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The process of sperm maturation, capacitation, and fertilization occur in different molecular milieu provided by epididymis and female reproductive tract including oviduct. The different tissue environment with different oxygen tension and temperature may still influence the process of sperm maturation and capacitation. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is reported to be an initial switch that may activate the molecular process of capacitation. Therefore, the generation of reactive oxygen species and its possible physiological role depends upon a balance between its formation and degradation in an open environment provided by female reproductive tract. The sensitivity of the spermatozoa to the action of ROS may be due to its exposure for the first time to an oxygen rich external milieu compared to its internal milieu in the male reproductive tract. Reduced temperature in testicular environment coupled with reduced oxygen tension may be the right molecular environment for the process of spermatogenesis and spermiogenesis. The morphologically mature spermatozoa then may attain its motility in an environment provided by the caput epididymis wherein, the dyenin motor can become active. This ability to move forward will make the spermatozoa physiologically fit to undertake its sojourn in the competitive race of fertilization in a new oxygen rich female reproductive tract. The first encounter may be oxygen trigger or preconditioning of the spermatozoa with reactive oxygen species that may alter the spermatozoal function. Infertility is still one of the major global health problems that need medical attention. Apart from the development of artificial methods of reproduction and development of newer techniques in the field of andrology focuses attention on spermatozoal structure and metabolism. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in fertilization in general and that of sperm capacitation in particular may help lead to new and better techniques for enhancing fertility, identifying and treating certain forms of male infertility, and preventing conception. One remarkable insight is the importance of membrane cholesterol efflux in initiating transmembrane signaling events that confer fertilization competence. The identity of the physiologically relevant cholesterol acceptors and modulators of cholesterol efflux is therefore of great interest. Still, it is clear that cholesterol efflux represents only a part of this story. The involvement of phospholipid translocation in mediating dynamic changes in the membrane, rendering it conducive to transmembrane signaling, and the modulation of membrane components of signal transduction cascades by cholesterol or phospholipids will yield important insights into the links between environmental sensing and transmembrane signaling in the sperm. Understanding the membrane molecular events will ultimately provide new and exciting areas of investigation for the future

1 In sti tu te of Re sear ch in Scien ce and Me di ci ne, Sa lem, In dia 2 In sti tu te of Car dio lo gy, Ban glo re, In dia 3 De par tme nt of Bioc he mis try, Al Arab Me di cal Uni ver si ty, Ben gha zi, Li bya *Cor res pon di ng aut hor: dhas ta gir @ya hoo.ca Ab stra ctIn tro duc tion: Peop le wi th meta bo lic syndro me are about twi ce as li ke ly to de ve lop ce reb ro vas cu lar di sea se (CVD) and over four ti mes as li ke ly to de ve lop type 2 dia be tes com pa red to sub jec ts wit hout me ta bo lic syndro me. This cro ss-sec tio nal po pu la tion ba sed stu dy was un der ta ken to explore the pre va len ce of me ta bo lic syndro me in a lo cal po pu la tion in In dia. Ma te ria ls and met ho ds: The pre va len ce was as ses sed in a group of 1,568 pa tien ts re fer red to Hi gh Te ch Hos pi tal a lia ted to Vi naya ka Mis sio ns Uni ver si ty, Sa lem, In dia. We ha ve ana lyzed the ove ra ll pre va len ce of me ta bo lic syndro me, as we ll as the num ber of com po nen ts of the me ta bo lic syndro me pre se nt in the in di vi dua ls in this stu dy. For all sub jec ts fol lowi ng va riab les we re col lec ted: age, gen der, wai st cir cum fe ren ce, blood pressu re and fas ti ng cli ni cal che mis try pa ra me te rs. Blood pres su re was mo ni to red and mea su red in a sit ti ng po si tion by a mer cu ry sphygmo ma no me ter. Blood sam ples for HDL-cho les te rol, trig lyce ri de and fas ti ng glu co se we re col lec ted af ter 12h over nig ht fa st. Re sul ts: In our group 33.17% of ma les and 27.04% of fe ma les we re iden ti ed as ha vi ng the me ta bo lic syndro me. Wai st cir cum fe ren ce, dysli pi de mia and im pai red glu co se to le ran ce we re sig ni can tly mo re pre va le nt in our ma le sub jec ts than in fe ma les. Mul tip le lo gis tic reg res sion ana lysis showed that in crea si ng age (OR (95% CI) = 1.06 (1.040-1.070); P < 0.001) and ma le gen der (OR (95% CI) = 1.50 (1.190-1.890); P < 0.05) we re sig ni ca nt pre dic to rs of me ta bo lic syndro me in In dia. Con clu sion:The me ta bo lic syndro me is substan tial ly pre va le nt in In dia. Its pre va len ce in creases wi th age and is hig her in men than in wo men. A fur ther stu dy is requi red to un der sta nd the ro le and in te r-re la tion ship be tween so me mo re and le ss known fac to rs pos sib ly as so cia ted wi th the meta bo lic syndro me. Key wor ds: dysli pi dae mia; me ta bo lic syndro me; pre va len ce; glu co se in to le ran ce; wai st cir cum fe ren ce In tro duc tionMe ta bo lic syndro me (MS) al so known as syndrome X is cha rac te ri zed by hyper trig lyce ri dae mia and low con cen tra tion of hi gh den si ty li pop ro tein (HDL) cho les te rol (dysli pi de mia), ele va ted blood pres su re, im pai red glu co se to le ran ce and cen tral obe si ty (1). Peop le wi th MS are about twi ce as li kely to de ve lop ce reb ro vas cu lar di sea se (CVD) and over four ti mes as li ke ly to de ve lop type 2 diabe tes com pa red to sub jec ts wit hout me ta bo lic syndrome (2-4). It is we ll re cog ni zed that the ...

Aim:The present study was aimed to assess the early effects of ischemia/reperfusion injury on the oxidants and anti-oxidant defense status in rat testicular tissue by measuring MDA, glucose-6-phosphte dehydrogenase activity and reduced glutathione levels in a designated time frame sequel to reperfusion. Animals were divided randomly into six groups (12 animals per group) in the following order: Group I: Sham-operated control group (Cso) without the application of the torsion. Group 2: Torsion-induced ischemia group (T30 m): Ischemia was induced through the torsion of spermatic cord for a period of 30 min. Group 3: One hour reperfusion group after detorsion (T30 mR1 h). Group 4: Twenty-four hour reperfusion group after detorsion (T30 mR24 h). Group 5: Forty-eight hours reperfusion group after detorsion (T30mR48h). Group 6: One week reperfusion group after detorsion (T30mR1wk). Results and Discussion:The oxidant-antioxidant system of the testicular tissue is altered during torsion as well as detorsion which results in the altered activities involved in the key enzyme of hexose monophosphate shunt pathway, glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase activity along with a reduction of glutathione (G.SH) content. The increase in G6PDH activity during torsion and followed by an increase in detorsion indicates the tissue's response to counter the oxidant stress caused by reduced blood supply. Continued exposure to such oxidant stressed physiological state of a tissue may lead to decreased capacity of the tissue to perform its physiological function such as testicular steroidogenesis and spermiogenesis shown in the present study.

Disturbances in semen quality can be induced by exogenous factors including trivial illnesses like throat infection and viral infection with fever. Hansen's disease presents with problems such as long term dependence on drugs, hyperthermia, haemolysis and anxiety due to social stigma. In the present study the semen quality of patients with tuberculoid-type leprosy was studied during and after withdrawal of therapy. Patients generally had low sperm counts and spermatozoal motility was low with a greater number of abnormal forms compared with control subjects. Patients did not show a circannual variation in their sperm count as was observed in controls. The patients were oligozoospermic during their first year of medication, showing improvement in subsequent years.