Effect of nicotine on in vitro human sperm penetrability through cervical mucus and motility parameters

Citations fromthe Litemture gonadotropins. Antibody levels were measured before therapy (baseline) and then serially during subsequent stimulation cycles, for a maximum of six cycles. Twenty-eight patients underwent intrauterine insemination; each patient served as her own control. An additional 25 patients were treated with exogenous gonadotropins but did not undergo intrauterine insemination; they served as external controls. Antisperm antibody levels in women who underwent concomitant intrauterine insemination were compared with levels in those who did not. Of the 53 enrolled patients, 18 completed six treatment cycles, and 35 achieved pregnancy before six cycles. Forty-five patients (85n) had < IOcrloImmunobead binding, six (11%) had binding between 10% and 25% (mean 16%, range 14% to 20%). and two had binding >25% (28vo and 42%. respectively). Mean binding was similar (< 1O”lo)in the intrauterine insemination and external control groups. Eighteen patients conceived in the intrauterine insemination group and seventeen in the control group. Of patients who conceived, all but one bad < 10% Immunobead binding at the time of conception (mean 1.6 months). In patients who did not conceive, there was no difference in Immunobead binding between control and intrauterine insemination groups after 6 months of therapy. Our data do not support the hypothesis that serum antisperm antibody levels, as detected by Immunobead binding, will increase in menotropin-stimulated women undergoing intrauterine insemination over a prolonged treatment period. A program for matcbed, anonymous oocyte donation Kennard EAD; Collins RL; Blankstein J; Schover LR; Kanoti G; Reiss J; Quigley MM Department of Gynecology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195; USA Fertility and Sterility/5 l/4 (655-660)/1989/ The authors’ program for matched, anonymous oocyte donation has resulted in two successful pregnancies among the first eight oocyte recipients. All oocyte recipients to date have had ovarian failure or absence with premature ovarian failure the most common cause. All recipients were cycled on a program of incremental oral micronized estradiol and intramuscular progesterone-in-oil. Thirteen candidates for oocyte donation were screened to obtain 8 donors. One donor candidate was excluded because of her medical history. The psychological screening of 2 of the other donor candidates (who subsequently did not complete the donation cycle) revealed a primary motive of tlnancial gain. In general, the psychological profile of donor candidates revealed a high incidence of troubled families and either reproductive loss or loss of a parent. Ovarian stimulation of the donors followed our standard in vitro fertilization protocol. The recipients’ exogenous steroid replacement continued until days 97 and 101, respectively, of the two gestations. Both pregnancies resulted in the delivery of normal singleton males - the first at 40 weeks, the second at 35 weeks. Is fresh or frozen semen to be used in in vitro fertilization with donor sperm? Englert Y; Delvigne A; Vekemans M; Lejeune B; Henlisz A; De Maertelaer G; Leroy F

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In Vitro Fertilization Clinic, St. Pierre Hospital, Brussels; Belgium Fertility and Sterility/51/4 (661~664)/1989/ Sixty-six partners of either severely oligoasthenospermic or azoospermic men were treated by in vitro fertilization with donor sperm (IVF-D), usually (86%) after failure of artificial insemination with donor sperm. One hundred twenty-nine IVF trials were performed with either fresh (59%) or frozen-thawed (41%) donor sperm. Characteristics of sperm preparations were significantly lower in the frozen-thawed group (P < 0.001). In the latter group, fertilization rates had slightly decreased (but without statistical significance); embryonic vitality scores and cryopreserevable spare embryos had significantly decreased (P < 0.05). However, cumulative ongoing pregnancy rates were strictly equivalent in both groups (40% after three trials). Frozen-thawed sperm thus can be substituted for fresh donor sperm without entailing impairment of the outcome of IVF, and this method must be preferred for its greater safety regarding transmission of human immunodeficiency virus. Suppression of sperm function by depot medroxyprogesterone acetate and testosterone enanthate in steroid male contraeeption Wu FCW; Aitken RJ Medical Research Council, Reproductive Biology Unit, Centre for Reproductive Biology, Edinburgh EH3 9EW; United Kingdom Fertility and Sterility/51/4 (691-698)/1989/ Ten normal men were given three monthly intramuscular injections of 200 mg of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) and 250 mg of testosterone (T) enanthate. Six men became azoospermic, while four remained oligozoospermic, with a mean sperm density of 1.5 f 0.3 standard error of the mean million/ml. Zona-free hamster oocyte penetration was abolished in all oligozoospermic samples at the end of treatment. Twenty of the 21 oligozoospermic samples yielding at least 0.6 to 5.0 million motile spermatozoa showed a complete absence of oocyte penetration. Semen parameters returned to normal, although some took up to 12 months. These findings demonstrated an antifertility action of MPA and T enanthate on the functional capacity of residual spermatozoa and support the view that extreme oligozoospermia may be a tenable target for reversible steroid male contraception. Effect of nicotine on in vitro baman sperm penetrability through cervical mucus and motility parameters Crandall LA; Hensleigh HC; Phipps WR Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Minnesoto, Minneapolis, MN 55455; USA Fertility and Sterility/51/4 (722-724)/1989/ Nicotine at concentrations found in the cervical mucus of female smokers appeared to enhance in vitro human sperm penetrability through ovulatory bovine cervical mucus. Sperm motility parameters were not affected by the addition of nicotine to semen samples incubated with BWW medium. Overall, these results suggest that a direct inhibitory effect of nicotine on sperm penetrability through cervical mucus is not Znt J Gynecol Obstet 30

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Citations from the Literature

responsible for the apparent increase in cervical factor infertility present in smoking women. Delivery of twins to a woman with surgical induced menopause after oocyte donation by the sister and cryopreservetion of the conceptuses Fishel S; Webster J; Faratian B; Jackson P Fertility Service-s Unit. University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG5 8RX; United Kingdom Fertility and Sterility/S I/4 (728-730)/1989/ There exist numerous causes of ovarian dysgenesis in women of all ages; some may be caused by subtle or severe enzymatic effects, others by chromosome or immunological disorders, or by surgical trauma, and many have unknown origins. The only hope of pregnancy for these sterile patients is the donation of an oocyte, fertilization in vitro or in vivo (i.e., after gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) or by insemination of the donor using husband’s sperm followed by embryo lavage), and ‘pseudo-follicular’ and luteal phases being orchestrated with exogenous steroids. The first successful pregnancy of this kind in women were reported by Lutjen et al., in one of seven women with primary ovarian failure. Since then, a number of reports have appeared (Van Steirteghem et al.). We wish to detail a case report in which the recipient conceived initially with fresh conceptuses but miscarried and, 5 months later, became pregnant following the transfer of three previously cryopreserved conceptuses. In this particular case, the husband also had severe oligospermia. Estimation of the prevalence and incidence of infertility in a population: A pilot study Page H Department of Community Medicine, University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield SIO 2RX; United Kingdom Fertility and Sterility/SlM (571-577)/1989/ A pilot study was undertaken to investigate the use of a mailed questionnaire to estimate the prevalence and incidence of infertility in a population, and the demand for medical advice about infertility. The objectives were to investigate the response rate, the acceptability and comprehensibility of the questionnaire, and to provide initial results. After elimination of undelivered quiestionnaires, a response rate of 82% was obtained. One question was found to be misleading in its wording: this question can be clarified before the questionnaire is used more widely. The results from analysis of the pilot study indicate that 2007’to 0 35% of couples take more than 1 year to conceive, at some stage in their reproductive history. A much larger study, with a sample of approximately 3,500, is required to provide more accurate information.

ENDOCRINOLOGY Early hypothyroidism in patients with menorrhagia Wilanski DL; Greisman B Department of Medicine, Etobicoke General Hospital, Rexdale Ont. h49V IR8; Canada American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology/l60/3 (673677)/1989/ Int J Gynecol Obstet 30

The functional status of the thyroid gland was evaluated in 67 apparently euthyroid menorrhagic women by a thyrotropinreleasing hormone test. Fifteen of 67 showed mild primary hypothyroidism characterized by a small but significant elevation of basal levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (5.9 YZ0.76 versus 2.4 f 0.24 mu/L) and lowering of serum thyroxine levels (85 f 4.2 versus 105 f 3.0 mmol/L) to levels that were nevertheless within the normal range and exaggerated response of serum thyroid-stimulating hormone and thyroxine to administration of thyrotropin-releasing hormone. Triiodothyionine levels showed no significant change. The terms early and potential hypothyroidism appear to better describe the preliminary phases of hypothyroidism than do other terms in current use. Menorrhagia disappeared within 3 to 6 months and did not appear in 1 to 3 years of follow-up in all patients with early hypothyroidism to whom L-thyroxine was given. This was accompanied by a significant decline in random serum thyroidstimulating hormone levels and rise of thyroxine levels to those found in the group with a negative response to the thyrotropinreleasing hormone test, with no change in levels of triiodothyronine. Further systematic study of thyroid function in menorrhagia is warranted. Serum and bfte lipid levels in a postmenopausal woman after percutaneous and oral natural estrogens D’Amato G; Cavallini A; Messa C; Mangini V; Misciagna G Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, 70013 Castellana; Italy American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology/l6O/3 (600601)/1989/ 17 beta-Estradiol was administered for 4 weeks percutaneously (5 mg/day) and, after a dweek period to allow the drug to wash out, orally (2 mg/day) to a postmenopausal woman in whom a Kerr tube had been placed because of an iatrogenic lesion of the common bile duct. After both methods of administration, there was an increase in the bihary cholesterol concentration, but after oral administration, bile flow also increased and cholesterol crystals appeared in the bile. The percutaneous method of estradiol administration in postmenopausal women seems to be less dangerous for the biliary tract. Comparison of the quantity of estrogen receptors in human endometrium and myometrium by steroid-binding assay and enzyme immunoamay based on monoclonai antibodies to human estropbilin Senekjian EK; Press MF; Blough RR; Herbst AL; DeSombre ER Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL; USA American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology/l60/3 (592597)/1989/ The recently developed enzyme immunoassay for estrogen re*:eptors is more simple to perform with quality assurance than conventional steroid-binding assays with radioactive labeled estrogen. However, it is not known how well the results of the two assays agree for normal human uterine samples. We compared enzyme immunoassay (Abbott estrogen receptor enzyme immunoassay) and steroid-binding assay of normal