Review of global neurosurgery education: Horizon of Neurosurgery in the Developing Countries.

Globally, the discipline of neurosurgery has evolved remarkably fast. Despite being one of the latest medical specialties, which appeared only around hundred years ago, it has witnessed innovations in the aspects of diagnostics methods, macro and micro surgical techniques, and treatment modalities. Unfortunately, this development is not evenly distributed between developed and developing countries. The same is the case with neurosurgical education and training, which developed from only traditional apprentice programs in the past to more structured, competence-based programs with various teaching methods being utilized, in recent times. A similar gap can be observed between developed and developing counties when it comes to neurosurgical education. Fortunately, most of the scholars working in this field do understand the coherent relationship between neurosurgical education and neurosurgical practice. In context to this understanding, a symposium was organized during the World Federation of Neurological Surgeons (WFNS) Special World Congress Beijing 2019. This symposium was the brain child of Prof. Yoko Kato-one of the eminent leaders in neurosurgery and an inspiration for female neurosurgeons. Invited speakers from different continents presented the stages of development of neurosurgical education in their respective countries. This paper summarizes the outcome of these presentations, with particular emphasis on and the challenges faced by developing countries in terms of neurosurgical education and strategies to cope with these challenges.

Correction to: Review of global neurosurgery education: Horizon of Neurosurgery in the Developing Countries.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s41016-020-00194-1.].

Effect of Educational Intervention on Perception of Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Among Medical Practitioners.

Spontaneous reporting of suspected adverse drug reaction by healthcare professionals is the cornerstone of pharmacovigilance. National pharmacovigilance program of Bangladesh was started to promote the pharmacovigilance activity in this country. But in Bangladesh the pharmacovigilance program is still in its infancy due to lack of reporting culture amongst healthcare professionals of this country. This cross sectional, questionnaire based study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding adverse drug reaction reporting as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of educational intervention to improve the pharmacovigilance status of this country in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College (SOMC) in collaboration with the Internal Medicine, Dermatology & Venerology and Cardiology departments of SOMC and Jalalabad Rageeb Rabeya Medical College (JRRMC), Selhet, Bangladesh. A seminar (educational intervention) was conducted for the doctors of Internal Medicine, Dermatology & Venerology and Cardiology departments of SOMCH. The survey questionnaire was administered to 51 doctors who had attended the seminar in SOMCH (interventional group) and 33 doctors who had not attended the seminar in JRRMCH (non-interventional group). The study found that there is significant improvement in intervention group in comparison to non-intervention group in terms of knowledge and attitude about ADR reporting (in all cases those were statistically significant). Inadequate perception about ADR reporting among medical practitioners is the main factor for underreporting, which can be overcome by educational intervention. So, different types of educational intervention should be implemented among medical practitioner in different healthcare facilities for the improvement of the pharmacovigilance status of this country.

Environmental surveillance of commonly-grown vegetables for investigating potential lead and chromium contamination intensification in Bangladesh.

With regard to previously reported Lead (Pb) and Chromium (Cr) contamination in egg, a semi-quantitative assessment of the general environment of Bangladesh is carried out through nation-wide sampling of commonly grown and consumed vegetables. Five vegetables, namely, White Potato (Solanum tuberosum), Green Cabbage (Brassica oleracea capitata var. alba L.), Red Spinach (Amaranthus dubius), White Radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus), and Green Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) were selected for sampling from all 64 Districts of the country as per their availability during the sampling season. This results in a collection of 292 samples. Due to the necessity of incorporating a wide spectrum of vegetable types (e.g. tuber, brassica, leafy, root, and fruiting vegetables) as well as the need for including the geographic expanse of the whole country, replicates were not accommodated in the study, hence, the study being semi-quantitative in nature. The results do not substantiate evidence of public health risk due to Cr yet, with only 0.69 % of the samples found contaminated with Cr. Pb contamination (concentrations above a health-based guidance value) is found in 29.47 % of the samples; and together with the insight of such contamination likely being non-point origin, communicates on potential public health risk due to Pb as residual effects of extensive ambient atmospheric Pb pollution in recent history of the country. For the purpose of comparison, Cadmium (Cd) contents of the samples are also analyzed. Although there is no extensive Cd pollution history/source in the country, the likely point-source nature of Cd contamination found in 17.83 % of the samples indicates the scope of managing any existing contamination source by directing efforts into the potential point-sources.

In situ synthesis of silver supported nanoporous iron oxide microbox hybrids from metal-organic frameworks and their catalytic application in p-nitrophenol reduction.

Ag nanoparticles (NPs) are successfully grown in situ on nanoporous Fe2O3 microboxes (Ag/Fe2O3) simply by annealing Prussian blue (PB) in the presence of silver nitrate for the first time. The catalytic activity of the Ag/Fe2O3 microboxes for the reduction of p-nitrophenol (PNP) with NaBH4 is measured by UV-vis spectroscopy. It is found that the composites exhibit bifunctional properties with high magnetization and excellent catalytic activity toward PNP reduction. The high catalytic activity of the catalyst might be attributed to its high surface area and the synergistic effect on the delivery of electrons between Ag NPs and Fe2O3 microboxes. In addition, efficient reduction is observed and found to depend upon the content of Ag in the Ag/Fe2O3 microboxes. The dosage of the catalyst and the reaction temperature were investigated. Furthermore, the catalysts can be easily recycled by applying an external magnetic field while maintaining the catalytic activity without significant decrease even after running six times. The unique properties provide an ideal platform to study various metal/Fe2O3 catalysts which can be potentially applied in a wide variety of fields of catalysis and green chemistry.

Phase II study of pemetrexed in combination with cisplatin and cetuximab in recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

PURPOSE: Platinum/5-fluorouracil plus cetuximab is a standard systemic treatment for recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Pemetrexed has shown activity in SCCHN. This phase II study evaluated pemetrexed with cisplatin and cetuximab in recurrent/metastatic SCCHN. METHODS: Patients received cetuximab 250 mg/m(2) (loading dose: 400mg/m(2))days 1, 8 and 15; pemetrexed 500 mg/m(2)+cisplatin 75 mg/m(2) on day 1, q3w up to six cycles and folic acid, vitamin B12 and prophylactic medications. After a minimum of four cycles, responding patients were eligible for maintenance with pemetrexed and cetuximab, or either as monotherapy, until progression or toxicity. Efficacy (primary end-point: progression-free survival [PFS]) and toxicity were evaluated. RESULTS: Sixty-six patients received ≥1 cycle of the triplet. Most patients were male (80.3%), with a median age of 62 years and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 1 (71.2%). Diagnoses included oropharynx (45.5%) and larynx (24.2%) cancers, with locoregional disease (51.5%) alone, or combined with distant metastases (48.5%). Median (m) PFS was 4.4 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.6, 5.4); median overall survival was 9.7 months (95% CI: 6.5, 13.1). Objective response rate was 29.3%; 23 patients had stable disease (39.7%). Drug-related grade 3/4 toxicities included neutropaenia (33.3%), fatigue (24.2%), anorexia (12.1%) and infection (10.6%). Five treatment-related deaths (7.6%) occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Efficacy results were consistent with current standard treatment for this patient population, but the pre-specified mPFS of 5.5 months was not achieved. Grade 3/4 toxicities were also consistent with standard treatment, although treatment-related deaths were higher than expected.

Volatility and mixing states of ultrafine particles from biomass burning.

Fine and ultrafine carbonaceous aerosols produced from burning biomasses hold enormous importance in terms of assessing radiation balance and public health hazards. As such, volatility and mixing states of size-selected ultrafine particles (UFP) emitted from rice straw, oak, and pine burning were investigated by using volatility tandem differential mobility analyzer (VTDMA) technique in this study. Rice straw combustion produced unimodal size distributions of emitted aerosols, while bimodal size distributions from combustions of oak (hardwood) and pine (softwood) were obtained. A nearness of flue gas temperatures and a lower CO ratio of flaming combustion (FC) to smoldering combustion (SC) were characteristic differences found between softwood and hardwood. SC emitted larger mode particles in higher numbers than smaller mode particles, while the converse was true for FC. Rice straw open burning UFPs exhibited a volatilization behavior similar to that between FC and SC. In addition, internal mixing states were observed for size-selected UFPs in all biomasses for all combustion conditions, while external mixing states were only observed for rice straw combustion. Results for FC and open burning suggested there was an internal mixing of volatile organic carbon (OC) and non-volatile core (e.g., black carbon (BC)), while the SC in rice straw produced UFPs devoid of non-volatile core. Also, it was found that volatility of constituting OC in FC and SC particles was different.

Synthesis, crystal structure, electrochemistry and in situ FTIR spectroelectrochemistry of a bisferrocene pyrazole derivative.

One novel bisferrocene pyrazole derivative, bis [2-(5-trifluoromethyl-3-ferrocenyl) pyrazolyl] methane (abbreviated as (3)), was synthesized and fully characterized. A single crystal of (3) was obtained and solved by X-ray diffraction analysis. The bisferrocene derivative exhibits MLCT (metal to ligand charge transfer) and π→π* transitions in the UV-visible range, which have been verified by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Its electrochemical properties were studied with the aid of cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and rapid scan time-resolved Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (RS-TRS FT-IR) analysis. Furthermore, the electrochemical mechanism was elucidated based on the results from the cyclic voltabsorptometry (CVA) determination technique. (3) apparently shows a single wave in the cyclic voltammetric experiments which indicates there is no intermediate, however, the intermediate of (3) was observed by employing the RS-TRS FT-IR spectroelectrochemistry technique. The detailed investigation brought us safely to the conclusion that the methylene can also act as a linker, leading to electronic communication in either D-π-D and A-π-A systems.

Sole use of sucrose in human sperm cryopreservation.

Glycerol alone or in combination with other additives is one of the most widely used and successful cryoprotectants for human sperm. The glycerol method requires rigorous post thaw sample washing for use in ART and this may lead to low sperm yield from oligospermic samples. In this study the feasibility of the use of sucrose in sperm cryopreservation was explored. Sucrose as cryoprotectant was combined with direct plunging of sample into liquid nitrogen (vitrification) as a freezing method. Sucrose treated sperm from normozoospermic and severly oligozoospermic samples underwent rapid freeze and thaw. Motility and viability were evaluated before freezing (after sucrose equilibration) as well as post freezing (after thaw). The 100 mM concentration of sucrose showed better cryoprotectant features compared to that of higher concentrations (200-1000 mM). Sucrose (100 mM)treated sperm maintained low but acceptable motility (30%) and satisfactory viability (60%) after freezing and thawing. The cryoprotectant capacity of sucrose for normozoospermic and oligozoospermic samples were identical. The sucrose method utilizes rapid freezing of a micro volume of sample and thus quickly freezes, thaws, and maximizes recovery of the sperm from the sample.

Lack of significant morphological differences between human X and Y spermatozoa and their precursor cells (spermatids) exposed to different prehybridization treatments.

Human X and Y spermatozoa were previously compared by several nonmolecular techniques. Recent studies show that in many of the previous investigations, the methods used to identify the spermatozoa were nonspecific and thus produced contradictory findings. In the present study, the comparison of the 2 germ cell types, X and Y, were performed following fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), which is the most reliable genotyping technique currently available. The FISH technique was performed under 3 different treatments: permeabilization with liquid N2, fixation with Carnoy's, and chromatin decondensation with lithium di-iodosalicylate. Mature and immature germ cells (spermatozoa and spermatids) were compared. Lithium showed higher hybridization efficiency, while liquid N2 and Carnoy's fixative maintained better morphological integrity of cells with lower hybridization. The sperm exhibiting hybridization signals were not different in any of the morphometric or qualitative comparisons from those that did not exhibit signals. No significant deviation of the sex ratio from 1:1 was seen in either the mature or immature germ cell population. The spatial distribution of X and Y chromosome-specific signals in the sperm head were identical. The hybridization treatments did not have any preferential effect on the cells of specific genotype (X or Y). Neither head parameters (length, HL; width, HW; area, HA) nor tail length (TL) significantly differed between X and Y populations of spermatozoa under any of the treatments. Similarly, the haploid, X-specific round cells did not differ from Y-specific ones by their size (diameter) and shape. These results indicate that neither mature sperm nor their precursors possess significant morphological differences between X and Y genotypes.

Analysis of in vitro migration patterns of human spermatozoa by a petri dish-based horizontal column.

Spermatozoa are required to travel a considerable distance in vivo to meet the oocyte at the fertilization site. However, none of the existing in vitro tests critically evaluates migration of sperm to assess their potential of reaching the oocyte. On the other hand, an in vivo model is not suitable for this type of study because of ethical and technical constraints. In the present study we utilized a horizontal column technique to analyze sperm migration. Migratory characteristics of fresh, unwashed semen sperm and sperm undergoing various treatments were examined in vitro using a Petri dish-based horizontal fluid column. The procedure involved loading a sperm sample into the column and determining sperm concentration, motility, and viability at different column segments for different migration durations (6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h). All sperm samples produced an exponential migration pattern in all durations of migration. Propagation along the column edge, tendency to exit from the column, and hiding in the blind pouches were some of the important characteristic features exhibited by the migratory sperm. Variations in migration patterns were documented among semen donors, between fresh and frozen semen, and between washed and unwashed sperm. Prolonged postejaculation time diminished migratory potential. The recovery of sperm in the column end was independent of seminal variables with the exception of oligozoospermia. These observations suggest that the Petri dish-based horizontal column is effective for analyzing sperm migration characteristics for prolonged periods. The potential of this migration assay in predicting the in vivo potential of spermatozoa to reach the fertilization site will be worth exploring.

Differential effect of common laboratory treatments on hypoosmotic swelling responses of human spermatozoa.

PURPOSE: The impact of some of the common laboratory interventions on the hypoosmotic swelling (HOS) responses of human-spermatozoa was investigated. METHODS: The semen samples underwent different laboratory treatments prior to the standard HOS test, which involved incubation of sperm in the hypoosmotic solution. Fresh semen served as a control for all treatment groups and underwent the same HOS procedure. The HOS-reactive spermatozoa and the type of HOS reactions (swelling types) in each group were identified under a phase-contrast microscope for comparison. RESULTS: All the seven types of HOS responses documented in fresh semen sperm also occurred in the laboratory-processed sperm. The total HOS responses of sperm that underwent cryopreservation, heat shock, and Percoll wash were significantly different from those of the corresponding control. Percoll washing of semen influenced HOS subtypes a and g; cryopreservation affected subtypes a, b, c, and d; and heat shock altered subtypes a, f, and g. In contrast, prolonged postejaculation and cold shock did not affect any of the HOS responses. None of the treatments influenced the d and e responses. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the total HOS response value and specific response subtypes are significantly affected by some of the laboratory treatments but not others.

Time course of hypo-osmotic swellings of human spermatozoa: evidence of ordered transition between swelling subtypes.

The hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOST or HOS test) usually takes into consideration the total HOS response value with no emphasis either on the value of the response subtypes or the response evaluation time. This study investigated the time course of HOS responses and analysed their physiological relevance. Raw semen spermatozoa and Percoll washed spermatozoa were used in the experiment. The morphological changes in the sperm tail were monitored by incubating the spermatozoa in the hypo-osmotic solution for 16 different time periods. The HOS reactive spermatozoa and the type of HOS reaction (swelling subtypes) of the samples subjected to different duration of treatment were identified under a phase contrast microscope. Also the fate of individual spermatozoa in a hypo-osmotic environment were monitored for 30 min. In spermatozoa exposed to a hypo-osmotic solution, the motility lasted usually less than 2 min and motility characteristics were uniquely different from that of the spermatozoa under iso-osmotic conditions. The HOS response development was permanent but the motility loss due to hypo-osmotic shock was reversible up to 1 min of incubation. There was an indication of ordered transition among the HOS swelling subtypes apparently initiating with subtype b destined to c, d, e, f and g. Further, the subtypes a and g showed gradual decrease and increase, respectively, while subtype b showed abrupt initial increase and then gradual decrease. Transition from b to g could be direct or via one or more than one subtypes. Ultrastructure based analysis indicated that HOS response subtypes are the apparent reflection of the differences in the cytoskeletal assembly of the sperm tail and thus may be identifying different physiological variants in the sperm population. These results indicate that shorter incubation is essential to document the kinetics of various HOS responses but the conventional HOS test misses these important HOS features because of lengthy incubation. Since the time course of ordered transition of HOS responses will vary more than the total HOS response in semen of different aetiologies, the importance of HOS response subtypes and response evaluation time should be taken into consideration when applying HOS test.

Preconceptional sex selection: past, present, and future.

Predetermination of sex in human and in farm animals is reviewed. Preconceptional sex selection has generated great interest and controversy over the years. Medical and commercial benefits outweigh the ethical issues. Technology has not yet provided a routine method for separating the X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm. Flow cytometry is the only technique that produces a clinically significant enrichment of X- or Y-bearing spermatozoa However, concern has been raised about the methodological implications of the flow technique because of the use of DNA stains and UV light. Some other techniques, such as gradient columns, appear to produce a slight enrichment of one type of sperm over the other, but this level of enrichment appears unlikely to affect the sex ratio at birth. It thus remains speculative whether 100% pure preparation of X or Y sperm can be obtained unless a major improvement in methodology is achieved. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are currently the methods of choice for evaluating the validity of the sex selection procedure. In view of the extraordinary pace of the technological and scientific progress, it can be expected that the clinical and commercial application of the technology of preconceptional sex selection by X and Y sperm separation will be a reality in near future.

Assessment of the relationship of sperm morphology with seminal and other clinical conditions of semen donors.

The occurrence of abnormal forms of spermatozoa in human semen is quite common. According to WHO, semen is considered normal even if it contains 50% morphologically abnormal spermatozoa. This study assessed whether the sperm morphology maintains any relation with the relevant clinical conditions of the semen donor. One hundred samples representing normal and different types of male factor etiologies underwent semen and morphological analysis. Clinical information such as race, age, weight, profession, medication, medical history, and smoking habit of the semen contributors were recorded. The influence of seminal and clinical features on sperm morphology was evaluated with multiple regression analysis. Head abnormalities were more common than tail abnormalities. Acrosomal defects and coiled tails were the most prevalent head and tail abnormalities, respectively. Regression analysis failed to confirm any strong association between sperm morphology and other seminal parameters. Accessory gland-related seminal parameters such as viscosity, volume, pH, and liquefaction showed the least association with the morphological variability. Sperm morphology also showed poor correlation with race, age, weight, smoking habit, and work environment.

Assessment of the quality of frozen serum by spectrophotometric analysis and sperm bioassay.

Serum is an integral part of media used for in vitro fertilization (IVF) and andrology work. Previous studies showed that the IVF results could benefit if sera were screened for deleterious effects before use. Such screening is impractical when fresh sera are used but may be feasible if the serum is frozen prior to use. This study assessed the impact of freezing on the quality of serum. A total of 158 serum samples, prepared in a university-based andrology-IVF center, were included in the study. The frozen sera were thawed in batches to be used in a series of laboratory experiments. Serum quality was evaluated by spectrophotometric analysis and sperm bioassay under several defined conditions: fresh, frozen, pre- and postfiltration, pre- and postcentrifugation, and the patients' fertility condition. Although all sera were filtered through 0.22-micron filter, more than 10% frozen sera required 0.4- or a combination of 0.8- and 0.4-micron filters before they could be passed through the 0.22-micron filter. Frozen sera that were directly filtrable with a 0.22-micron filter lost 13% turbidity upon filtration. The turbidity of the frozen sera were higher compared to fresh ones as revealed by optical density (OD) and relative light scattering (RLS) spectrophotometry. The freeze/storage-induced spectrophotometric changes did not correlate with the storage time. The centrifugation caused precipitation of sera components. The rate of precipitation of the serum components correlated with the duration of freezing. Spectrophotometric analysis and sperm bioassay did not differentiate the sera of pregnancy-positive and pregnancy-negative subjects. The sperm bioassay failed to detect any biological impact of freezing-induced spectrophotometric changes in the sera, suggesting that the freezing-induced changes did not significantly diminish the serum's capability of supplementing the culture media.

Modified guanidinium thiocyanate method for human sperm DNA isolation.

Mammalian sperm chromatin is highly condensed, so isolating DNA from such chromatin can be a formidable task. The procedures that produce high quality DNA from somatic cells fail to yield quality sperm DNA. In this study we have modified the previously used guanidinium method to make it simple and efficient in isolating human sperm DNA. In our method, the lysis buffer contained guanidinium, sodium citrate, sarkosyl, proteinase K and mercaptoethanol. Proteinase K was not used in the original guanidinium method but was included in our protocol. CsCl centrifugation of the lysate, as described in the original procedure, was omitted. Instead, isopropyl alcohol was added directly to the lysis buffer to harvest the DNA. This modified guanidinium method generated high molecular weight DNA while the other two methods resulted in considerable DNA degradation. There was no difficulty in restriction enzyme digestion of DNA prepared by the modified method as revealed by Southern blot analysis. Since the modified guanidinium method is a simple one-step procedure which avoids homogenization, organic solvents, centrifugation and, more importantly, produces degradation-free DNA, it could be the method of choice when DNA from mature germ cells is needed.

Fractions of Percoll eliminated sperm: increased sperm yield in percoll wash.

Sperm preparation by Percoll is one of the most widely used techniques, but it has the disadvantage of producing a low final yield of motile sperm. This study compared the quality of Percoll-eliminated sperm with that of Percoll recovered sperm to determine if the profile of the Percoll preparation could be improved. Semen specimens were fractionated by discontinuous Percoll gradient column. This resulted in 4 sperm fractions: sperm retained in the semen (SRS), sperm clumped at the interface of 40 and 80% Percoll (SCI), sperm scattered in the column (SSC), and sperm-forming pellet, called Percoll-recovered sperm (PRS). The sperm fractions were evaluated for count, motility, viability, vitality, and morphology. The SRS exhibited the lowest motility, viability, and vitality (40, 68, and 64%, respectively), which were significantly different from those of SCI, SSC, and PRS. The motility, viability, and vitality differences between SSC and PRS did not reach a statistically significant level. Good motility (grades a and b) was found in SSC (73%) when compared with that of PRS (82%). The lower part of SSC and PRS exhibited identical sperm morphology. The Percoll sperm recovery was 18%, but if SSC is combined with PRS, the total recovery becomes 40%. These data suggest that the SSC fraction, particularly the lower part, which maintains the physical contact with the PRS, can be pooled together to increase the final sperm yield without compromising the quality of the sperm to be used for insemination.

Human sperm bioassay has potential in evaluating the quality of cumulus-oocyte complexes.

Human sperm bioassay is routinely used as a quality control check for the culture media. This is one of the three bioassays chosen by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for interlaboratory proficiency testing to assess the standards of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and andrology laboratories. This study utilized sperm bioassay to assess the quality of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) retrieved in IVF procedures COCs, harvested from the female partner of IVF couples, undergoing identical ovarian stimulation protocols, were individually inseminated with the sperm of the corresponding male partner. Sperm motility in sperm-COC cocultures were compared. Cocultures were established by inseminating the 103 COCs, retrieved from 18 IVF couples with 1 x 10(5) to 2 x 10(5) sperm of the corresponding male partners of the couples. In all 18 cases, the sperm were prepared identically using the Percoll wash method. The cocultures were maintained for 48 h but the oocytes were removed immediately after the fertilization check (approximately 16 h). The motility of sperm in the cocultures and in the insemination stocks were noted and 17 of 18 sperm stocks used for insemination had similar high preinsemination motility (90.2 +/- 5.0%). At 48 h the sperm motility had significantly decreased in the cocultures compared to the insemination stocks; 52.7 +/- 19.9% versus 67.2 +/- 10.4%. There was no difference in the motility among the small, medium, and large COCs (56.4 +/- 24.6%, 52.5 +/- 17.9%, and 50.8 +/- 20.9%, respectively). In 45% of IVF cases, the motility in cocultures varied widely, falling below as well as above that of their corresponding insemination stocks. Furthermore, the sperm motility varied among the cocultures in both pregnant and nonpregnant patients but the extent of variation appears to be greater in the latter. The inter-COC coculture sperm motility variation most likely is due to the differences in the quality of cumulus-oocyte complexes.

Kininogen present in rat reproductive tissues is apparently synthesized by the liver, not by the reproductive system.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the source(s) of the reproductive tract kininogen and to assess whether kininogen transcription is influenced by reproductive conditions. STUDY DESIGN: Rats in various reproductive states (immature, mature, ovulatory, luteal phase, pregnancy, parturition, postpartum) were used to obtain reproductive tissues (follicles, corpora lutea, oviduct, uterus, testes) and liver. Complementary deoxyribonucleic acid probes for rat prekininogens were used to quantify kininogen messenger ribonucleic acid synthesis. RESULTS: The T-prekininogen complementary deoxyribonucleic acid probe detected a single 1.6 kb message, whereas the k-prekininogen complementary deoxyribonucleic acid probe identified two messages, an abundantly expressed 1.6 kb band and a 2.2 kb band. The source of all the three prekininogen messages appears to be the liver. Naturally occurring reproductive conditions such as ovulation, implantation, and parturition, did not turn on prekininogen message transcription in the rat gonad or genital tract. Only decidualization of the uterus was associated with the induction of kininogen transcription in the liver. CONCLUSION: There appears to be little, if any, contribution of local gene expression to the kininogen present in the reproductive tissues. Apparently, the reproductive tract increases uptake of kininogen from plasma as needed.