Cannabis consumption might exert deleterious effects on sperm nuclear quality in infertile men.

RESEARCH QUESTION: Can cannabis consumption alter sperm nuclear integrity in infertile men? DESIGN: A retrospective cross-sectional study conducted between July 2003 and December 2013, which included 54 men who consulted for male-factor infertility. Twenty-seven infertile men who were regular cannabis users were matched to 27 infertile men who were cannabis non-users. To complement the conventional semen parameter and plasma hormone level assessments, sperm nuclear alterations were explored using fluorescence in-situ hybridization to assess numerical chromosomal abnormalities, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling to investigate DNA fragmentation, aniline blue staining to examine chromatin condensation and a motile sperm organelle morphology examination to detect vacuoles in sperm heads. RESULTS: The rates of sperm aneuploidy (P = 0.0044), diploidy (P = 0.037), total chromosome abnormalities (P = 0.0027) and DNA fragmentation (P = 0.027) were significantly higher in cannabis users than in non-cannabis users. CONCLUSIONS: Cannabis consumption might have deleterious effects on sperm nuclear quality in infertile men by increasing numerical chromosome abnormalities and DNA fragmentation. Cannabis consumption induces these detrimental effects on the progression of spermatogenesis from meiotic stages to spermiogenesis and potentially on post-testicular sperm maturation in infertile men. Any potential findings, however, need to be validated with larger sample size, and our data are only exploratory findings.

Cryptic Plasmodium ovale concurrent with mixed Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium malariae infection in two children from Central African Republic.

BACKGROUND: Since several malaria parasite species are usually present in a particular area, co-infections with more than one species of Plasmodium are more likely to occur in humans infected in these areas. In many mixed infections, parasite densities of the cryptic species may be low and often not recognized in clinical practice. CASE PRESENTATION: Two children (3 and 6 years old) adopted recently from Central African Republic were admitted to hospital because of intermittent fever. Thin blood smears stained with Giemsa showed Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium malariae co-infection for both children at admission. They were both treated with atovaquone-proguanil combination for 3 days. At day 7, both thin blood smears examination remained negative but at day 28, thin blood smear was positive for P. malariae trophozoites and for Plasmodium ovale for the girl and her brother, respectively. Samples collected at day 1 and day 28 were submitted to real-time PCR showing the presence of the three parasite species (P. falciparum, P malariae and P. ovale) in admission blood samples from the two children and only P. ovale at day 28. CONCLUSIONS: Twenty-eight days follow-up after treatment led to detection of a third parasite species in the blood of these two patients suggesting covert co-infection and a delayed appearance of one cryptic species following treatment. Concurrently infecting malaria species could be mutually suppressive, with P. falciparum tending to dominate other species. These observations provide more evidence that recommendations for treatment of imported malaria should take into account the risk of concurrent or cryptic infection with Plasmodium species. Clinicians and biologists should be aware of the underestimated frequency of mixed infections with cryptic species and of the importance of patient follow-up at day 28. Future guidelines should shed more light on the treatment of mixed infection and on the interest of using artemisinin-based combinations for falciparum and non-falciparum species.

Oxidative Stress Is Associated with Telomere Interaction Impairment and Chromatin Condensation Defects in Spermatozoa of Infertile Males.

Telomere length can be influenced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by lifestyle factors or environmental exposure. We sought to determine whether oxidative stress has an impact on sperm nuclear alterations, especially on chromatin organization and telomere interactions in the spermatozoa of infertile males. We performed an observational and prospective study including fifty-two males, allocated in the "case group" (30 infertile males presenting conventional semen parameter alterations) and the "control group" (22 males with normal conventional semen parameters). ROS detection was determined on spermatozoa using CellROX© probes. Sperm nuclear damage was assessed using quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization (Q-FISH) for relative telomere length and telomere number, aniline blue staining for chromatin condensation, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling for DNA fragmentation, and FISH for aneuploidy and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine immunostaining for oxidative DNA damages. Infertile males had significantly increased levels of cytoplasmic ROS and chromatin condensation defects as well as a higher mean number of telomere signals per spermatozoon in comparison with controls. In addition, the mean number of sperm telomere signals were positively correlated with the percentage of spermatozoa with chromatin condensation defect. In infertile males with conventional semen parameter alterations, oxidative stress is associated with telomere interaction impairment and chromatin condensation defects.