The Impact of Motor, Non-Motor, and Social Aspects on the Sexual Health of Men Living with Parkinson's Disease.

Background: Sexual health (SH) is influenced by several biological, mental, and social factors that may be negatively impacted by Parkinson's disease (PD). Despite its prevalence and relevance for quality of life, the factors that affect SH in men with PD (MwPD) are still poorly understood. Objectives: To investigate the impact of motor, non-motor, and social aspects on the SH in MwPD. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 80 men (mean-age 53.55±10.8) in stages 1-3 of Hoehn and Yahr classification (H&Y), who reported having an active sex life in the last six months. The following data were collected for each person: 1) Demographic and clinical features; 2) global cognitive capacity (T-MoCA); 3) Non-Motor Aspects of Experiences of Daily Living (MDS-UPDRS, part I); 4) Motor Aspects of Experiences of Daily Living (MDS-UPDRS, part II); 5) Fatigue (FSS); 6) Self-esteem (RSES); 7) Sleep disorder (PDSS); 8) Couple relationship quality (DAS); 9) Depressive signals (BDI); 10) Short-term sexual health by International Index of Erectile Function (IIFE); and 11) Long-term sexual health by Sexual Quotient-Male (SQ-M). Results: Our results showed that although several motor, non-motor, and social factors were correlated with SH, only motor disability levels in daily living predicted short-term SH and erectile dysfunction, while only depression predicted long-term SH in MwPD. Age, disease onset, and medication daily dosage were not correlated with SH. Conclusions: Our findings confirm that multidimensional factors can affect the SH of MwPD and emphasize that only a multi-professional team can offer proper care to improve SH in MwPD.

The influence of abiotic and biotic variables on the patent parasitemias of Trypanosoma spp. in Thrichomys fosteri (Rodentia: Echimyidae) in the southern Pantanal.

Parasitism is a dynamic ecological phenomenon that is constantly influenced by the environment and intrinsic factors of the host. We aimed to evaluate the influence of vegetation, environmental temperature, reproductive conditions, sex, and body condition (BC) on the detection of Trypanosoma spp. in the blood of Thrichomys fosteri in the Pantanal region, an enzootic area for trypanosomiasis. Whole blood was collected from the tip of the tail, and nPCR was performed for Trypanosoma spp. detection from the DNA extracted from the resultant blood clot. Statistical analyses were performed using generalized linear models. Our results showed that there is a greater probability of detection of Trypanosoma spp. in the bloodstream of animals with the highest BC values in periods with mild temperatures. Since T. fosteri is an abundant and common prey for carnivores, even in periods with low temperatures and consequent decrease in the reproduction and activities of the blood-sucking arthropod vectors, the maintenance of Trypanosoma spp. in the studied area would be guaranteed via predation (trophic network) of T. fosteri individuals with good BC and patent parasitemia. Furthermore, T. fosteri, which displays Trypanosoma spp. in the bloodstream, would be reproducing adequately because we found no influence between the reproductive condition and the detection of Trypanosoma spp. in T. fosteri. The caviomorph rodent T. fostei is an important species for the maintenance of Trypanosoma spp. in the Pantanal biome.