• Journal of Oriental Medical Thermology
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.23-28
• /
• 2005

Purpose : To examine the relation between male infertility and cold hypersensitivity on lower abdomen. Methods : From 2004, 4 to 2005, 10, a total 60(infertile male 30, normal male on semen analysis 30) patients who visited the Oriental gynecological department of Conmaul Oriental Medicine hospital was selected, and their medical records were reviewed retrospectively. We compared the temperature of 3 points(CV17, CV12, CV4) of both group by DITI(Dorex, DITI-16UTI and DITI-Spectrum 9000 MB). Results and Conclusion : The general characteristics such as age, weight, height, BMI, amount and frequency of drinking and smoking of both group were not different statistically. The mean ${\Delta}T1$ between upper and lower abdomen in infertile group was higer than in normal group but they were not different statistically. The mean ${\Delta}T2$ between chest and lower abdomen was $0.46{\pm}0.41$ in infertile group, and $0.18{\pm}0.56$ in normal group, and it shows significant difference statistically. There was no significant relationship between sperm motility and ${\Delta}T1$, ${\Delta}T2$ in infertile group. In this study, we suggest that an inclination of cold hypersensitivity of lower abdomen of infertile male, but it is expressed when it is contrasted to chest of the body rather than upper abdomen.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.10
• /
• pp.5589-5597
• /
• 2013

The aim of this review article was to evaluate the relationship and the possible etiological mechanisms between endometriosis, leiomyoma (LM) and adenomyosis and gynecological cancers, such as ovarian and endometrial cancer and leiomyosarcoma (LMS). MEDLINE was searched for all articles written in the English literature from July 1966 to May 2013. Reports were collected systematically and all the references were also reviewed. Malignant transformation of gynecologic benign diseases such as endometriosis, adenomyosis and LM to ovarian and endometrial cancer remains unclear. Hormonal factors, inflammation, familial predisposition, genetic alterations, growth factors, diet, altered immune system, environmental factors and oxidative stress may be causative factors in carcinogenesis. Early menarche, low parity, late menopause and infertility have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of these cancers. Ovarian cancers and endometriosis have been shown to have common genetic alterations such as loss of heterozygosity (LOH), PTEN, p53, ARID1A mutations. MicroRNAs have also been implicated in malignant transformation. Inflammation releases proinflammatory cytokines, and activates tumor associated macrophages (TAMS) and nuclear factor kappa b (NF-KB) signaling pathways that promote genetic mutations and carcinogenesis. MED12 mutations in LM and smooth muscle tumors of undetermined malignant potential (STUMP) may contribute to malignant transformation to LMS. A hyperestrogenic state may be shared in common with pathogenesis of adenomyosis, LM and endometrial cancer. However, the effect of these benign gynecologic diseases on endometrial cancer should be studied in detail. This review study indicates that endometriosis, LM, adenomyosis may be associated with increased risk of gynecological cancers such as endometrial and ovarian cancers. The patients who have these gynecological benign diseases should be counseled about the future risks of developing cancer. Further studies are needed to investigate the relationship between STUMPs, LMS and LM and characteristics and outcome endometrial carcinoma in adenomyotic patients.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.21-29
• /
• 1999

This study was performed to identify the effect of the hydrosalpinx fluid on sperm motility. It has been reported that the patients with hydrosalpinx show the outstandingly lower success rate than other patients having infertility by different factors. It is unclear that the cause of it is influenced by hydrosalpinx fluid directly or by secondary chronic inflammation of endometrium. We wanted to know if the hydrosalpinx fluid influences sperm motility parameters directly such that it is related to the development of infertility. Therefore, using computer assisted semen analyzer (CASA), we observed, from February to July, 1997, how sperm motility, sperm progressive motility, sperm curvilinear velocity, sperm lateral head displacement, sperm straightness and sperm linearity change after treating normal sperm with hydrosalpinx fluid to evaluate sperm function on infertility. The result was that the study group (n=32) has the tendency to differ from the control group (n=32) on sperm motility, progressive motility, curvilinear velocity, lateral head displacement, straightness and linearity. We concluded that the hydrosalpinx fluid, with varying degree, directly has the harmful effects on sperm motility parameters, that is, curvilinear velocity, lateral head displacement and linearity of sperm which are related to the hyperactivation, hence decreased capacitation.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.143-148
• /
• 1995

To present and assess the efficacy of combination of microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration(MESA) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection(ICSI) for the treatment of infertility due to unreconstructable obstructive azoospermia or congenital bilateral agenesis of vas deferens (CBAVD), MESA was performed in the 45 husbands ( 16 CBAVD, 29 unreconstructable genital tract obstruction), followed by ICSI of oocytes recovered from the wives hyperstimulated by GnRH agonist in combination with hMG and FSH. Cleaving embryos were transfered to the uterine cavity or follopian tube(ZIFT) 18 or 24 hours after ICSI procedure. In 45 cycles of MESA, 492 oocyte complexes were recovered. ICSI was carried out on 355 metaphase II oocytes and 226 oocytes (63.7%) showed normal two pronucleus fertilization. After 198 embryos were transferred in 43 cycles, an average of 5 per cycle, 20 patients presented a positive HCG and intrauterine pregnancy was confirmed by US. So, the clinical ongoing pregnancy rate per transfer was 46.5%. Until now, 8 patients have given birth to 9 babies, 5 male and 4 female, including 1 twin. The babies were all healthy except 1 twin female baby. There was 1 miscarriage at 7 weeks and chromosomal study of abortus revealed as 45X, monosomy. These results suggested that it was possible to achieve high normal fertilization and pregnancy rate by ICSI using epididymal sperm.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.49 no.4
• /
• pp.587-593
• /
• 2021

Infertility is a key issue affecting mood and behavior in men. Microorganisms are one of the primary etiological agents that may be associated with infertility. The objective of the present study was to identify bacterial causative agents from the semen of infertile subjects and determine the effect of bacterial infection on sperm quality, as well as determine the susceptibility of these bacteria to drugs. Forty semen samples from 30 infertile patients and 10 fertile individuals were collected. The pH, volume, motility, and concentration of semen were analyzed. The samples were processed and identified by biochemical testing using API identification kits. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern was determined using the disc diffusion method. Abnormal sperm quality was observed. The mean age of the individual and their sperm morphology, concentration, progressive motility, pH level, and pus cell content were 31.9 years, 2.7%, 10.4 million/ml, 27.3%, 8.3, and 5.7, respectively. Among the tested samples, oligoasthenozoospermia was found to show the highest occurrence, at 27/30 samples, followed by teratozoospermia, at 25/30 samples, and asthenozoospermia, at 22/30 samples. Of the tested infertile patients' sperm, 19, 6, and 5 isolates were identified as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, and Staphylococcus epidermidis, respectively. The results also revealed multi-drug resistance in the bacteria. Compared to that shown by the other tested antibiotics, amikacin showed higher activity against all isolated bacteria. However, the bacteria exhibited maximum resistance against gentamicin, cefotaxime, levofloxacin, and ampicillin. In conclusion, leukocytospermia and bacterial infections are possibly responsible for sperm abnormalities. Multi-drug resistant bacteria were detected. Gentamicin, cefotaxime, levofloxacin and ampicillin were shown the highest resistance, while amikacin was the most effective antimicrobial agent against the isolated bacteria.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.12
• /
• pp.4843-4846
• /
• 2014

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is most common in childhood. Inhibin (a non-steroidal glycoprotein hormone of gonadal origin) can be used as marker of fertility. The current study was conducted to evaluate inhibin levels in ALL patients and to estimate its correlation with some antioxidants in these in comparison with control subjects. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on sixty patients with ALL and thirty children as controls. Fasting blood samples were taken from each subject and analyzed for haemoglobin, serum protein, vitamin E and C, in addition to glutathione and inhibin. Results: The results of the study showed highly significant decreases (p<0.001) in haemoglobin, glutathione and inhibin levels with significant decreases (p<0.05) in serum protein and vitamin E levels for patients group in comparison with controls while there was no significant differences in vitamin C. Moreover, there were significant correlations between inhibin levels and serum protein, glutathione and both vitamins (E and C) in the ALL patient group (r= 0.81, 0.80, 0.77 and 0.69, respectively). Conclusions: The present results indicated infertility in patients with ALL demonstrated by low inhibin level as a consequence of abnormality in anti-oxidative metabolism due to the cancer process. So, it can be suggested the need for routine measurement of inhibin for leukemic patients to estimate the action of hormones of gonadal origin.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.22-27
• /
• 2017

Objective: Azoospermia owing to testicular disorders is the most severe manifestation of male infertility. The main concern for patients with nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA) is the probability of successful sperm retrieval following testicular sperm extraction (TESE). Therefore, the goal of this study was to determine predictive factors correlated with sperm retrieval. Methods: We assessed the testicular histopathological patterns, the choice of TESE surgical procedure, hormone levels, and chromosomal abnormalities in patients with NOA (n=170). The histopathology specimens were analyzed based on the histopathological patterns of hypospermatogenesis, maturation arrest, and Sertoli cell-only syndrome. Results: The mean rate of sperm retrieval was 48.8%. The rate of sperm retrieval was significantly higher in the hypospermatogenesis group than in the other groups (p<0.001). There was a positive correlation between micro-TESE (vs. conventional TESE) and the sperm retrieval rate (odds ratio, 8.077; p<0.01). A logistic regression model demonstrated that high levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and small testicular volume were significantly associated with lower chances of successful sperm retrieval. Conclusion: Some parameters, including testicular histopathology patterns, FSH levels, testicular volume, and method of TESE surgery, may be able to predict the chances of obtaining spermatozoa in patients with NOA. However, despite the efficiency of some predictive models, the hope of retrieving any functioning spermatozoa may be sufficient to disregard predictive factors of the success of intracytoplasmic sperm injection in these patients.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2015

Objectives : This study was performed to investigate the efficacy of Korean Medical Therapy (KMT) for patients undergoing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Methods : We analysed clinical data of 61 patients who visited for KMT after IVF from January 2013 to December 2013. Results : 1. Above 2years (63.9%) was the most prevalent duration of infertility. 2. The mean age of patients was 36.0 years old. The most prevalent age was 31~35 (45.9%) and 36~49 (27.9%) was next. 3. Anjonicheon-tang was the most prevalent KMT prescription, followed by Sutae-hwan, Jogyeongjongok-tang . 4. Twenty seven patients (44.3%) succeeded in pregnancy. And twenty patients (32.8%) succeeded in delivery. 5. The average duration of KMT was 73.8 days. Pregnancy success group was treated for 78.1 days, and pregnancy fail group was treated for 57.0 days. As a result, pregnancy success group was more treated than pregnancy fail group by 21.1 days in KMT. Conclusions This study suggested that KMT affects improvement of the clinical pregnancy and delivery rate in IVF.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.329-338
• /
• 2010

Objective: This study was carried out to know whether cryopreservation of sibling 2PN zygotes could increase the cumulative delivery rates in the patients who had less than 10 fertilized zygotes. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed in 138 in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) cycles with less than 10 fertilized zygotes during January 2003 to December 2007 in Cheil General Hospital. These cycles were divided into two groups. In Group I (n=86), all fertilized embryos were cultured to transfer on day 3 without cryopreserved embryos at the 2PN stage. In Group II (n=52), among fertilized zygotes, some sibling zygotes were frozen at the 2PN stage, the remainder were cultured to transfer. Clinical outcomes in fresh ET cycles and cumulative ongoing pregnancy rates after subsequent frozen-thawed (FT)-ET cycles were compared. Results: There were no significant differences in female mean age, number of retrieved oocytes and total fertilized embryos between two groups, Number of cultured embryos was significantly lower in Group II ($5.2{\pm}0.5$) than in Group I ($8.4{\pm}0.7$) (p<0.01). Also, number of transferred embryos was significantly lower in Group II ($3.3{\pm}0.6$) compared with Group I ($3.6{\pm}0.6$) (p<0.01). ${\beta}$-hCG positive rates and delivery rates (51.2 vs. 46.2 % and 41.9 vs. 34.6 %, respectively) after fresh ET were slightly higher in Group I than in Group II. However, the differences were not statistically significant. Also, the cumulative delivery rates after subsequent FT-ET cycles were not significantly different between Group I (48.8%) and Group II (50.0%). Conclusion: This study showed that cryopreservation of sibling 2PN zygotes from patients who had less than 10 zygotes in the fresh ET cycles did not increase cumulative delivery outcomes. But, it could provide an alternative choice for patients due to offering more chance for embryo transfers if pregnancy was failed in fresh IVF-ET cycles.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.143-148
• /
• 2015

Objective: The aim of the current study was to determine the predictive value of anti-$M{\ddot{u}}llerian$ hormone (AMH) levels for pregnancy outcomes in patients over 40 years of age who underwent in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (IVF/ICSI-ET) cycles. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 188 women aged 40 to 44 years who underwent IVF/ICSI-fresh ET cycles due to unexplained infertility in the fertility center of CHA Gangnam Medical Center. Patients were divided into group A, with AMH levels <1.0 ng/mL (n=97), and group B, with AMH levels ${\geq}1.0ng/mL$ (n=91). We compared the clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) in the two groups and performed logistic regression analysis to identify factors that had a significant effect on the CPR. Results: The CPR was significantly lower in group A than group B (7.2% vs. 24.2%, p<0.001). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, AMH levels were the only factor that had a significant impact on the CPR (odds ratio, 1.510; 95% confidence interval, 1.172-1.947). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for AMH levels as a predictor of the CPR was 0.721. When the cut-off level of AMH was set at 1.90 ng/ mL, the CPR was 6.731-fold higher in the group with AMH levels ${\geq}1.90ng/mL$ than in the group with AMH levels <1.90 ng/mL (p<0.001). Conclusion: Our study showed that AMH levels were predictive of clinical pregnancy in infertility patients over 40 years of age. Further prospective studies should be conducted to validate the predictive capability of AMH levels for the outcome of clinical pregnancy.