The aim of this study was to examine whether CAG/GGN repeats are significant modulators of serum concentrations of total and free testosterone (T) as well as of luteinizing hormone (LH) in elderly men. Sixty-nine 60- to 80-year-old men with subnormal T levels (< or = 11.0 nmol L(-1)) and 104 men with normal T levels taking part in a nested case-control study were used for these analyses. Sex hormones were measured and free T was calculated. The CAG and GGN polymorphisms in the androgen receptor gene were determined by polymerase chain reaction and subsequent direct sequencing. There were no differences in the CAG and GGN repeat lengths between the groups. In cross-sectional analyses of the whole cohort, total and free T were positively associated with CAG length (all P < 0.05) before, but not after, waist circumference or body mass index was added to the model. CAG repeat lengths were weakly, but not independently, associated with total and free T. These findings indicate that when clinically evaluating T and LH levels in elderly men, the CAG and GGN repeat lengths do not need to be taken into consideration.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Body Mass Index ; Case-Control Studies ; Cohort Studies ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Genotype ; Humans ; Luteinizing Hormone ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Receptors, Androgen ; genetics ; Testosterone ; blood ; Trinucleotide Repeats

AIMTo investigate the prevalence of high levels of sperm DNA damage among men from infertile couples with both normal and abnormal standard semen parameters.

METHODSA total of 350 men from infertile couples were assessed. Standard semen analysis and sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) were carried out.

RESULTSNinety-seven men (28% of the whole study group) had a DNA fragmentation index (DFI)> 20%, and 43 men (12%) had a DFI>30%. In the group of men with abnormal semen parameters (n = 224), 35% had a DFI>20%, and 16% had a DFI>30%, whereas these numbers were 15% and 5%, respectively, in the group of men with normal semen parameters (n=126). Men with low sperm motility and abnormal morphology had significantly higher odds ratios (ORs) for having a DFI>20% (4.0 for motility and 1.9 for morphology) and DFI>30% (6.2 for motility and 2.8 for morphology) compared with men with normal sperm motility and morphology.

CONCLUSIONIn almost one-third of unselected men from infertile couples, the DFI exceeded the level of 20% above which, according to previous studies, the in vivo fertility is reduced. A significant proportion of men with otherwise normal semen parameters also had high sperm DNA damage levels. Thus, the SCSA test could add to explaining causes of infertility in cases where semen analysis has not shown any deviation from the norm. We also recommend running the SCSA test to choose the appropriate assisted reproductive technique (ART).

Chromatin ; pathology ; DNA Damage ; Female ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; epidemiology ; genetics ; physiopathology ; Male ; Prevalence ; Semen ; cytology ; Spermatozoa ; physiology

Serum amyloid P component (SAP) is present in seminal plasma, on spermatozoa, and in different tissues of the male reproductive tract, but its function is not known. The aims of this study were to determine if the concentration of SAP in seminal plasma is associated with commonly assessed semen parameters and to investigate if SAP could be a new, indirect biomarker for these parameters. In a cross-sectional study of 203 young volunteers, the concentration of SAP in seminal plasma was measured with a in-house developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Scatter plots, Pearson's correlation coefficients (r), and linear regression models were produced, and SAP showed a statistically significant correlation with sperm concentration (r = 0.75), sperm number (r = 0.68), semen volume (r = -0.19), progressive sperm motility (r = 0.24), and sperm immotility (r = -0.20). When the study group was dichotomized, SAP could be used to discriminate samples with a sperm concentration < or ≥5 × 10