Kavitha P

Positive Association of Sperm Dysfunction in the Pathogenesis of Recurrent Pregnancy Loss

BACKGROUND Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is one of the most frustrating and difficult areas in reproductive medicine, because the aetiology is often unknown and there are few evidence-based diagnostic and treatment strategies. RPL diagnosis is mainly focused on the female partner. The male factor contributing in evaluation of RPL has been less investigated, it is restricted to karyotype and basic semen analysis, assessment of functionality of sperm is largely ignored. AIM AND OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of sperm factors in RPL through regular semen analysis preceded with sperm function tests. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a case control study of 95 males whose partner has experienced two or more pregnancy loss as case and 37 volunteers who had fathered child/children without the history of RPL as control group. Basic semen analysis and sperm function test (Nuclear chromatin decondensation {NCD}, Hypo osmotic swelling {HOS} and Acrosome intactness test {AIT} was performed. The results were analysed by performing Independent-sample t-test using SPSS (version 14.0). RESULTS One individual had anatomical abnormality which was confirmed through trans-rectal ultrasound scanning and RPL group showed statistically significant (p<0.05) value for NCD, HOS and AIT and 36.8% of RPL individuals had reduced score for sperm count and motility. Less than 4% normal morphology was recorded in 16.8% individuals of RPL group. CONCLUSION Our study revealed that the positive association of sperm dysfunction in RPL cases, hence male may be considered for a routine part of the evaluation along with his partner in the near future in order to achieve desirable outcome.

Role of phenylthiocarbamide as a genetic marker in predicting the predisposition of disease traits in humans.

The main objective of this study is to find out the genetic variation and predisposition of overweight/obese, smoking/alcoholism and thyroid disease traits among tasters and non-tasters in Mysore population, South India. Bitter-taste perception for phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) is a classically variable trait both within and between human populations. Many studies have reported that in world population, approximately 30% of them are PTC non-tasters and 70% are tasters. This investigation was conducted during the year 2009-2010 involving a total 1352 study subjects and divided into three different groups, considering the age ranging from 13 to 50 years. Phenylthiocarbamide taste sensitivity was measured by administering a freshly prepared 0.025% of phenylthiocarbamide solution using the Harris and Kalmus method with a slight modification and the results were recorded. In the first group of 100 obese/overweight children, 28% are taster and 72% are non-taster and among 100 control group 67% are tasters and 43% are non-tasters. In second group, out of 1152 individuals 710 (61.63%) are tasters and 442 (38.37%) are non-tasters including both males and females. In the third group, out of each 100 thyroid patients and the control group, tasters are significantly more frequent (61.41%) than the non-tasters (38.58%) in the control group, but a higher proportion of non-tasters are recorded among individuals with thyroid problems (68%) compared to tasters (32%). There is a significant higher incidence of PTC tasters than non-tasters among general population in this study. As phenotypic variation in PTC sensitivity is genetic in origin, this may represent a surrogate risk factor for the development of multifactorial disease and disorders.

A Comprehensive and Systematic Study of Semen Quality and SpermFunctional Status in Normozoospermic Controls and Infertile Males fromSouth India

Objective: Despite, several global studies indicate the variations in semen characteristics that accounts for male infertility, the association of specific changes in semen quality and fertility status among different Indian communities are poorly investigated. With wide range of geographical locations, diverse lifestyle patterns, seasonal variations combined with heterogeneous population, India offers an excellent system to study genotype-to-phenotype correlation. Hence, the current study has been initiated in South Karnataka region of India, in order to examine the variations in semen quality and sperm functional status in infertile individuals compared with normozoospermic controls. Methods: WHO strict guidelines are followed for systematic semen analysis of 239 infertile and 244 normozoospermic control subjects. Results: Interestingly, compared to normozoospermic controls, higher percentage of physical abnormalities such as, low semen volume and reduced sperm count are observed in infertile men. Additionally, semen characteristics namely, vitality and motility values are significantly reduced in infertile than controls. Further, in sperm function test the lower scores are documented for hypo-osmotic swelling assay, but not for sperm chromatin decondensation and acrosome intactness examination, suggesting loss of sperm plasma membrane integrity in infertile men. Moreover, the observed changes in semen parameters and sperm function are also evident in different infertile sub-conditions with varied responses. Surprisingly, age wise analysis revealed reduction in sperm morphology scores, whereas, vitality, count, motility and volume remain unchanged with increasing age of infertile males. However, we recorded inverse relationship between age and sperm vitality as well as motility in normozoospermic control men. Together, though the scores for different semen parameters in normozoospermic control group are in accordance with WHO reference range, the infertile men displayed poor semen quality. Conclusion: Thus, our data establishes basic differences between infertile and normozoospermic control group in terms of semen characteristics and sperm functional status, but the cause may be attributable to genetic or environmental factors or interaction of the two, which necessitates further detailed examination in larger cohort among heterogeneous population.