Exposure to potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and the risk of male infertility- A Systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Infertility has been defined as a failure to conceive for at least 12 months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. The male factors are responsible for about 50 % of cases. Various factors such as endocrine, immunological, genetic, exposure to toxicants, and idiopathic factors are involved in male infertility. Recently, the role of PTEs in reproductive performance has been explored by various studies. OBJECTIVES: Current systematic review and meta-analysis have been carried out to compile and statistically analyze the findings of relevant studies and reach some conclusion. METHODOLOGY: A literature search was done according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines in three scientific literature databases; PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct. Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.4 software. The study's protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023465776). RESULTS: Meta-analysis of lead in the blood of infertile cases and healthy controls indicated a significant association with male infertility, observed standard mean difference (SMD) was 0.67 at 95 % confidence interval (CI) (0.07, 1.28), and p = 0.03. In the case of lead analysis in semen, the values are as follows: SMD = 1.19 at 95 % CI (0.42, 1.96) with p = 0.002. Significant association appears for cadmium in semen with SMD 0.92 at 95 % CI (0.54, 1.29) and p < 0.00001. No significant association was observed for arsenic, barium, and mercury in blood. CONCLUSION: Most of the studies focus on the detection of PTE in semen samples followed by blood as sample type. Lead and cadmium exposure is significantly associated with male infertility. However, non-significant results for arsenic, barium, and mercury are observed.

Maternal candidate gene variants, epigenetic factors, and susceptibility to idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Recurrent pregnancy loss is defined as the loss of two or more pregnancies and is a distressing condition for couples. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between variants in the candidate susceptibility genes and epigenetic factors to identify risk factors for idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss (iRPL). SEARCH STRATEGY: A systematic literature search was performed using PubMed, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and Scopus databases. Insilico analysis was carried out using ShinyGO and STRING software. SELECTION CRITERIA: Research papers examining the association between variations in genetic and epigenetic factors and iRPL. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were independently extracted by two authors. MAIN RESULTS: In total, 83 research papers were finally selected for the present study. Among all the genes involved in the pathogenesis of recurrent pregnancy loss, polymorphisms in IL superfamily genes, VEGF, ESR, and MTHFR were the most investigated. CONCLUSION: Polymorphisms in angiogenesis, immune tolerance, and thrombophilia pathway genes, which occur independently or synergistically, may lead to various complications during fetal development. Identification of multi-allele risk variants and epigenetic factors in women will be helpful in the identification of high-risk pregnancies. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: Prospero CRD42021287315.

Renal abnormalities as incidental findings on myocardial single photon emission computed tomography perfusion imaging.

Incidental noncardiac abnormalities are frequent in myocardial perfusion imaging studies. It is important for interpreting physicians to be aware of the spectrum of abnormalities that can be detected from these studies. This report describes four cases with polycystic kidney disease with or without liver involvement and one case with polycystic liver disease with corroborative radiological studies.