Relationship between Serum L-Carnitine Levels and Sperm Parameters in Boars

This study evaluated the relationship between serum L-carnitine level and sperm parameters in young boars. Serum L-carnitine and semen characteristics were determined for 61 young Duroc boars between the ages of 590 and 630 days. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to predict total and progressive motility and the total number of spermatozoa based on serum total L-carnitine and free L-carnitine levels. Total number of spermatozoa was not associated with basal serum L-carnitine levels. A regression equation was found in which both total L-carnitine levels and free L-carnitine levels were significant predictors of total and progressive motility (P 0.05). These results suggest that serum L-carnitine level is an important selection parameter for stock boars.

Correlation of oxidation reduction potential and total motile sperm count:its utility in the evaluation of male fertility potential

Oxidative stress(OS)is detri me ntal to sperm fun ctio ns,and the oxidation reductio n pote ntial(ORP)is a good measure of OS as it considers the balance betwee n oxidants and reducta nts.Total motile sperm count(TMSC)is viewed as the single most im porta nt semen analysis parameter that can predict male infertility severity,and its correlation with ORP has never been undertaken.The objectives of this study were to assess the correlation between ORP and TMSC,to identify the ORP cutoff value based on the TMSC result,and to compare this cutoff value with previously reported ORP cutoff values in literature.One thousand one hundred and sixty-eight infertile patients and 100 fertile controls were enrolled.Demographic and semen data of the participants were retrieved and analyzed.Wilcox on's rank-sum test compared variables betwee n infertile men and fertile controls;Spearman's correlation assessed the static ORP(sORP)-TMSC relationship for the whole sample and among each group individually.Using a 20×10^6TMSC threshold,receiver operator characteristic(ROC)analysis determined the sORP cutoff associated with the highest predictive values.TMSC was significantly negatively correlated with sORP across all participants(r=0.86,P<0.001),among infertile patients(r=0.729,P<0.001),and among fertile controls(r=0.53,P<0.001).A 20-million TMSC threshold determined an sORP cutoff value of 2.34 mV/106sperm/ml to be associated with 82.9%sensitivity,82.8%specificity,91.5%positive predictive value(PPV),68.5%negative predictive value(NPV),and 82.9%overall accuracy.Compared with previously reported cutoff values in searched literature,the 2.34 mV/10^6sperm/ml cutoff value identified in our study yielded the highest overall diagnostic accuracy in the evaluation of in fertile men.

Effect of Timing and Number of Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) on the Cycle Clinical Outcome

Objective To study the effect of timing and number of intrauterine insemination （IUI） per cycle on the outcome of artificial insemination by husband （AIH）. Methods A total of 195 infertile couples underwent 379 cycles of lUI with husband＇s sperm. They were divided into 4 groups according to the ovulation and the number of IUIs per cycle： single IUI was performed 24 h after hCG injection, including single IUI before ovulation （group A） and single IUI after ovulation （group B）; double IUI was performed 24 h and 48 h after hCG injection, including double IUI before and after ovulation （group C） and double IUI before ovulation （group D）. The relation-ship between IUI pregnancy rate and the factors like processed total motile sperm （PTMS）, timing and number of lUIs per cycle was analyzed. Results When PTMS〈5 × 10^6, only one case in group B got pregnant, while no pregnancy was observed in other groups. When PTMS ≥ 5 × 10^6, pregnancy rates in all group were improved significantly. The pregnancy rate in group B reached 32.22%, which was significantly higher than that in group A （14.12%）, group C （20.00%） and group D （17.39%）, respectively （P〈0.05）. Conclusion IUI treatment is recommended to be performed when PTMS ≥ 5 × 10^6. An ideal pregnancy rate can be achieved by single IUI which is performed 24 h after hCG injection, and double IUI performed without ovulation could not result in significant improvement of cycle pregnancy rate.