Purpose To find a relationship between absence of annulus and asthenozoospermia in Iranian men. Methods In the present study, semen samples from 100 asthenozoospermic and 20 normozospermic patients were analyzed for sperm concentration and motility. Spermatozoa were immunostained for the two septin subunits Sept4 and Sept7. The absence of the annulus structure was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and western blot analysis for septin 4. DNA sequencing for all coding exons of SEPT12 was performed for a patient using peripheral blood sample. Results Specific antibodies for SEPT4 and SEPT7 consistently labeled the annuli in spermatozoa from all of the 20 normozospermic men, while in one of 100 patients with asthenozoospermia, 75 % of sperms lacking septin 4 or septin 7 proteins at the annulus. It was shown that the structural defect in annulus formation is not caused by point mutation of SEPT12 gene. ConclusionsIn conclusion, the results of this study demonstrated that the frequency of the absence of annulus in asthenozoospermic sample of Iranian population has a low frequency and could not be assume as a diagnostic marker for classifying asthenozoospermic patients.

Background: Growth of Mycoplasma in genital tract can cause problems such as infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and preterm labor. This study was designed to evaluate the role of these bacteria in preterm labor among individuals in Gorgan city which is located in north of Iran. Methods: The study included 100 women with complaints of pain in preterm labor before 37 weeks of pregnancy (case group) and 100 women with term labor (control group) who were referred to Shahid Sayyad Shirazi Teaching Hospital in Gorgan city, north of Iran. Vaginal swabs, collected from all of these women, were evaluated for genital Mycoplasma sp. by molecular method using specific primers with polymerization chain reaction (PCR). The comparison of results was done by conducting X2 and p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: Genital Mycoplasma was detected in 78 cases (39%) of 200 vaginal samples. Genital Mycoplasma colonization rates in the preterm and term samples were 60% and 18%, respectively, with relative risk of 2.05 (1.78-2.37) (p=0.001). The proportion of Ureaplasma parvum (44% and 15%), Ureaplasma urealyticum (11%, 3%), and Mycoplasma homins (5%, 0%) was significantly higher in women with preterm birth (PTB) than term labor. No cases of Mycoplasma genitalum were detected in this study. Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between presence of genital Mycoplasma in vaginal secretion and the risk of preterm labor.

No abstract

No abstract