Study of neuropeptide Y-containing nerve fibers in the human penis.

Neuropeptide Y 1-36 (IR-NPY) immunoreactive nerve-fiber processes have been observed in tunicae of veins and arteries and in smooth muscles of the human penis taken at autopsy or during surgery by use of light- and electron-microscopic immunohistochemical techniques. Numerous IR-NPY nerve fibers were mostly concentrated in the inner part of the adventitia close to the media of the arterial and venous vessels and among the intracavernous smooth muscle cells. IR-NPY nerve fibers were less abundant in veins than in arteries. Positive somata were not observed in the penises. At the ultrastructural level, IR-NPY were localized exclusively in large, dense granules of nerve terminals by means of the postembedding immunogold technique. In the deep dorsal vein, IR-NPY nerve fibers were also located in the media formed by an outer circular and an inner longitudinal layer. In the intracavernous and dorsal arteries, they showed the highest density in the inner part of the adventitia. In the corpora cavernosa and in the corpus spongiosum, IR-NPY nerve processes were intermingled between the smooth-muscle fibers around the sinusoid spaces. IR-NPY nerve fibers were present in the cavernous nerves close to the central arteries. The urethra did not show any IR-NPY-positive nerve fibers. This peculiar distribution of IR-NPY nerve fibers suggested that they could participate in regulating arterial and venous blood flow and intracavernous smooth-muscle tone. NPY may therefore be of importance in some of the mechanisms of penile erection especially during detumescence.Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Predictive factors for an increased risk of sperm aneuploidies in oligo-astheno-teratozoospermic males

E-mail Address : [email protected] audiencePatients with severe spermatogenesis impairment can now successfully father a child thanks to the use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In oligozoospermic patients, many studies have reported significantly higher sperm aneuploidy rates and therefore an increased risk of transmitting a chromosomal abnormality via the injection of abnormal spermatozoa. However, the frequency of aneuploidy is highly variable between patients. The aim of the present work was to identify clinical and biological factors, which, together with non-obstructive oligozoospermia, could be predictive of elevated sperm aneuploidies. The sperm aneuploidy rates for chromosomes X, Y, 13, 18 and 21 were assessed in 31 infertile men with well-characterized spermatogenesis impairment, and in a population of control men with proven fertility. The frequency of sperm aneuploidy was compared between several patient subgroups according to their clinical and biological factors. Nearly half of the oligozoospermic males (15/31) had a significantly increased disomy rate for at least one of the five chromosomes compared with that observed in the control population (mean disomy rates + 1.96 standard deviation). Factors significantly associated with higher numbers of aneuploid sperm were cigarette smoking, an elevated follicle-stimulating hormone level, a sperm concentration less than 1 M/mL, and a severe teratozoospermia. Hence, several factors predictive of an increased risk of sperm aneuploidy rates were identified in ICSI male candidates with a non-obstructive oligozoospermia

Bulletin Bibliographique

Ce Bulletin bibliographique se compose de trois parties. La première, « L’Atelier des sciences sociales du religieux », nouvelle rubrique qui réunira enquêtes, archives et recherches sur l’histoire de nos savoirs et de nos disciplines, est marquée dans cette livraison par les figures d’Alphonse Dupront, de Michel de Certeau et de Jean-Pierre Deconchy. La seconde rassemble une série importante de notes critiques sur les rites de la Chine ancienne et sur l’histoire, dans ce même pays, des communautés catholiques, sur la littérature sous l’empire moghol, sur la postérité de Joaquim de Flore, sur la crise de la théologie dans la France des années 1950, sur l’école et l’éducation en Italie, et enfin sur les rapports complexes que le christianisme contemporain a entretenus avec le cinéma. La troisième partie aligne près de quatre-vingts comptes rendus d’ouvrages récents. Dans la diversité de cette littérature savante, on repère des thèmes aujourd’hui majeurs : les effets de la globalisation sur les religions historiques, les conséquences des migrations intensifiées sur la communalisation religieuse, les sacralisations inattendues, en situation de pluralisation, des référents et des modalités du croire