ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Little is known about sperm health in male patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). In this study, the authors aimed to search the frequency of sperm abnormalities of adolescent boys with FMF and also to investigate whether disease activity or colchicine treatment have negative effects on sperm parameters. METHOD: The male adolescents older than 14 years with a diagnosis of FMF were investigated retrospectively. Tel Hashomer and pediatric FMF clinical criteria were used for diagnosis of FMF. Patients who had semen analysis were included in the study. RESULT: Mean age at the diagnosis was 11.13 ± 3.82 years, and mean age at the study was 14.50 ± 0.70 years. The mean sperm concentration was found as 66.26 ± 41.02 million/ml (N > 15 million/ml), the mean total sperm count 113.42 ± 132.39 million (N > 39 million), and the mean sperm motility 51.78 ± 23.70% (N > 40%). Only 8 of 19 (42.1%) patients had normal sperm parameters. Sperm concentration was reduced in two cases, total sperm count was reduced in four patients, and motility was reduced in nine cases. The presence of FMF attacks under treatment was found to be a risk factor for decreased motility in the study group by multivariate regression analysis (odds ratio 0.076, [95% confidence interval 0.005-0.648], P = 0.031). Erythrocyte sedimentation rate at the time of diagnosis was high in patients with low sperm counts compared with those with normal sperm counts (56.00 ± 8.51 vs 24.35 ± 6.32, P: 0.03). Mean colchicine dose at the time of sperm analysis was higher in patients with low sperm motility than that with normal sperm motility (1.72 ± 0.18 vs 1.25 ± 0.08, P: 0.02). CONCLUSION: Sperm abnormalities of male patients with FMF is not infrequent, and it is linked to both inflammation due to uncontrolled disease and colchicine therapy.
Subject(s)
Colchicine/adverse effects , Familial Mediterranean Fever/complications , Familial Mediterranean Fever/diagnosis , Infertility, Male/prevention & control , Oligospermia/etiology , Adolescent , Chi-Square Distribution , Child , Cohort Studies , Colchicine/therapeutic use , Familial Mediterranean Fever/drug therapy , Humans , Incidence , Male , Oligospermia/epidemiology , Oligospermia/physiopathology , Proportional Hazards Models , Retrospective Studies , Semen Analysis/methods , Severity of Illness Index , Sperm Motility , TurkeyABSTRACT
Irisin, preptin and adropin are three newly discovered peptides that play critical roles in regulating energy homeostasis in various vertebrates.The purposes of this study were to measure the serum concentrations of preptin, adropin and irisin in the Alburnus tarichi and to investigate the relationship of these peptides to the weight, gender and length of this the fish, which will provide useful information for future biotechnology purposes aimed at improvements in aquaculture production. This study used 12 adult A. tarichi (6 female and 6 male) obtained from Van Lake (Van, Turkey). The serum irisin, preptin and adropin levels were measured using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit to determine correlations between the levels of these three hormones and fish body weight and length. No statistically significant correlations were detected between the serum irisin, adropin and preptin levels and A. tarichi body weight (p = 0.921, r = -0.031; p = 0.08, r = 0.519; p = 0.461, r = -0.235, respectively) or length (p = 0.901, r = -0.040; p = 0.105, r = 0.490; p = 0.236, r = -0.369, respectively).Thus, serum levels of these hormones are independent of fish gender, body weight and length.
Subject(s)
Blood Proteins/genetics , Fibronectins/genetics , Fish Proteins/genetics , Fishes/genetics , Insulin-Like Growth Factor II/genetics , Peptide Fragments/genetics , Animals , Aquaculture , Blood Proteins/metabolism , Body Size , Body Weight , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Female , Fibronectins/blood , Fish Proteins/blood , Fishes/blood , Gene Expression , Lakes , Male , Peptide Fragments/blood , TurkeyABSTRACT
Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is the most common malignancy in children after solid organ transplantation. We present a patient, who developed Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-related PTLD in the liver after renal transplantation. A 10-year-old EBV-seronegative boy with cystinosis underwent a living related preemptive renal transplantation. He received antiviral prophylaxis with valacyclovir. At 5.5 months posttransplantation he displayed a primary EBV infection with an high fever, hepatosplenomegaly, monocytosis, and positive EBV DNA levels. Two months there after, a hypoechoic nodular 20-mm lesion in the left lobe of liver was detected on abdominal ultrasonography, performed because of anorexia and weight loss. EBV-DNA copy number was 7820 copies per milliliter. Liver biopsy showed a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma that was compatible with PTLD. We stopped all immunosupressive agents other than prednisolone. Chemotherapy consisting of two courses of cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisolone, and adriamycin was followed by rituximab. Within 2 months, the lesion resolved and within 18 months, he was free of disease.