Male obesity is associated with subfertility and increased disease risk of offspring. It is unknown if effects can be reversed through pharmacological interventions. Five- to 6-week-old C57BL6 male mice were fed control diet (n = 10, CD) or high-fat diet (n = 20, HFD) for 16 weeks. Animals fed with a HFD were then allocated to continuation of HFD (n = 8) or HFD with metformin 28 mg kg

Oxidative stress is prevalent among infertile men and is a significant cause of sperm DNA damage. Since sperm DNA damage may reduce embryo quality and increase miscarriage rates, it is possible that untreated sperm oxidative stress may impair in vitro fertilization (IVF) live birth rates. Given that the antioxidant Menevit is reported to reduce sperm DNA damage, it was hypothesized that men's consumption of this supplement may alter IVF outcomes. Therefore, a retrospective cohort study was conducted analyzing outcomes for couples undergoing their first fresh embryo transfer. Men were classified as controls if they were taking no supplements, health conscious controls if taking "general health" supplements, or Menevit users. Men with karyotype abnormalities, or cycles using donated, frozen and surgically extracted sperm were excluded. Among the final study cohort of 657 men, live birth rates were significantly higher in Menevit users than controls (multivariate adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.57, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-2.45, P= 0.046), but not between controls taking no supplements and those using general health supplements, thereby suggesting that potential health conscious behavior in supplement users is unlikely responsible for the superior outcomes in Menevit users. Interestingly, in a post hoc sensitivity analysis, live birth rates among Menevit users were statistically superior to controls for lean men (OR: 2.73, 95% CI: 1.18-6.28; P= 0.019), not their overweight/obese counterparts (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 0.75-2.22, P = 0.37). The results of this large cohort study therefore support a positive association between men's use of the Menevit antioxidant during IVF treatment and live birth rates, especially in lean individuals.

Objective: We undertook an integrated analysis of genomic and epidemiological data to investigate a large healthcare-associated COVID-19 outbreak and to better understand the epidemiology of all COVID-19 cases in Tasmania, Australia. Methods: Epidemiological data collected on COVID-19 cases notified in Tasmania between 2 March and 15 May 2020, and positive SARS-CoV-2 samples or extracted RNA from those cases, were included. Sequencing was conducted by tiled amplicon PCR using ARTIC v1 or v3 primers and Illumina sequencing. Consensus sequences were generated, sequences were aligned to a reference sequence, and phylogenetic analysis performed. Genomic clusters were determined and integrated with epidemiologic data to assess any additional insights. Results: All COVID-19 cases notified in Tasmania during the study period (n=231) and 266 SARS-CoV-2 positive samples, representing 217/231 (94%) of notified cases, were included in the study; 182/217 (84%) were clustered, 21/217 (10%) were unique, 12/217 (6%) could not be sequenced. Genomics confirmed the presence of seven epidemiological clusters, clarified transmission networks where epidemiology was unclear and additionally identified another genomic cluster which had not been identified by epidemiology alone. Discussion