology research: scientific writing, scientific methodology, plagiarism understanding, soft skills development and mentee basic andrology knowledge. This study aims to determine mentee developmental outcomes based on student surveys and discuss these within the context of the relevant teaching and learning methodology. The mentorship was structured around scientific writing projects established by the team using a student-centred approach, with one-on-one expert mentorship through weekly formative assessments. Furthermore, weekly online meetings were conducted, including expert lectures, formative assessments and social engagement. Data were collected through final assessments and mentee surveys on mentorship outcomes. Results show that mentees (n = 28) reported a significant (p
Male infertility has a complex etiology, and many times, the cause is unknown. While routine semen analysis provides an overview of basic semen parameters, such as sperm concentration, motility, viability and morphology, a significant overlap of these parameters has been reported in fertile and infertile men. Moreover, conventional semen parameters do not reveal the cellular or molecular mechanisms of sperm dysfunctions leading to infertility. Therefore, sperm functional parameters, including sperm chromatin integrity, are evaluated to provide information on subtle sperm defects that are not routinely identified. Incomplete or defective sperm chromatin condensation increases the susceptibility of the sperm DNA to oxidative damage or other factors. To evaluate sperm chromatin integrity, different methods with varying degrees of diagnostic and prognostic capabilities are available. Among these assays, SCSA, TUNEL and SCD assays are most commonly used. While these assays rather evaluate the DNA directly for damages, the aniline blue and chromomycin A3 stains test for the quality of chromatin condensation. Thus, this review discusses and compares different methods used to evaluate sperm chromatin integrity and condensation, and their inclusion in the routine evaluation of the male infertility.
Anatomical endoscopic enucleation of the prostate has been proposed as a potentially superior benign prostatic hyperplasia surgery than conventional transurethral resection of prostate. However, the learning curve of the procedure is steep, hence limiting its generalisability worldwide. In order to overcome the learning curve, a proper surgical training is extremely important. This review article discussed about various aspects of surgical training in anatomical endoscopic enucleation of the prostate. In summary, no matter what surgical technique or energy modality you use, the principle of anatomical enucleation should be followed. When one starts to perform prostate enucleation, a 50 to 80 g prostate appears to be the 'best case' to begin with. Mentorship is extremely important to shorten the learning curve and to prevent drastic complications from the procedure. A proficiency-based progression training programme with the use of simulation and training models should be the best way to teach and learn about prostate enucleation. Enucleation ratio efficacy is the preferred measure for assessing skill level and learning curve of prostate enucleation. Morcellation efficiency is commonly used to assess morcellation performance, but the importance of safety rather than efficiency must be emphasised.
Obesity is considered a global health problem affecting more than a third of the population. Complications of obesity include cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, malignancy (including prostatic cancer), neurodegeneration and accelerated ageing. In males, these further include erectile dysfunction, poor semen quality and subclinical prostatitis. Although poorly understood, important mediators of obesity that may influence the male reproductive system include hyperinsulinemia, hyperleptinemia, chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. Obesity is known to disrupt male fertility and the reproduction potential, particularly through alteration in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, disruption of testicular steroidogenesis and metabolic dysregulation, including insulin, cytokines and adipokines. Importantly, obesity and its underlying mediators result in a negative impact on semen parameters, including sperm concentration, motility, viability and normal morphology. Moreover, obesity inhibits chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, increases apoptosis and epigenetic changes that can be transferred to the offspring. This review discusses the impact of obesity on the male reproductive system and fertility, including associated mechanisms. Furthermore, weight management strategies, lifestyle changes, prescription medication, and complementary and alternative medicine in the management of obesity-induced subfertility is discussed.
Mitochondria have multiple functions, including synthesis of adenine triphosphate, production of reactive oxygen species, calcium signalling, thermogenesis and apoptosis. Mitochondria have a significant contribution in regulating the various physiological aspects of reproductive function, from spermatogenesis up to fertilisation. Mitochondrial functionality and intact mitochondrial membrane potential are a pre-requisite for sperm motility, hyperactivation, capacitation, acrosin activity, acrosome reaction and DNA integrity. Optimal mitochondrial activity is therefore crucial for human sperm function and semen quality. However, the precise role of mitochondria in spermatozoa remains to be fully explored. Defects in sperm mitochondrial function severely impair the maintenance of energy production required for sperm motility and may be an underlying cause of asthenozoospermia. Sperm mtDNA is susceptible to oxidative damage and mutations that could compromise sperm function leading to infertility. Males with abnormal semen parameters have increased mtDNA copy number and reduced mtDNA integrity. This review discusses the role of mitochondria in sperm function, along with the causes and impact of its dysfunction on male fertility. Greater understanding of sperm mitochondrial function and its correlation with sperm quality could provide further insights into their contribution in the assessment of the infertile male.