Males with low serum levels of vitamin D have lower pregnancy rates when ovulation induction and timed intercourse are used as a treatment for infertile couples: results from a pilot study

Background: Vitamin D (Vit D) is important for the regulation of reproductive physiology. In humans, maternal Vit D deficiency has been implicated in several reproductive- and pregnancy-related disorders. Very few data are available regarding the Vit D status in male partners of couples attempting pregnancy. This observational study (IRB Prot. N. 078/13) aimed to evaluate whether low Vit D serum levels in males might decrease the rate of successful conception in couples attempting pregnancy. Methods: Male and female partners of infertile couples (n = 102) were classified into 2 GROUPS according to normal (≥30 ng/ml) or low (below 30 ng/ml) serum Vit D levels in male partners. Semen analysis was performed in each male participant based on the WHO reference criteria. The female partners of both groups were subjected to 3 consecutive cycles of gonadotropin-induced mono-ovulation. The main outcome measures included the clinical pregnancy rate, delivery per patient and per cycle, and miscarriage rate between the 2 groups evaluated at the end of the three-month period of the study. Results: In male partners of both groups, standard semen analysis did not highlight substantial differences in sperm concentration, sperm progressive motility, or typical form. The pregnancy rates per patient and per cycle and delivery rates per patient and per cycle were all significantly higher (p< 0.05) in couples with normal Vit D levels. Conclusions: These results suggest the existence of a relationship between male Vit D serum levels and semen ability to begin a pregnancy during cycles of timed vaginal intercourse. © 2015 Tartagni et al

Chronic treatment with epigallocatechin gallate reduces motor hyperactivity and affects in vitro tested intestinal motility of spontaneously hypertensive rats

Background: Green tea catechins seem to contribute toward reducing body weight and fat. Objective: We aimed to investigate whether chronic administration of (–)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the most abundant catechin of green tea, reduces weight gain in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), an animal model of metabolic syndrome, by increasing motor activity and/or by altering gastrointestinal motility. Design: Nine-week-old SHR were randomly assigned to two groups and treated by gavage for 3 weeks with vehicle dimethyl sulfoxide or EGCG (200 mg/kg/day). Age-matched Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) control rats were treated with vehicle alone. The effect of chronic administration of EGCG was evaluated on open-field motor activity and on ex vivo colonic and duodenal motility. Moreover, in vitro acute effect of 20-min incubation with EGCG (100 µM) or vehicle was evaluated in colonic and duodenal specimens from untreated WKY rats and SHR. Results: Vehicle-treated SHR were normoglycemic and hyperinsulinemic, and showed a reduction of plasma adiponectin when compared to vehicle-treated WKY rats. In addition, consistent with fasting glucose and insulin values, vehicle-treated SHR were more insulin resistant than age-matched vehicle-treated WKY rats. Chronic treatment for 3 weeks with EGCG improved insulin sensitivity, raised plasma adiponectin levels, and reduced food intake and weight gain in SHR. Vehicle-treated SHR showed increased open-field motor activity (both crossings and rearings) when tested after each week of treatment. The overall hyperactivity of vehicle-treated SHR was significantly reduced to the levels of vehicle-treated WKY rats after 2 and 3 weeks of EGCG treatment. Colonic and duodenal preparations obtained from SHR chronically treated in vivo with EGCG showed reduced responses to carbachol (0.05–5 µM) and increased inhibitory response to electrical field stimulation (EFS, 1–10 Hz, 13 V, 1 msec, 10-sec train duration), respectively. In vitro acute EGCG incubation (100 µM, 20 min) of colonic and duodenum strips obtained from untreated SHR and WKY rats showed a reduced contractile colonic response to a fixed dose of carbachol (1.5 µM) only in SHR with respect to its own vehicle, whereas the inhibitory duodenal response to a fixed EFS frequency (5 Hz) was significantly reduced in both WKY rats and SHR groups with respect to their own vehicle. Conclusions: These data suggest that EGCG affects body weight gain in rats and this effect seems to be due to the altered intestinal motility and not to increased motor activity

In vivo and in vitro effects of epigallocatechin gallate on intestinal motility of spontaneously hypertensive rats

IN VIVO AND IN VITRO EFFECTS OF EPIGALLOCATECHIN GALLATE (EGCG) ON INTESTINAL MOTILITY OF SPONTANEOUSLY HYPERTENSIVE RATS (SHR) POTENZA Maria Assunta, NACCI Carmela, MONTAGNANI Monica and DE SALVIA Maria Antonietta. Dept. Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, Medical School, University of Bari, Piazza G. Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy Anti-hypertensive effects of green tea drinking are mediated by its most abundant catechin, EGCG. EGCG reaches the highest concentrations in the intestine, where it reduces lipids absorption, inhibits angiogenesis and decreases cancer cell proliferation. Whether EGCG may interfere with gastrointestinal motility is not known. The present study investigates the effects of EGCG on intestinal motility of SHR and WKY rats. For in vivo studies, 9-wk old male SHR were administered with EGCG (200 mg/kg/day) or vehicle (n = 5/group) by gavage for 3 weeks. The contractile dose-response to carbachol (0.05 – 5 µM) and the inhibitory response to electrical field stimulation (EFS, 1- 10 Hz, 13 V, 1 msec, 10-sec train duration) from colon and duodenum specimens were measured before and after L-NNA (100 µM), and compared between EGCG- and vehicle-treated SHR. Colonic response to carbachol and duodenal response to L-NNA were respectively reduced and increased (p < 0.05) in EGCG-treated SHR (vs. vehicle). For in vitro studies, the contractile response to carbachol (1.5 µM) and the inhibitory response to EFS (5 Hz) were measured in colonic and duodenal specimens before and after EGCG (100 µM), and results in SHR compared to those obtained in WKY. EGCG significantly reduced colonic response to carbachol only in SHR, whereas a decreased duodenal inhibitory response to EFS (5 Hz) after EGCG was observed in both SHR and WKY. These data suggest that EGCG may influence intestinal motility, and that gastrointestinal side effects might be associated with drinking of green tea, particularly in hypertensive patients