Sperm Ubiquitination Correlation with Human Semen Quality

Background: Ubiquitin, an 8.5 kDa peptide that marks other proteins for proteasomal degradation, tags defective sperm during epididymal passage. Thus, sperm ubiquitination is a universal marker for sperm defects and can be used as a sperm function test. The objective of the present study was to examine the relationships between sperm ubiquitination and clinical semen parameters, using simplified immunofluorescence assays in order to establish ubiquitin as a biomarker of male infertility. Methods: Semen samples from 100 couples attending Avicenna Infertility Clinic, Tehran, Iran, were collected and analyzed according to WHO criteria. Each sample was washed and adjusted at 106 sperm/ml concentration. Sperm were coated on slides, using cytospin centrifugation and were fixed in buffered formaldehyde. Subsequently ubiquitinated spermatozoa were evaluated by direct immunofluorescence microscopy using FITC-labeled anti-ubiquitin antibodies. After counting at least 200 sperm per sample, while employing light microscopy, the percentage of ubiquitinated spermatozoa was recorded on the same fields through epifluorescence microscopy. Results: Negative correlations were obtained between sperm ubiquitination and sperm count (r=-0.278, P< 0.001), sperm concentration (r=-0.37, P< 0.001), viability (r=-0.407, P< 0.001), sperm morphology (r=-0.509, P< 0.001), rapid progressive motility (a) (r=-0.246, P< 0.001) and slow progressive motility (b) (r=-0.474, P< 0.001). There was a positive correlation between ubiquitinated sperm and the percentage of immotile spermatozoa (r=0.486, P< 0.000). Conclusion: Increased sperm ubiquitination is inversely associated with good semen quality parameters, supporting the use of ubiquitin as a biomarker for evaluation of human sperm quality

Serological Study of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Boyer Ahmad Township in 2005

Introduction & Objective: Visceral leishmaniasis (Kala-azar) is a disease caused by intracellular protozoa parasites of the genus Leishmania. Kala–azar in Iran is usually seen in children below 10 years old. Kala-azar is endemic in some areas of Iran including Ardebil, Fars, and East Azerbaijan. The present study was designed to assess the situation of Kala–azar in children of ten and below ten years in Boyer Ahmad township in Kohgiloyeh and Boyer Ahmad province in 1384. Materials & Methods: Blood samples were collected from all the children of 10 and less than 10 years old. In this survey 1628 blood samples were collected from finger tip of children on filter paper. Collected samples were evaluated by direct agglutination test (DAT). Collected data were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: Result of this study showed that from 1628 samples collected, 50 cases (3.07 percent) were become positive with DAT test. Infection in females was less than male. No significant correlation was found between antibody titer and sex. The highest prevalence rate of the infection was seen in age 10 (14.82%). Leishmania Infection was not found in any of the studied reservoirs (dogs). Conclusion: Results of this study indicate that Kala–azar is an endemic disease in the studied region. Considering the obtained data, more study is needed to find out the prevalence of the disease in other regions of the province and also to find out more about the possible animal reservoir of the diseases in the region