The human TSPY (testis-specific protein, Y-linked) gene family (30-60 copies) is situated in the MSY (male-specific) region of the Y chromosome. Testis-specific expression indicates that the gene plays a role in spermatogenesis. Refined quantitative fluorescence PCR (polymerase chain reaction) was applied to evaluate the relative number of TSPY copies compared with AMELY/X (amelogenin gene, Y-linked) genes in 84 stratified infertile men and in 40 controls. A significantly higher number of TSPY copies was found in infertile men compared with the controls (P = 0.002). The diagnostic discrimination potential of the relative number of TSPY copies was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. TSPY/AMELY was unambiguously found to be powerful in the diagnostic separation of both the control samples and the infertile men, reaching a good level of specificity (0.642) and sensitivity (0.732) at a cut-off point of 0.46. The findings were supported by independently repeated studies of randomly selected positive samples and controls. Evaluation of the TSPY copy number offers a completely new diagnostic approach in relation to the genetic cause of male infertility. The possible effect of the copy number of TSPY genes on spermatogenesis may explain indiscrete pathological alterations of spermatid quality and quantity.

BackgroundPsychological distress among medical students is commonly observed during medical education and is generally related to poor academic self-perception. We evaluated the role of peer social support at medical schools in the association between psychological distress and academic self-perception.MethodsAn online survey was conducted in a medical degree program for 138 international students educated in English in the Czech Republic. The Medical Student Well-Being Index was used to define the students’ psychological distress. Perceived peer social support was investigated with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Poor academic self-perception was defined as the lowest 30% of a subscale score of the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure. Analyses evaluated the presence of additive interactions between psychological distress and peer social support on poor academic self-perception, adjusted for possible confounders.ResultsBoth psychological distress and low peer social support were negatively associated with poor academic self-perception, adjusted for local language proficiency and social support from family. Students with psychological distress and low peer social support had an odds ratio of 11.0 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.1–56.6) for poor academic self-perception as compared with those without distress who had high peer social support. The presence of an additive interaction was confirmed in that the joint association was four times as large as what would have been expected to be on summing the individual risks of psychological distress and low peer social support (synergy index = 4.5, 95% CI: 1.3–14.9).ConclusionsPsychological distress and low peer social support may synergistically increase the probability of poor academic self-perception among international medical students. Promoting peer social relationships at medical school may interrupt the vicious cycle of psychological distress and poor academic performance.

Our data provide new insight into lipid metabolism in male infertility and indicate that systemic oxidative stress resulting in increased lipid peroxidation and an altered fatty acid profile may be, at least in part, responsible for infertility even in normozoospermic males.

The effect of Lonicera caerulea L. (blue honeysuckle) phenolic fraction (18.5% anthocyanins) on cell viability and against oxidative damage in low density lipoproteins (oxLDL), in rat microsomes and in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), was tested. The phenolic fraction was nontoxic to rat hepatocytes and HUVEC at tested concentrations (1-1000 microg/mL) and time intervals up to 24 h inclusive. Phenolic fraction inhibited rat liver microsome peroxidation, induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide (tBH), with IC(50) values of 160 +/- 20 microg/mL. The fraction at 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 microg/mL delayed LDL oxidation, induced by Cu(2+), by 130 +/- 20%, 200 +/- 30%, and 400 +/- 10%, respectively. The treatment of HUVEC with oxidatively modified LDL induced an increase in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) formation, and resulted in lower formazan formation from 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) uptake, most pronounced for 200 microg/mL (24 h oxidation) after 2 h of incubation. The protective effect of the phenolic fraction against cell damage caused by oxLDL was noted at 0.1 microg/mL for HUVEC and against tBH at 1000 microg/mL for both HUVEC and hepatocytes. The observed protective effects were probably due to the antioxidant properties of L. caerulea constituents, mainly anthocyanins. Microsome peroxidation and LDL oxidation inhibition results provide promising perspectives into the prevention of some oxidative stress-associated diseases. Other data are important in in vitro systems but seem to be accidental in vivo.

Purpose The use of antioxidants is common practice in the management of infertile patients. However, there are no established guidelines by professional societies on antioxidant use for male infertility. Materials and Methods Using an online survey, this study aimed to evaluate the practice pattern of reproductive specialists to determine the clinical utility of oxidative stress (OS) testing and antioxidant prescriptions to treat male infertility. Results Responses from 1,327 participants representing 6 continents, showed the largest participant representation being from Asia (46.8%). The majority of participants were attending physicians (59.6%), with 61.3% having more than 10 years of experience in the field of male infertility. Approximately two-thirds of clinicians (65.7%) participated in this survey did not order any diagnostic tests for OS. Sperm DNA fragmentation was the most common infertility test beyond a semen analysis that was prescribed to study oxidative stress-related dysfunctions (53.4%). OS was mainly tested in the presence of lifestyle risk factors (24.6%) or sperm abnormalities (16.3%). Interestingly, antioxidants were prescribed by 85.6% of clinicians, for a duration of 3 (43.7%) or 3–6 months (38.6%). A large variety of antioxidants and dietary supplements were prescribed, and scientific evidence were mostly considered to be modest to support their clinical use. Results were not influenced by the physician's age, geographic origin, experience or training in male infertility. Conclusions This study is the largest online survey performed to date on this topic and demonstrates 1) a worldwide understanding of the importance of this therapeutic option, and 2) a widely prevalent use of antioxidants to treat male infertility. Finally, the necessity of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines from professional societies is highlighted.