Search results for "Andrology"
showing 10 items of 410 documents
NGF and TGF-beta mRNA expression during pregnancy in a rat corneal wound healing model.
2003
Background Growth factors seem to play a major role in corneal wound healing and TGF-beta seems to be associated with abnormal healing after corneal surgical procedures. Few studies have analysed the role of NGF and TGF-beta on corneal wound healing during pregnancy. The aim of the present study was to create an animal model to evaluate the expression of NGF and TGF-betas during corneal wound healing in two groups: control and pregnant rats. Methods Corneal mRNA for NGF and the three isoforms of TGF-beta were analysed by RT-PCR, in a time-course experiment on different days after epithelial wounding (2, 7, 14 days) in pregnant and control groups Results The results show high corneal mRNA ex…
Oviductal and endometrial mRNA expression of implantation candidate biomarkers during early pregnancy in rabbit
2013
[EN] Prenatal losses are a complex problem. Pregnancy requires orchestrated communication between the embryo and the uterus that includes secretions from the embryo to signal pregnancy recognition and secretion and remodelling from the uterine epithelium. Most of these losses are characterized by asynchronization between embryo and uterus. To better understand possible causes, an analysis was conducted of gene expression of a set of transcripts related to maternal recognition and establishment of rabbit pregnancy (uteroglobin, SCGB1A1; integrin 1, ITGA1; interferon- , IFNG; vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF) in oviduct and uterine tissue at 16, 72 or 144 h post-ovulation and insemina…
Effect of the Bovine Oviductal Fluid onIn VitroFertilization, Development and Gene Expression ofIn Vitro-Produced Bovine Blastocysts
2012
Oviductal microenvironment generally provides better condi-tions for early embryo development than the conventionalin vitro system. In an attempt to simulate the oviductconditions or the main potentially influencing factors, theeffect was studied of a bovine oviductal fluid (bOF) treatmentapplied prior to IVF on (i) IVF parameters, (ii) cleavage rate,(iii) blastocyst yield and (iv) blastocyst quality. Embryo qualitywas assessed by morphological embryo quality and relativetranscript abundance of several developmental genes in bovineblastocysts. Furthermore, to study the effect of bOF withoutthe male effect and zona–sperm interaction, artificially acti-vated metaphase II oocytes were also treated w…
Spontaneous Endoreduplication, Tetraploidy and Chromosome Breakage in Lymphocyte Cultures from Healthy Subjects
1984
SUMMARY42,703 metaphases of peripheral lymphocytes from 20 healthy subjects (10 women and 10 men) were examined in order to establish the frequency of endoreduplicated cells and of tetraploid cells without diplochromosomes. Frequencies were found to be 0.016% and 0.112%, respectively. The two sexes did not differ as to the frequency of tetraploid cells, with and without diplochromosomes (about 0.13% in either sex). In a total of 2,135 well spread metaphases examined, 26 cells (i.e. 1.2%) with chromosomal breaks were found. Again, no significant differences between the two sexes were found as to such chromosome abnormalities.
Cellular and Morphological Traits of Oocytes Retrieved from Aging Mice after Exogenous Ovarian Stimulation1
2001
The present study aims to shed light on the origin of abnormal oocytes ovulated by aged females. In order to reach this goal, cellular and morphological traits of ovulated oocytes from hybrid (C57Bl/6JIco female x CBA/JIco male) female mice retrieved after exogenous ovarian stimulation at the age of 12, 40-42, 50-52, or 57-62 wk were analyzed. Aging of female mice was associated with 1) decreased number of ovulated oocytes; 2) increased percentage of cumulus-free oocytes; 3) raised percentage of oocytes with intracellular mitochondrial aggregates; 4) reduced percentage of oocytes displaying a normal distribution of chromosomes in the metaphase-II plate; 5) increased percentage of normal ooc…
340 EPIGENETIC ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENTALLY IMPORTANT GENES IN BOVINE OOCYTES OF DIFFERENT ORIGINS
2010
A critical step in assisted reproductive technologies (ART) is the IVM of oocytes. The quality of the oocyte is crucial for successful fertilization and subsequent embryo development. Studies in bovine ART, and epidemiological studies in children from ART, reveal a degree of abnormal development thought to be primarily caused by aberrant DNA methylation patterns in imprinted and non-imprinted genes. Due to the inherent similarities in bovine and human preimplantation embryonic development, bovine oocyte and embryo development is increasingly being used as a model for human development. The goal of this project is to investigate the effects of specific IVM conditions on the DNA methylation …
Assisted reproductive technology results: Why are live-birth percentages so low?
2014
The present bioessay aims to analyze the impact of parental age, cause of infertility, embryo chromosomal anomalies, assisted reproduction technology (ART) treatments, and environmental and occupational exposures to xenobiotics on ART results, particularly on live-birth percentages per transfer. Special attention is paid to analyzing the effects of these factors on the mitochondrial, genetic, and epigenetic traits of gametes and embryos to ascertain the molecular/cellular mechanisms responsible for the relatively low percentages of live births reported year after year in ART cycles. The bias of age distribution of women attending fertility clinics toward the late thirties and beyond and the…
261 INFLUENCE OF IN VITRO MATURATION ON EPIGENETIC MARKS AND GENE EXPRESSION IN BOVINE OOCYTES
2011
In cattle, in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes is an integral part of assisted reproduction technology. However, only 30% of in vitro matured bovine oocytes develop to the blastocyst stage after fertilization (compared with 60% for in vivo matured oocytes), indicating critical involvement of maturation conditions in the developmental competence of oocytes. Oocytes for IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection in humans are typically allowed to mature in vivo after superovulation because IVM is not considered to be a safe medical procedure. Several studies have shown that assisted reproduction technology involving prolonged in vitro culture of human and ruminant embryos can be associated wi…
Effects of primary- and secondary-treated bleached kraft mill effluents on the immune system and physiological parameters of roach.
2000
The present study was designed to examine, whether, effluents from a modern pulp and paper mill using elemental chlorine-free/total chlorine-free (ECF/TCF) bleaching, exert effects on the immune system of fish and, in addition, to relate these findings to physiological parameters known to be affected by bleached kraft-mill effluents (BKME). Roach (Rutilus rutilus) were exposed in laboratory conditions to primary- or secondary-treated effluent from a pulp and paper mill. In order to study their capability to respond to foreign antigens they were immunised with bovine gamma-globulin (BGG) prior to exposure. The number of anti-BGG antibody-secreting cells (ASC) and the number of immunoglobulin…
Effects of mechanical stimulation on cell cycle duration in rat gingival fibroblast progenitor cells
2001
The aim of this investigation was to estimate cell cycle duration in rat gingival fibroblast progenitor cells in steady-state control and during sustained mechanical stimulation. Elastics (0.15 mm thick) were inserted between maxillary M1 and M2 of 8 wk-old male rats which were labelled with H3-TdR and killed in groups of 6-7 animals together with equal-sized groups of labelled control animals at intervals between 1-168 h. Autoradiographs of consecutive mesio-distal sections were used to determine grain counts for H3-TdR-labelled cells in the connective tissue of the gingival papilla between M2 and M3. Median cell cycle times (MCC) were estimated from plots of mean and median grain counts a…