• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.202-209
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• 2015

We investigated the effect of Capsosiphon fulvescens (CFE) and pheophorbide a (PhA) contained in CFE on oxidative stress regarded as a factor for diabetic complication. Streptozotocin (STZ), known as an oxidative stress inducer, was intraperitoneal injected for causing diabetes. After 7 days, CFE (4 and 20 mg/kg body weight) and PhA (0.2 mg/kg body weight) were treated once a day for 9 weeks. After the sacrifice, testis tissues were collected for the experiments. We confirmed that the treatment with CFE and PhA in diabetic animals not only decreased level of lipid peroxidation and serum nitric oxide compared with the diabetes group, but also the activities of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione-S-transferase were restored remarkably. Furthermore the activity of antioxidant enzymes, catalase and superoxide dismutase, were significantly recovered. With these results, our study suggest that CFE containing PhA may prevent seminal glands damages induced by oxidative stress in diabetic condition.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 1999

In the present study, we investigated the effect of maturity and motility of spermatozoa on the formation of pronuc-leus and subsequent developmental capacity of the human embryo in vitro. The fertilization was performed by means of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in HEPES-buffered m-TCM-199 medium. In the first part of the experiment, motile or im-motile human spermatozoa ejaculated were injected into cumulus-enclosed human oocytes matured in vivo. Significantly (p<0.002) higher proportion of oocytes that was injected with motile spermatozoa formed 2 pronuclei than the oocytes injected with immotile spermatozoa (79.8% vs 51.7%). In the second part of the experiment, cumulus-enclosed human oocytes matured in vivo were injected with motile or immotile spermatozoa collected from testes. There was no difference between motile and immotile spermatozoa. In the third part of the experiment, using modified Tyrode's medium containing 10.0 mM lactate, 0.5 mM pyruvate, 0.2 mM taurine, 1.0 mM glutamine, 2.22 mM MEM amino acids, vitamin and 10% human follicular fluid, we found that the development of oocytes that formed 2 pronuclei were able to develop to 9-16 cells regardless of maturity and motility of spermatozoa.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.100-108
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• 1986

Eik-Nes (1966) reported that the mechanism of spermatogenesis is controlled by FSH and LH and maintaned normally in scrotum terperautre which is 3-5$^{\circ}C$ lower than body termperature. But Ojeda and Ramirez (1972) have described that the abdominal testis was shrinked severely and lost its normal function in congenital cryptorchidism or surgically induced cryptorchidism. Ramirez and Sawyer (1974) reported that the compensatory hypertorphy occured in the remaining testis of unilateral castration and the scrotal testis of unilateral cryptorchidism. Cunninham et al. (1978) reported that the serum FSH levle increased after unilateral castration. Frankel and Wright (1982) reported that the serum LH level was unchanged greatly after unilateral castration. Gomes and Jain (1976) reported that the serum testosterone level increased temporarily but not varied after unilateral castration. On the other hand, Kormano et al. (1964) reported that the serum FSH level in unilateral cryptorchidism rat was unchanged in contrast with the control and Risbirdger et al. (1981) reported that the serum LH level was unchanged till 2 weeks after operation and after then increased to 77%. Kim (1984) reported that the serum testosterone level was somewhat lower than that fo control group but there was't significant different. There were many different reports on hormone levels among different investigators when the immarue rats were castrated unilaterally or induced cryptorchidism unilaterally. Liang and Liang (1970) and Cunningham et al. (1978) described that there were no true compenastory hypertrophy in the remaining testis of unilateral castration and scrotal testis of unilateral testis of unilateral cryptorchidism in rat but they grew faster than that of control. Kormano et al.(1964), Damber et al.(1976), Cunningham et al.(1978) and Karpe et al.(1981) reported that the testis weight, germinal epithelia height and seminiferous tubules diameter developed continuously and similarily in the control, the remaining testis of unilateral castration and scrotal testis of unilateral cryptorchidism increased, however, in the abdominal testis of the unilateral cryptorchidism, they were much smaller than those of other groups. In observation of the histological changes in the seminiferous epithelium of control, remaining tesis of unilateral castration and scrotal testis of unilateral cryptorchidism differentiated and developed fully(Cunningham et al., 1978). However, the abdominal testis of unilateral crytorchidism degenerated severely and only the germ cells in early stage and Sertoli cells were found in the seminiferous tubules. (Damber et al., 1976, Gomes and Jain, 1976 and Karpe et al., 1981). By electron microscopic observation, Nagano (1963) and Leason and Leeson (1970) found that the abdominal testis of unilateral cryptorchidism was thicked in boundary tissue, increased lipid droplet in the Sertoli cell, disarranged axial filament complex and increased lipid inclusions in the Sertoli cell.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.1103-1109
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• 2018

Objective: This study aimed to screen and identify the target genes of miR-375 in pig Sertoli (ST) cells and to elucidate the effect of miR-375 on the proliferation of ST cells. Methods: In this study, bioinformatics software was used to predict and verify miR-375 target genes. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the relationship between miR-375 and its target genes in ST cells. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of rearranged L-myc fusion (RLF) and hypoxia-induced gene domain protein 1A (HIGD1A) was performed on porcine ST cells, which were transfected with a miR-375 mimics and inhibitor to verify the results. Dual luciferase reporter gene assays were performed to assess the interactions among miR-375, RLF, and HIGD1A. The effect of miR-375 on the proliferation of ST cells was analyzed by CellTiter 96 AQueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay (MTS). Results: Five possible target genes of miR-375, including RLF, HIGD1A, colorectal cancer associated 2, POU class 3 homeobox 1, and WW domain binding protein 1 like, were found. The results of quantitative PCR suggested that mRNA expression of RLF and HIGD1A had a negative correlation with miR-375, indicating that RLF and HIGD1A are likely the target genes of miR-375. The ELISA results revealed that RLF and HIGD1A were negatively correlated with the miR-375 protein level. The luminescence results for the miR-375 group cotransfected with wild-type RLF and HIGD1A vector were significantly lower than those of the miR-375 group co-transfected with the blank vector or mutant RLF and HIGD1A vectors. The present findings suggest that RLF and HIGD1A are target genes of miR-375 and that miR-375 inhibits ST cell proliferation according to MTS analysis. Conclusion: It was speculated that miR-375 affects cell proliferation through its target genes, which play an important role in the development of testicular tissue.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.179-186
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• 2003

Reproductive cycle, gonadal development and the spawning period of the Korean anchovy Coilia nasus were investigated by histologhical observations. Samples were collected at the coastal area of Geumgang dyke which is connected to Gunsan and Janghang, Korea, from February 2002 to January 2003. C. nasus is dioecious; the ovary consists of a pair of saccular structure with many ovarian lobules, and the testis consists of a pair of lobular structure with many testicular lobules and connected to the posterior seminal vesicle. Monthly changes in the gonadosomatic index (GSI) began to increase in April when seawater temperature increased and reached the maximum in June when the ovary was getting mature, the summer season of longer day length with higher water temperature. The reproductive cycle can be classified into five successive stage in females: early growing stage (February to March), late growing stage (March to April), mature stage (May to June), ripe and spent stage (June to July), and recovery and resting stage (July to January): in males, the cycle can be divided into four successive stages; growing stage (February to April), mature stage (May to July), ripe and spent (June to July), and recovery and resting stages (July to January). According to the frequency distributions of egg diameters in the spawning season. C. nasus is presumed to be summer spawning species and polycyclic species to spawn 2 times or more during the spawning season.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.199-205
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• 1998

The present study was performed to analyze the expression of LH genes in the rat ovary. Expression of LH subunit genes in the rat ovary was demonstrated by amplification of ovarian RNA by RT-PCR. The ovarian $LH_\beta$ transcripts contained at least two parts of the published cDNA structure, the pituitary exons 1, 2 and 3 and the part of testicular ex on 1 in the major trancripts form in rat testis. Using RIA, significant amount of LH-like molecules were detected in crude ovarian extracts, and the competition curves with increasing amount of tissue extracts were parallel with those of standard peptide, indicating that the ovarian immunoreactive LH-like material is similar to authentic pituitary LH molecule. The administration of PMSG to immature rats resulted in a sharp decrease of the ovarian LH contents after 24 h post-injection. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that genes for LH subunits are expressed in the rat ovary, and suggest that LH can playa central role in regulation of female reproduction with both endocrine (by pituitary LH) and auto- and/or para-crine (by ovarian LH) manner.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.1347-1354
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• 2006

The aims of this study were to establish a simple and effective method for isolating male germline stem cells (GSCs), and to test the possibility of using these cells as a new approach for male infertility treatment. Testes obtained from neonatal and adult mice were manually decapsulated. GSCs were collected from seminiferous tubules by a two-step enzyme digestion method and plated on gelatin-coated dishes. Over 5-7 days of culture, GSCs obtained from neonates and adults gave rise to large multicellular colonies that were subsequently grown for 10 passages. During in vitro proliferation, oct-4 and two immunological markers (Integrin ${\beta}1,\;{\alpha}6$) for GSCs were highly expressed in the cell colonies. During another culture period of 6 weeks to differentiate to later stage germ cells, the expression of oct-4 mRNA decreased in GSCs and Sertoli cells encapsulated with calcium alginate, but the expression of c-kit and testis-specific histone protein 2B(TH2B) mRNA as well as the localization of c-kit protein was increased. Expression of transition protein (TP-l) and localization of peanut agglutinin were not seen until 3 weeks after culturing, and appeared by 6 weeks of culture. The putative spermatids derived from GSCs supported embryonic development up to the blastocyst stage with normal chromosomal ploidy after chemical activation. Thus, GSCs isolated from neonatal and adult mouse testes were able to be maintained and proliferated in our simple culture conditions. These GSCs have the potential to differentiate into haploid germ cells during another long-term culture.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.198-203
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• 1999

Gonadal development and reproductive cycle off Gomphina melanaegis collected in the coastal waters of Chumunjin, Korea were investigated monthly from April 1996 to April 1997. G. melanaegis was dioecious, The gonads were located between the digestive diverticula and muscle tissues of the foot, The ovary was composed of a number of ovarian sacs, and the testis was composed of several testicular tubules. The flesh weight rate was reached the maximum in August ($23.0\%$), and then decreased to $19.8\%$ in September. In March, the value was reached the minimum ($17.8\%$) and then increased, The size of mature oocyte was ranged $50\~60\mu$m in diameter and had a germinal vesicle with a nucleolus. Mature oocyte contained a large number of yolk granules and lipid granules in its cytoplasm. The spermatozoon was consisted of a conical nucleus with acrosome, a middle piece containing four mitochondria and proximal and distal centrioles, and a flagellum, Sex ratio (male/female) and minimum size for sexual maturation of G. melanaegis were 0.79 and about 25 mm in shell length, respectively. The reproductive cycle could be classified into five succesive stages: multiplicative (December to March), growing (April and May), mature(June), sprawning (July and August), and degenerative and resting (September to November) stages.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.1008-1018
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• 1996

Primary mediastinal nonseminomatous germ cell tumor is extremely rare. Apart from rarity and large size, mediastinal germ cell tumors show striking similarity to testicular tumors in age, incidence, and tumor type. The symptoms associated with these tumors are related mainly to size, invasion of neighboring structures, and distant metastases. Tissue diagnosis is obtained by biopsy of the primary lesion or by biopsy of metastatic sites. Tumors often present with advanced bulky disease, which are unresectable. So these tumors require an aggressive multidisciplinary approach to management. Optimal management includes aggressive surgical debulking and early use of cisplatin-bleomycin-based combination chemotherapy. Serial biomarker measurements permit early recognition of recwrence and improved timing of surgical intervention. The prognosis for mediastinal germ cell tumors is poor, not only because they are far advanced at the time of diagnosis but also because some of the tumors-such as embryonal carcinomas, choriocarcinomas, and endodermal sinus tumors-are very aggressive. In these cases, we present three young male patients with large mass on anterior mediastinum. Tissue diagnosis was obtained by primary lesion biopsy. All patients received surgical debulking and combination chemotherapy and experienced a brief response and eventually had relapses. We report these cases with a review of literatures.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.103-109
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• 1999

Objective: Heat shock protein 70-2 (Hsp70-2) gene knockout mice are found to have premeiotic arrest at the primary spermatocyte stage with a complete absence of spermatids and spermatozoa. This observation led to the hypothesis that hspA2 may be disrupted in human testes with abnormal spermatogenesis. To test this hypothesis, we studied the mRNA expression of hspA2 in infertile men with azoospermia. Design: The mRNA expression were analyzed by competitive RT-PCR among testes with normal spermatogenesis, pachytene spermatocyte arrest, and sertoli-cell only syndrome. Materials and methods: Testicular biopsy was performed in men with azoospermia (n=15). Specimens were subdivided into three groups: (group 1) normal spermatogenesis (n=5), (group 2) spermatocyte arrest (n=5), (group 3) Sertoli-cell only syndrome (n=5). Total RNA was extracted by Trizol reagent. Total extracted RNA was reverse transcribed into cDNA and amplified by PCR using specific primers for hspA2 target cDNAs. A competitive cDNA fragment was constructed by deleting a defined fragment from the target cDNA sequence, and then coamplified with the target cDNA for competitive PCR. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene was used as an internal control. Results: On Competitive RT-PCR analyses for hspA2 mRNA, significant amount of hspA2 expression was observed in group 1, whereas a constitutively low level of hspA2 was expressed in groups 2 and 3. Conclusion(s): The study demonstrates that the hspA2 gene expression is down-regulated in human testes with abnormal spermatogenesis, which in turn suggests that hspA2 gene may play a specific role during meiosis in human testes.