Fertility test to predict zero sperm viability for IVF

Scientists have developed a non-invasive test that can predict whether men with zero sperm counts are capable of fathering children through IVF. Current methods rely on surgery to find out if a man has viable sperm that can be retrieved for fertility treatment. The research, in Science Translational Medicine, suggests two biomarkers can identify who will benefit from surgery. A UK fertility expert said the test, which will take at least a year to bring to the clinic, was "encouraging". Male infertility is responsible for about half of cases of infertility. Men who produce no sperm can sometimes be helped to father a biological child through fertility treatment if they have normal sperm that can be extracted surgically. Others will never be able to father a child naturally and need to use donor sperm. With current technology, the only way to find out if a man has viable sperm is to carry out surgery to look for sperm in the testes. The new test, developed by scientists in Canada, has identified two biomarkers in sperm, which can be used to predict whether sperm retrieval will be successful. Dr Keith Jarvi of the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada, said the holy grail of his research was to find a way to help men avoid unnecessary testicular biopsies. He told BBC News: "The benefit of this is that we can predict without surgery whether or not a man has sperm or does not have sperm in the testicles. "You could avoid unnecessary surgery for a number of these men." He said work was under way to adapt the test for use in fertility clinics. "Optimistically, it would be a year away," he added. "Pessimistically, two years - we're moving along really quickly." Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield and chairman of the British Fertility Society, said the diagnosis of male infertility was tricky and it was hard to determine whether a man was producing sperm or not. The conventional method was to first examine semen under a microscope to see if sperm was there, he said. If no sperm was seen, the next step was to take tissue from a man's testicle and examine it with a microscope. "Quite understandably, many men would rather not undergo this procedure if they didn't have to," said Dr Pacey. "Therefore, having an accurate biochemical test which might help doctors advise men whether taking a piece of the testicle is worth doing or not, would be very useful. "It could help men make better decisions, avoid unnecessary surgical procedures and potentially help save money by not having to do surgical procedures that aren't needed. "The fact that two protein markers present in semen can be so well correlated with whether sperm are likely to be found is very encouraging indeed." Article: 21st November 2013 www.bbc.co.uk

Testosterone pills may affect fertility by reducing sperm count

Testosterone supplements are touted as a cure for low libido, but men who take them may reduce their odds of fathering a child, new research suggests. Many men who sought infertility treatment at two U.S. clinics reported taking prescription testosterone supplements, according to a new study. And in most cases their sperm counts skyrocketed after they stopped taking the male hormone. The study, limited to a pair of clinics in Alabama and Kansas, looked at the years 2005 to 2011. The researchers don't know if testosterone supplements, which continue to gain popularity, are contributing to even more cases of infertility now. Nor is it clear whether the hormone is harming fertility across the nation. Still, the research suggests that testosterone spells trouble for many American men who want to have children, said study co-author Dr. Peter Kolettis, a professor of urology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "This has become a preventable cause of infertility." Use of testosterone supplements -- or "T" -- is rapidly rising in the United States, and some observers think usage will remain inflated as more men see it as a possible cure for fatigue and flagging sex drive. Critics, however, question whether testosterone treatment is being prescribed to men who don't need it. "More men are coming into [doctors'] offices asking for testosterone because they've seen the advertisements, and it looks like the fountain of youth: It will reduce fat, make them look sexier," said Dr. Bradley Anawalt, an endocrinologist and chief of medicine service at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, who was not involved in the study. But testosterone can cause side effects such as male breast growth and blood clots. And "very few physicians are warning that it will turn off their sperm production," Anawalt said. Adding testosterone to the body through supplementation spurs a process that impedes sperm production, Anawalt said. "Men struggling with fertility should not be on testosterone," he said. "[But] this is not something that most physicians or patients are thinking about." The study, presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association in San Diego, aimed to find out how many infertile men take the supplements despite the risks. The researchers examined medical records of more than 1,500 men with an average age of 35 who sought fertility treatment at the two clinics. Seven percent of the men were taking supplemental testosterone prescribed by a physician. The study focused on 34 men who agreed to stop using the hormone supplements. Overall, the sperm counts of most patients bounced back. Average sperm concentration in semen jumped from 1.8 million per milliliter to 34 million per milliliter after supplemental testosterone was discontinued. But the sperm counts of six of the 34 patients didn't recover. Testosterone treatments normally don't hurt fertility permanently, and it's not clear if they played a role in the men's continued infertility. The study also did not prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship between testosterone supplements and lowered sperm count. Anawalt said it typically takes between one and six months for a man's sperm count to recover after he stops using a testosterone supplement. Kolettis, the study co-author, said certain men should avoid testosterone supplements. "I tell men not to take it until they're done having their own biological children," he said. The supplemental testosterone in question is prescription-only, and unrelated to over-the-counter supplements marketed to increase testosterone production. Data and conclusions presented at meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Article: 10th May 2013 www.men.webmd.com Test your sperm count using Fertilcount Male Fertility Test at www.prideangel.com

Lack of sleep affects male fertility by lowering sperm count

We know that sleep issues can take a toll on a man's sex life, but now a new study shows another sex-related reason to get enough Zzzs. The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, shows an association between sleep disturbances and decreased sperm count. Specifically, Danish researchers found that the men in the study who reported the most sleep disturbances had a 29 percent lower concentration of sperm in their semen, as well as a higher likelihood of having "fewer morphologically normal spermatozoa," compared with men who had lower scores on a sleep disturbance questionnaire. The findings are based on semen and blood samples, as well as sleep disturbance questionnaire results, from 953 young men from Denmark who were being recruited for the military from 2008 to 2011. "This study adds another suspect to the list of factors possibly influencing male fecundity potential, which also includes (being) overweight, exposure to tobacco smoke, exposure to pollutants," Dr. Remy Slama, who is a fertility expert at France's Joseph Fourier University, told The Telegraph. And poor sleep doesn't just affect men's fertility -- HuffPost blogger Dr. Michael Breus notes that sleep can also have an impact on women's fertility by affecting levels of ovulation-regulating hormones. Article: 29th April 2013 www.huffingtonpost.com

Male infertility may be caused by a genetic defect

Up to a quarter of men around the world have a genetic defect that could reduce their chances of having children. Scientists have found some sperm lacks a protective protein that helps it to reach the egg.
The protein, DEFB126, coats the sperm and allows it to penetrate mucus in the female reproductive tract. It also protects the sperm from attack by the female immune system.

Without it, researchers believe it takes longer for a man with this defect to make his partner pregnant.

A study conducted in the U.S, the UK and China showed that up to a quarter of men worldwide carry defective copies of the protein gene. The discovery could help explain a significant proportion of male infertility worldwide. 'In 70 per cent of infertile men, you can't explain their infertility on the basis of sperm count and quality,' said lead researcher Professor Gary Cherr, from the University of California at Davis.

A test for defective DEFB126 could help fertility clinics decide whether couples should be given ICSI treatment (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), which involves injecting sperm directly into eggs. The research is published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Sperm from men with the defective protein look normal under a microscope and appear to have no problem swimming. But they are far less able to swim through an artificial gel that resembles human cervical mucus. When the functional protein is added to the sperm, they recover their normal abilities.

About half of all men worldwide carry one defective copy of the protein gene and a quarter have two. A study carried out on couples trying to conceive found a significant decrease in pregnancy rate when the man had two copies of the defective DEFB126 gene.

It is still unclear how a mutation that adversely affects fertility can be so common. Men with one normal and one defective gene, but normal fertility, may be advantaged in some way, the scientists believe. Compared with sperm from monkeys and other mammals, human sperm is often of poor quality, slow swimming, and with a high rate of defective cells. But because humans tend to breed in long-term monogamous relationships, unlike most mammals, sperm quality may not be so important, according to Prof Cherr.

Fertility expert Dr Allan Pacey, at the University of Sheffield, said: 'We actually understand very little about the subtle molecular events which occur in sperm as they make their journey through the woman's body to fertilise an egg. 'We know even less about how a man's genes may contribute to how his sperm work, in the absence of an obvious defect that we can see down the microscope.

'Therefore, this paper is an important step forward and makes a significant contribution to our sperm knowledge. 'Although I doubt that testing for this genetic defect on its own will change clinical practice, in combination with other test information it may one day help guide doctors to suggest a couple start assisted conception treatment earlier than they might otherwise have done.'

Mobile phone use, may lower male fertility

Men who are planning to have children one day may want to reduce how long they spend chatting on their mobile phones. Researchers from Queen's University, Canada, found that mobile use may lower sperm quality and lead to a decrease in fertility. The team found that electromagnetic waves (EMW) transmitted by handsets has a complex relationship with male hormones. Lead researcher, Dr Rany Shamoul, said: 'Our findings were a little bit puzzling.
'We were expecting to find different results, but the results we did find suggest that there could be some intriguing mechanisms at work.' The research team discovered that men who reported cell phone use had higher levels of circulating testosterone but they also had lower levels of luteinizing hormone (LH).

LH is an important reproductive hormone that is secreted by the pituitary gland in the brain. The researchers think that electromagnetic waves emitted by cell phones may have a dual action on male hormone levels and fertility. EMW may increase the number of cells in the testes that produce testosterone, however it could also lower the levels of LH excreted by the pituitary gland.

This may block the conversion of this basic type of testosterone to the more active, potent form of testosterone associated with sperm production and fertility. Dr Shamloul concluded more in-depth research is needed to determine the exact ways in which EMW affects male fertility. The research comes just two months after mobile phone users in the UK were advised by the Government to text or use hands free kits rather than make calls.

To read more go to

Is Wi-Fi harming humans and affecting reproduction?

As winter arrives with a vengeance, the last of this year’s glorious autumn leaves are falling in our parks and woodlands.
But this week came worrying evidence that Mother Nature is not the only force denuding our trees of their foliage. Research in the Netherlands suggested that outbreaks of bleeding bark and dying leaves which have blighted the country’s urban trees may be caused by radiation from the Wi-Fi ­networks now so integral to life in offices, schools and homes.

As a qualified electronics engineer, I am not surprised by such findings. I have long been concerned about the harmful effects of the ­electro-magnetic radiation emitted not only by Wi-Fi devices but many other common modern gadgets, including mobile and cordless phones, wireless games consoles and microwave ovens.

Much though I love trees, and worrying though I find this research, what really unnerves me is the effect these electro-magnetic fields (or EMFs) are having on humans, surrounding us as they do with a constant cloud of ‘electrosmog’.

I am no Luddite. When I started work in the 1960s, I was involved in building walkie-talkies. I thought they were just brilliant and that electronic technology would save the world. But over the decades since, my scientific background has made it impossible for me to ignore the overwhelming evidence about the damage wreaked by this electrosmog.

It is not the existence of these radio waves that is the problem so much as the use we make of them. Rather than being emitted at a constant rate, technology demands they are ‘pulsed’ in short and frequent bursts which appear to be far more biologically harmful.

Not the least is their impact on our ability to reproduce. It is well documented that average male sperm counts are falling by two per cent a year. Many causes have been suggested, from stressful lifestyles to poor diet and ­hormones in our water supplies. But studies in infertility clinics show problems with sperm dying off or not moving properly are most common in men who use mobiles extensively. This has also been demonstrated in the laboratory.

To read more go to http://bit.ly/fTvcqs

Treating testes early may prevent male infertility

Infertility is probably the last thing on teenage boys' minds. However, a new study out of Brazil suggests that early treatment of a common testicular condition could preserve future fatherhood potential for some adolescents.
A varicocele is a widening of the veins in the scrotum, which house the testicles. While frequently harmless, varicoceles can cause pain, testicular shrinkage and, over time, can potentially lead to lower sperm counts and quality.

The condition, which is similar to varicose veins, is estimated to affect 15 percent of men over 15. But it is found in more than a third of men being assessed for primary infertility -- an inability to biologically father a child -- and 80 percent of secondary infertility cases -- men who were once able to father a child but are not able to do so anymore.

Although varicoceles may not be the sole cause of infertility in all those cases, the close association with infertility and apparent worsening of the effect over time suggest early surgical correction of the flawed veins could have important benefits later on, the authors note.

"Because varicocele is a progressive disease, we want to know how soon we can intervene, especially because it does not cause infertility in all men," researcher Paula Toni Del Giudice of Sao Paulo Federal University, in Brazil, told Reuters Health in an e-mail. "Surgical intervention is not for everyone."

Del Giudice and her colleagues studied 21 boys between the ages of 15 and 19. They collected two semen samples before surgical correction of the varicoceles and another two samples at least three months after the varicocelectomy.

The team reports in the journal Fertility and Sterility that two important indicators of the sperm's functional health -- the integrity of the sperm cells' DNA and the activity of internal energy generators called mitochondria -- significantly improved after the surgery.

To read more go to http://bit.ly/griU2u

Why sperm counts in men are falling

If scientists from Mars were to study the human male's reproductive system they would probably conclude that he is destined for rapid extinction. Compared to other mammals, humans produce relatively low numbers of viable sperm – sperm capable of making that long competitive swim to penetrate an unfertilised egg.
As many as one in five healthy young men between the ages of 18 and 25 produce abnormal sperm counts. Even the sperm they do produce is often of poor quality. In fact only between 5 and 15 per cent of their sperm is, on average, good enough to be classed as "normal" under strict World Health Organisation rules – and these are young, healthy men. By contrast, more than 90 per cent of the sperm of a domestic bull or ram, or even laboratory rat, are normal.

Human males also suffer a disproportionately high incidence of reproductive problems, from congenital defects and undescended testes to cancer and impotency. As these also affect fertility, it's a minor miracle men are able to sire any children at all. In fact, an increasing number of men are finding themselves childless. Among the one in seven couples now classed as infertile, the "male factor" has been found to be the most commonly identified cause.


To read more go to http://bit.ly/929KHd