Effects of physical forms of starter and milk allowance on growth performance, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolites of Holstein dairy calves.

A 2 × 2 factorial study was conducted to evaluate the effects of milk allowance and physical forms of starter on growth performance, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolites of Holstein dairy calves. A total of 48 calves [40.4 ± 1.55 kg of body weight (BW), n = 12 per treatment: 6 males and 6 females] were randomly assigned to 1 of the 4 treatments: (1) calves fed low milk allowance and finely ground (FG) starter feed [low-FG; 1.47 ± 2.12-mm geometric mean particle size (GMLP)], (2) calves fed low milk allowance and textured (TS) starter feed [low-TS, includes steam-flaked grains (corn and barley) with a pelleted supplement, GMLP 4.15 ± 1.77 mm], (3) calves fed high milk allowance and FG starter feed (high-FG); and (4) calves fed high milk allowance and TS starter feed (high-TS). The starter diets were blended with 7% of chopped alfalfa hay as a proportion of diet dry matter (DM). No milk refusal was observed in any treatments, and calves on both treatments were weaned from milk by wk 8 of the study using a gradual weaning procedure. We observed no interaction between milk allowance and physical forms of starter on feed intake, average daily gain, feed efficiency, BW, and structural growth. Calves fed high milk allowance had lower starter feed intake but greater feed efficiency and overall BW compared with those fed low allowance. Total DM intake and average daily gain were not different among treatments. Regardless of the physical form of starter feed, hip height, heart girth, the molar proportion of ruminal acetate, acetate to propionate ratio, plasma cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein were greater, but ruminal total volatile fatty acids, the molar proportion of propionate, and plasma ß-hydroxybutyrate were lower in calves fed high milk allowance compared with those fed low allowance. Regardless of the milk allowance, calves fed the FG starter feeds had greater blood urea nitrogen concentrations compared with calves fed the TS starter diets. In conclusion, both forms of the starter feeds can be used when calves are fed high milk allowance with no negative effect on their performance.

Genetic parameters of body weight and ascites in broilers: effect of different incidence rates of ascites syndrome.

1. The objectives of the current study were to investigate the effect of incidence rate (5%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 50%) of ascites syndrome on the expression of genetic characteristics for body weight at 5 weeks of age (BW5) and AS and to compare different methods of genetic parameter estimation for these traits. 2. Based on stochastic simulation, a population with discrete generations was created in which random mating was used for 10 generations. Two methods of restricted maximum likelihood and Bayesian approach via Gibbs sampling were used for the estimation of genetic parameters. A bivariate model including maternal effects was used. The root mean square error for direct heritabilities was also calculated. 3. The results showed that when incidence rates of ascites increased from 5% to 30%, the heritability of AS increased from 0.013 and 0.005 to 0.110 and 0.162 for linear and threshold models, respectively. 4. Maternal effects were significant for both BW5 and AS. Genetic correlations were decreased by increasing incidence rates of ascites in the population from 0.678 and 0.587 at 5% level of ascites to 0.393 and -0.260 at 50% occurrence for linear and threshold models, respectively. 5. The RMSE of direct heritability from true values for BW5 was greater based on a linear-threshold model compared with the linear model of analysis (0.0092 vs. 0.0015). The RMSE of direct heritability from true values for AS was greater based on a linear-linear model (1.21 vs. 1.14). 6. In order to rank birds for ascites incidence, it is recommended to use a threshold model because it resulted in higher heritability estimates compared with the linear model and that BW5 could be one of the main components of selection goals.

Changes in the Expression of the Prolactin Receptor (PRLR) Gene in Different Physiological Stages in the Mammary Gland of the Iranian Adani Goat.

The actions of prolactin hormone are mediated by prolactin receptor (PRLR), and proliferation and differentiation of secretory mammary epithelium are dependent on the presence of its receptors. To understand the PRLR expression pattern in mammary gland of dairy goat during different lactation stages, in this study, we first estimated the milk yield breeding value by multitrait random regression model and then compared the expression of the gene in different physiological stage of mammary gland between high- and low-breeding value groups. We assayed the transcription level of the gene by quantitative real-time PCR method, and its outcomes were analysed by a statistical model containing breeding value groups, sampling times and their interactions as fixed effects. The results indicated that the expression levels of PRLR gene were significantly upregulated in the drying stage (p < 0.01). The transcription pattern of the gene was significantly different between the two breeding value groups (p < 0.01), so that the amount of PRLR mRNA was significantly higher in the low-breeding value groups of animals in the lactation stage (p < 0.01). Based on the results of this study, it could be suggested that the abundance of PRLR transcripts in mammary gland of goat might be changed by some physiological, environmental and genetic factors. Nucleotide variations in the promoter region might be resulted in various transcription activities of the gene which should be studied in a complementary research.

The suitability of some blood gas and biochemical parameters as diagnostic tools or early indicators of ascites syndrome in broiler sire lines.

In recent few years, there have been some attempts to find a reliable indicator trait as a selection criterion against susceptibility to ascites syndrome (AS). Blood parameters were of great interest as they could be measured in live animals without implementing an ascites-inducing challenge (AIC). In this work, the suitability of some blood parameters was evaluated for diagnosing AS-susceptible chicks in later steps of the disease in trial 1 as well as their early predictive ability in trial 2. In the first trial, one hundred 1-day-old chicks from two pure broiler lines namely S1 and S2 and, in the second trial, 226 1-day-old chicks from line S2 were subjected to AIC. Saline drinking water (1200 mg/l) and lower-than-standard ambient temperatures were the implemented AICs in trials 1 and 2 respectively. The blood parameters including pH, partial pressure of O2 (pO2 ), partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2 ), bicarbonate ion concentration (BIC), percentage of haematocrit (HCT) and saturated haemoglobin (SaO2 ) were measured twice per each bird at days 28 and 35 in trial 1 and once in trial 2 at day 21. The results of the first trial revealed that in line S2 some of the blood parameters differed significantly between the ascitic and non-ascitic groups following exposure to AIC. In this line, the incidence of AS was accompanied by a lower pO2 , SaO2 and BIC, while with higher pCO2 and HCT values. In the second trial, however, although almost all of the parameters showed meaningful differences between the ascitic and non-ascitic broilers, only mean difference of BIC parameter was statistically significant. The general conclusion of this study is that the blood parameters can somewhat have diagnostic ability in the condition in which the AIC is already present, whereas the results did not approve their usefulness as early predictors of AS.

Effect of allele frequencies, effect sizes and number of markers on prediction of quantitative traits in chickens.

The objective was to assess goodness of fit and predictive ability of subsets of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers constructed based on minor allele frequency (MAF), effect sizes and varying marker density. Target traits were body weight (BW), ultrasound measurement of breast muscle (BM) and hen house egg production (HHP) in broiler chickens. We used a 600 K Affymetrix platform with 1352 birds genotyped. The prediction method was genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) with 354 564 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) used to derive a genomic relationship matrix (G). Predictive ability was assessed as the correlation between predicted genomic values and corrected phenotypes from a threefold cross-validation. Predictive ability was 0.27 ± 0.002 for BW, 0.33 ± 0.001 for BM and 0.20 ± 0.002 for HHP. For the three traits studied, predictive ability decreased when SNPs with a higher MAF were used to construct G. Selection of the 20% SNPs with the largest absolute effect sizes induced a predictive ability equal to that from fitting all markers together. When density of markers increased from 5 K to 20 K, predictive ability enhanced slightly. These results provide evidence that designing a low-density chip using low-frequency markers with large effect sizes may be useful for commercial usage.

Dissection of additive genetic variability for quantitative traits in chickens using SNP markers.

The aim of this study was to separate marked additive genetic variability for three quantitative traits in chickens into components associated with classes of minor allele frequency (MAF), individual chromosomes and marker density using the genomewide complex trait analysis (GCTA) approach. Data were from 1351 chickens measured for body weight (BW), ultrasound of breast muscle (BM) and hen house egg production (HHP), each bird with 354 364 SNP genotypes. Estimates of variance components show that SNPs on commercially available genotyping chips marked a large amount of genetic variability for all three traits. The estimated proportion of total variation tagged by all autosomal SNPs was 0.30 (SE 0.04) for BW, 0.33 (SE 0.04) for BM, and 0.19 (SE 0.05) for HHP. We found that a substantial proportion of this variation was explained by low frequency variants (MAF <0.20) for BW and BM, and variants with MAF 0.10-0.30 for HHP. The marked genetic variance explained by each chromosome was linearly related to its length (R(2) = 0.60) for BW and BM. However, for HHP, there was no linear relationship between estimates of variance and length of the chromosome (R(2) = 0.01). Our results suggest that the contribution of SNPs to marked additive genetic variability is dependent on the allele frequency spectrum. For the sample of birds analysed, it was found that increasing marker density beyond 100K SNPs did not capture additional additive genetic variance.

Tehran dentists' self-reported knowledge and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS and observed willingness to treat simulated HIV-positive patients.

Dentists' self-reported attitudes towards patients with HIV/AIDS might not reflect their actual behaviour. In this study 2 observers posed as HIV-positive patients and directly evaluated the behaviour of 300 dentists in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. Two months later another observer interviewed the same dentists at their offices regarding AIDS-related knowledge and self-reported attitudes. Only 14.9% of dentists agreed to treat the simulated HIV-positive patients, 78.5% referred and 6.6% rejected them. Older age, longer work experience, graduation from a non-Iranian university and not having additional degrees were significantly related to adverse behaviours. Mean scores were 8.3 (SD 9.7) (out of 18) for knowledge and 17.5 (SD 7.1) (out of 39) for attitude. There were no significant correlations between dentists' knowledge and attitude or between knowledge and behaviour, but there was a weak positive correlation between self-reported attitude and observed behaviour.

Life tables for sunn pest, Eurygaster integriceps (Heteroptera: Scutelleridae) in northern Iran.

Life table studies of sunn pest were carried out in Varamin, Iran, from 1998-2001 in order to determine stage-specific mortalities and the impact of specific natural enemies on population dynamics. Populations were sampled 2-3 times weekly in agricultural fields during the growing season and monthly during the period of dormancy at resting sites in nearby mountains some 30 km away from cereal fields. Adults spend a period of 9-10 months in diapause and suffered overcompensatory, density-dependent mortality during this period. Variation in adult overwintering survival was inferred to be largely a function of the physiological condition of bugs that is reduced in a density-dependent manner by intraspecific competition for food among newly molted adults prior to migration to resting sites. Adult mortality emerged as the primary factor in key factor analysis, contributing 73% of the total variance in mortality. Other important factors were egg parasitism by Trissolcus vassilievi Mayr and adult parasitism by several species of Tachinidae. Although T. vassilievi made only a minor contribution to overall variance in total mortality, it had a significant effect on the number of newly molted adults, the life stage that is most damaging to cereal crops. The equilibrium level of the pest population in wheat fields was inferred to be ca. 72.6 adults m(-2), a number that substantially exceeds the economic threshold that ranges from 3-5 adults m(-2).

Genetic parameters for feed utilization traits in Japanese quail.

Feed costs substantially affect the efficiency of poultry operations, justifying genetic improvement of feed utilization by selection. The current research was conducted to estimate genetic variance for the 4-wk feed conversion ratio (FCR) and its genetic correlations with BW, BW gain (WG), feed intake (FI), and residual feed intake (RFI) in Japanese quail. The data analyzed originated from a line selected for low FCR for 3 generations. In each generation, 35 sires and 70 dams were used as parents for the next generation. Body weight and WG were recorded on a total of 1,226 individuals, whereas FCR, RFI, and FI were recorded on 505 family groups. The results showed that heritability estimates (±SE) of BW at 28 d of age and WG between 7 and 28 d of age were 0.22 ± 0.05 and 0.28 ± 0.06, respectively. For FI, FCR, and RFI, significant genetic variances were estimated. Genetic correlations of FCR between 7 and 28 d of age with WG and FI between 7 and 28 d of age were -0.45 ± 0.09 and 0.24 ± 0.08, respectively. This implies that a low FCR is genetically related to a high WG and low FI. The genetic correlation between FCR from 7 to 28 d of age and RFI from 7 to 28 d of age was 0.26 ± 0.08, indicating that the 2 alternative feed efficiency traits are genetically different traits, and that the correlated genetic response in one of them in response to selection on the other is likely to be only moderate. Genetic correlations of RFI from 7 to 28 d of age with WG and FI between 7 and 28 d of age were 0.08 ± 0.04 and 0.74 ± 0.11, respectively. This reflects the fact that RFI is phenotypically independent of WG, which tends to make the genetic correlation between RFI and WG low as well. In conclusion, all the traits analyzed displayed significant genetic variance, allowing their genetic improvement by selection, yet the alternative feed utilization traits, FCR and RFI, displayed different genetic characteristics.

Response to selection and genetic parameters of body and carcass weights in Japanese quail selected for 4-week body weight.

The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of short-term selection in Japanese quail for 4-wk BW and estimate genetic parameters of BW, carcass traits, and egg weight. A selected line and control line were randomly selected from a base population. In each generation, 39 sires and 78 dams were used as parents for the next generation. Data were collected over 2 consecutive hatches for 4 generations, and 1,554 records from 151 sires and 285 dams were used to estimate the genetic parameters. The genetic improvement of 4-wk BW was 9.6, 8.8, and 8.2 g in generations 2, 3, and 4, respectively. There was a significant effect of sex, generation, and line (P < 0.001). There was a significant difference for BW and carcass weights but not for carcass percentage components between sexes (P < 0.01). Females showed higher figures than males. The realized heritability for 4-wk BW was 0.55, reflecting the accuracy of selection. However the estimated heritability by using pedigree information was 0.26 +/- 0.05. The genetic correlation among BW and carcass traits was relatively high (ranging from 0.85 to 0.91). Inbreeding caused a decline in the mean for all of the traits, but its effect was only significant for 4-wk BW and carcass weight (P < 0.05). Selection for 4-wk BW improved feed conversion ratio 0.16 units over the selection period. Results showed there was a strong genetic correlation between 4-wk BW and carcass traits that suggests that early 4-wk BW can be used as a selection criterion to improve carcass traits. Also, intense selection resulting in high rates of inbreeding might result in decreased response to selection due to inbreeding depression.

Response to selection for feed conversion ratio in Japanese quail.

We investigated the effect of selection for 4-wk feed conversion ratio (FCR) on genetic improvement of FCR, BW, weight gain (WG), feed intake (FI), and residual FI (RFI) in Japanese quail. The F line was selected for reduced FCR and the C line was maintained as a randombred control. In each generation, 35 sires and 70 dams were used as parents for the next generation. Three generations of selection were performed. Realized heritability for FCR was calculated as the ratio of cumulative selection response to the cumulative selection differential, and additionally, genetic response was quantified as the difference between the means of selection and control lines. The results showed that realized heritability for FCR after 3 generations of selection was 0.67. The mean FCR in F line and C line in the last generation was 2.13 and 2.61, respectively. This is 18.4% cumulative genetic improvement, or 6.1% improvement per generation. In the last generation, the means of F and C lines were 193 and 166 g for BW at age 28 d (16.4% total increase, or 5.5% per generation), 184 and 158 g for WG (17.2% total higher gain and 5.7% per generation), 393 and 413 g for FI (4.9% total higher consumption and 1.6% per generation), and -24.5 and 10.2 for RFI (-34.7 g of cumulative gain; -11.6 g per generation), respectively. These results show that selection to decrease FCR increases BW and WG and decreases FI and RFI as a correlated response.

Olfactory response of the predatory bug, Orius albidipennis to volatile blends of strawberry and cucumber infested by spider mite.

Herbivore induced plant volatiles (HIPV) that cause by plant because of pest feeding can affect on the searching behavioral response of natural enemies. We investigated the response of generalist predator Orius albidipennis Reut (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) to volatiles from strawberry and cucumber leaves which infested with the spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) in Y-tube olfactometer under ambient laboratory conditions. Our results suggest that O. albidipennis is able to discriminate between volatiles emitted by infested plant versus uninfested plant and show the ability of predatory bugs to use odours related to prey presence to locate them.

The fauna of cynipid oak gall wasps and their parasitoids in Lorestan province, Iran.

This study was carried out in the period 2003-2005 to collect and identify gall wasps and their parasitoids on oak species in Lorestan province. There are two oak species, Quercus brantii and Q. infectoria, with different dispersion patterns in the province. Thus, 3 study sampling sites were selected to cover distributional pattern of oak forests. Collected galls maintained in the laboratory condition. Based on results obtained, overall, 26 different galls-formed on various plant parts (catkins, buds, fruits, leaves) were collected on two oak species; of which, 11 gall wasps are active on Q. brantii and 13 gall wasps on Q. infectoria. 19 parasitoid wasps of 12 genera and 6 families belong to Chalcidoidea superfamily with various frequency and dispersal were collected from mentioned galls.

Selection strategies for body weight and reduced ascites susceptibility in broilers.

Ascites syndrome is a metabolic disorder in broilers. Mortality due to ascites results in significant economic losses and has a negative impact on animal welfare. It has been shown that genetic factors play a considerable role in susceptibility of birds to ascites, which offers perspectives for selection against this syndrome. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the consequences of alternative selection strategies for BW and resistance to ascites syndrome using deterministic simulation. In addition to the consequences of current selection (i.e., selection for increased BW only) alternative selection strategies including information on different ascites-related traits measured under normal or cold conditions and the consequences of having information on the underlying genes (i.e., MAS) were quantified. Five different breeding schemes were compared based on the selection response for BW, ascites susceptibility, and the rate of inbreeding. Traits investigated in the index as indicators for ascites were hematocrit value (HCT) and ratio of right ventricle to the total ventricular weight of the heart (RV:TV). The results indicated that by ignoring ascites susceptibility in the breeding goal, the gain for BW is 130 g and the birds will become more susceptible to ascites. Testing 50% of the birds under cold temperature conditions and including information of ascites related traits (HCT and RV:TV) measured under normal and cold conditions makes it possible to achieve a relatively high gain for BW (111.4 g) while controlling the genetic level for ascites susceptibility (selection response was 0). The results of scenarios including QTL information of ascites susceptibility showed that QTL information could be used very effectively in controlling ascites susceptibility.

Study of soybean leafhoppers fauna and an investigation on biology of dominant species Empoasca decipienspaoli in Karaj area.

The fauna of soybean leafhoppers and the biology of dominant species were investigated in Karaj during 1992-1994. For identification of species the male genitalia and other taxonomic characters were used. In order to find the duration and number of nymph stages, leaf cages were used on the plants. A thermograph was used to study the effect of temperature on nymphal stages in greenhouse. To study biology of E. decipiens in field four cages prepared and the trials has done inside them, and weekly all its life cycle observed. The following six species from four genera were identified: Empoasca decipiens Paoli, Macrosteles quadripunctulatus (KIrschbaum), M. laevis (Rib). Psammotettix alienus (Dahlbom), P. Striatus (Linne), Neoaliturus tenellus (Baker). Our investigations showed that Empoasca decipiens was the dominant species with the highest abundance. This specie is one of the important pests in many parts of Iran where oilseed crops are planted. The results showed that the soybean leafhopper over winters as adult under the debris of host plants and weeds. The first generation completes their life cycle on weeds before planting soybean. The second, third, and fourth generation lived on soybean. The time taken for the first, second, third, fourth and fifth nymphal stages were 6-7, 5-6, 2-4, 4-6 and 6-8 days, respectively. Adult longevity was 17-19 days, so that duration of first generation on weeds was 54-66 days. Our experiments showed that, at 18 degrees C condition, the first stages have been the maximum nymph period and at 23 degrees C condition, have been the lowest period.

Direct and maternal genetic effects for ascites-related traits in broilers.

The objective of the present study was to estimate heritabilities for ascites-related traits in broilers and to assess the importance of maternal genetic effects for these traits. Several traits related to ascites were measured on more than 4,000 broilers kept under cold conditions. Heritabilities were estimated using an animal model with a direct genetic effect and a model with direct and maternal genetic effects. Estimated heritabilities from the direct genetic effects model were 0.46 for hematocrit value, 0.42 for BW, 0.47 for right ventricular weight, 0.46 for total ventricular weight, 0.45 for ratio of right ventricular weight to the total ventricular weight, 0.32 for total mortality, and 0.18 for fluid accumulation in the heart sac. Maternal effects significantly influenced the traits BW, total ventricular weight, and total mortality. Direct and maternal heritabilities, respectively, for BW were 0.21 and 0.04, for total ventricular weights were 0.29 and 0.03, and for total mortality were 0.16 and 0.05. The heritability estimates for ascites-related traits and the significance of maternal genetic effects for most of these traits indicate that direct and maternal genetic effects play an important role in the development of the ascites syndrome.

An optimized process flow for rapid segmentation of cortical bones of the craniofacial skeleton using the level-set method.

Accurate representation of skeletal structures is essential for quantifying structural integrity, for developing accurate models, for improving patient-specific implant design and in image-guided surgery applications. The complex morphology of thin cortical structures of the craniofacial skeleton (CFS) represents a significant challenge with respect to accurate bony segmentation. This technical study presents optimized processing steps to segment the three-dimensional (3D) geometry of thin cortical bone structures from CT images. In this procedure, anoisotropic filtering and a connected components scheme were utilized to isolate and enhance the internal boundaries between craniofacial cortical and trabecular bone. Subsequently, the shell-like nature of cortical bone was exploited using boundary-tracking level-set methods with optimized parameters determined from large-scale sensitivity analysis. The process was applied to clinical CT images acquired from two cadaveric CFSs. The accuracy of the automated segmentations was determined based on their volumetric concurrencies with visually optimized manual segmentations, without statistical appraisal. The full CFSs demonstrated volumetric concurrencies of 0.904 and 0.719; accuracy increased to concurrencies of 0.936 and 0.846 when considering only the maxillary region. The highly automated approach presented here is able to segment the cortical shell and trabecular boundaries of the CFS in clinical CT images. The results indicate that initial scan resolution and cortical-trabecular bone contrast may impact performance. Future application of these steps to larger data sets will enable the determination of the method's sensitivity to differences in image quality and CFS morphology.

The accuracy of sentinel node biopsy in breast cancer patients with the history of previous surgical biopsy of the primary lesion: systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature.

BACKGROUND: One of the subjects under debate in sentinel node mapping is the eligibility of patients with the history of previous surgical biopsy of the primary lesion for sentinel node biopsy. In the current systematic review, we evaluated the false negative and detection rates of sentinel node biopsy in breast cancer patients with and without previous surgical manipulation of the primary breast lesions. METHODS: Pubmed, SCOPUS, and Google scholar were searched for any relevant study with head to head comparison of patients with and without history of previous surgical manipulation of the primary breast lesions. The outcomes of interest were detection and false negative rates in each group, and odds ratio as well as risk difference of having sentinel node detection failure or getting false negative results in the surgical biopsy compared to the non-surgical biopsy group. RESULTS: 18 studies for false negative rate and 68 studies for detection rate evaluation were included in this review. Pooled detection rates for patients with and without previous surgical biopsy were 91.3% and 92.8%. Odds ratio and risk difference of having detection failure during surgery were 1.16 and 0.002 respectively. Pooled false negative rates for patients with and without previous surgical biopsy were 12.3% and 9.9%. Odds ratio and risk difference of having false negative results were 1.4 and 0.02 respectively. CONCLUSION: Surgical biopsy of the primary breast malignant lesions does not affect the detection rate of sentinel lymph node biopsy procedure. However, false negative rate seems to be slightly higher. We believe that the advantages of sentinel node biopsy outweigh this small difference.

Features of premature ejaculation in infertile men.

Premature ejaculation (PE) is the most common form of sexual dysfunction and is one of the causes of male factor infertility. The aim of this study was assay of frequency and features of PE in a group of infertile men. This cross-sectional study was carried out since December 2006 to January 2008 on a sequential sample of 300 male patients complaining of infertility referring to the only infertility research center of Tabriz al-Zahra hospital. Data were collected by a designed questionnaire in which there were questions about age, age of marriage, history of sexual transmitted disease, drug use, previous sexual contacts, systemic diseases, masturbation, erectile dysfunction and frequency of intercourse. The mean age of studied patients was 30.39 +/- 5.76 and 43% of patients had PE, that in 74.4% primary PE and in 25.6% secondary PE seen. The most common form of ejaculation latency time was about less than 1 min that was seen in 51.2% of patients with PE. Mean of masturbation times was 5.13 +/- 3.19 times per month, and there is significant relation between the age of patients and type of PE, (p = 0.001) and ejaculation latency time and type of PE (p = 0.035). The high frequency rate of PE in Iranian men with complaint of infertility and also relatively lower age of these patients reflects the necessity of attention and management of this imperative psycho-organic disorder.