Etlingera hemisphaerica Alters One-Dimensional Profile of Serum Proteins Due to Mercury Chloride in Rats (Rattus norvegicus).

<b>Background and Objective:</b> Several previous studies have shown that leaf ethanolic extract of <i>Etlingera hemisphaerica</i> (LE3H) has the potential to reduce the toxicity and teratogenicity effects of mercury. This study aimed to describe the effects of LE3H on the protein profile of <i>Rattus norvegicus</i> serum due to treatment with HgCl₂. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> Four groups of male rats, K1 was injected intraperitoneally (IP) HgCl₂ (5 mg kg¹ b.wt.), K2 was injected IP HgCl₂ (5 mg kg¹ b.wt.) and after 24 hrs it was gavage LE3H (0.27 mg g¹ b.wt.) every day for seven days, K3 was injected IP HgCl₂ (5 mg kg¹ b.wt.), after 24 hrs was gavage LE3H (0.55 mg g¹ b.wt.) every day for seven days. The K0 as control, received double-distilled water. On the ninth day, the experimental animals were killed via CD and blood was drawn from the heart to obtain serum. Serum samples were measured for protein content using the Lowry and serum was separated using the One-Dimensional Sodium dodecyl Sulfate-Polyacrylamide gel Electrophoresis (1D SDS-PAGE) technique. <b>Results:</b> The electropherograms showed four bands, 264.77, 219.53, 98.57 and 37.29 kDa, whose intensity significantly increased due to HgCl₂ treatment and then decreased to close to the control condition with LE3H administration. The results also revealed four bands, 31.95, 28, 06, 26, 29 and 15.09 kDa, whose intensity decreased significantly due to HgCl₂ treatment and then increased to close to the control condition by LE3H administration. <b>Conclusion:</b> The LE3H change profile of the eight blood serum protein bands due to HgCl₂ approximates the control condition in <i>R. norvegicus</i>.

Sperm chromatin maturity and integrity correlated to zygote development in ICSI program.

UNLABELLED: This study aimed to evaluate sperm chromatin maturity and integrity of that injected into good-quality oocytes in an in vitro fertilization-intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF-ICSI) program. A cut-off value of sperm chromatin maturity and integrity was developed as a function of their correlation to the zygote development, i.e., embryo formation and cleavage rate. The study assessed sperm chromatin maturity using aniline blue (AB) staining, whereas toluidine blue (TB) staining was used to assess sperm chromatin integrity. Ejaculates from 59 patients undergoing ICSI and 46 fertile normozoospermic donors for determination of normal values of sperm chromatin status were used in this study. Embryo formation and cleavage rates were observed for the period of 3 days after ICSI. There was a significant difference in the percentage of sperm with mature chromatin between ejaculate from ICSI patients and fertile donor (p=0.020); while there was no significant difference in sperm chromatin integrity of both samples (p=0.120). There was no significant correlation between sperm chromatin maturity and either embryo formation or cleavage rate; as well as sperm chromatin integrity to both parameters of zygote development (p>0.05). Furthermore, we found that the cut-off value of sperm chromatin maturity and integrity of the fertile normozoospermic ejaculates were 87.2% and 80.2%, respectively. Using the cut-offs, we found that low sperm chromatin maturity at the level of <87% correlated significantly with the cleavage rate of the zygote (p=0.022; r=0.371); whereas poor sperm chromatin integrity at the level of <80% correlated with embryo formation (p=0.048; r=0,485). In conclusion, this study showed that poor maturity and integrity of sperm chromatin (AB<87% and TB<80%, respectively), could affect zygote development following ICSI. ABBREVIATIONS: AB: aniline blue; CMA3: chromomycin A3; ICSI: intra cytoplasmic sperm injection; IVF: in vitro fertilization; PBS: phosphate buffer saline; SPSS: Statistical Package for Social Science; TB: toluidine blue; WHO: World Health Organization.