Effect of Micronutrients and L-Carnitine as Antioxidant on Sperm Parameters, Genome Integrity, and ICSI Outcomes: Randomized, Double-Blind, and Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

The evaluation of sperm DNA integrity is recommended in the sixth edition of the 2021 World Health Organization guidelines. Oxidative stress has been identified as a crucial factor leading to genome decay, lipid peroxidation, and nucleoprotein oxidation. This double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial aimed to assess the effect of oral antioxidant treatment (Fertilis), which contains L-carnitine and some micronutrients, in the improvement of conventional sperm parameters, sperm DNA integrity and in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) outcomes. A total of 263 participants were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups: 131 participants received the antioxidant treatment, while 132 participants received a placebo. The male partners in both groups underwent the antioxidant treatment or the placebo for a duration of three months. For each participant, we performed a hormonal test, an infectious test, a spermogram, a TUNEL assay for sperm DNA fragmentation, a toluidine blue staining for sperm DNA decondensation, and an IVF/ICSI procedure. Sperm characteristics analysis (volume, count, motility, and vitality), sperm DNA fragmentation, and sperm DNA decondensation were assessed and compared to the results preceding the antioxidant treatment. The study outcome revealed a significant decrease in the DNA fragmentation index and a significant increase in sperm motility after 3 months of treatment (p = 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively). Additionally, a significant improvement in clinical pregnancy rate (p = 0.01) and life birth rate (p = 0.031) was observed. No significant changes were observed in conventional sperm parameters (volume, count, and vitality) or sperm DNA decondensation (SDI). Antioxidant therapy has a beneficial impact on achieving pregnancy, whether through spontaneous conception or assisted reproductive procedures (ART)

Beneficial effects of fermented sardinelle protein hydrolysates on hypercaloric diet induced hyperglycemia, oxidative stress and deterioration of kidney function in wistar rats

This study investigated the potential effects of fermented sardinelle protein hydrolysates (FSPHs) obtained by two proteolytic bacteria, Bacillus subtilis A26 (FSPH-A26) and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens An6 (FSPH-An6), on hypercaloric diet (HCD) induced hyperglycemia and oxidative stress in rats. Effects of FSPHs on blood glucose level, glucose tolerance, α-amylase activity and hepatic glycogen content were investigated, as well as their effect on the oxidative stress state. Biochemical findings revealed that, while undigested sardinelle proteins did not exhibit hypoglycemic activity, oral administration of FSPHs to HCD-fed rats reduced significantly α-amylase activity as well as glycemia and hepatic glycogen levels. Further, the treatment with FSPHs improved the redox status by decreasing the levels of lipid peroxidation products and increasing the activities of the antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase) and the level of glutathione in the liver and kidneys, as compared to those of HCD-fed rats. FSPHs were also found to exert significant protective effects on liver and kidney functions, evidenced by a marked decrease in alkaline phosphatase activity and a modulation of creatinine and uric acid contents. These results indicated the beneficial effect of FSPHs on the prevention from hyperglycemia and oxidative stress.This work was funded by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research-Tunisia. Emerging Research Group Grant from Generalitat Valenciana in Spain (GV/2015/138) and JAEDOC-CSIC postdoctoral contract of L.M. cofounded by the European Social Found are acknowledged.Peer reviewe

Effect of dietary fibre of barley variety 'Rihane' on azoxymethane-induced aberrant crypt foci development and on colonic microbiota diversity in rats.

International audienceMany epidemiological and experimental studies have suggested an important role for dietary fibre (DF) of cereals in the prevention of colon cancer. The objective of the present study was to explain the effects of the DF of barley Rihane (BR) on azoxymethane (AOM)-induced aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and colonic bacterial diversity in rats. Following an acclimatisation period, rats were divided into four groups and fed a control (C) diet or experimental diet containing 30 % of BR. DF content in the experimental diet was twice that of the C diet (total DF was 8*69 % in the C diet and 15*24 % in the BR diet). At 7 and 8 weeks of age, rats received two successive subcutaneous injections of AOM at 20 mg/kg body weight. At 12 weeks after the first injection, ten animals from each group were killed. The BR diet decreased colonic pH (P < 0*05) compared with the C diet. The total number of ACF observed decreased considerably in the BR/AOM group compared with the C/AOM group (P < 0*05). Comparison of similarity coefficients showed variability of colonic microbiota species between the different groups. In addition, we showed inter-individual variability within the same group. This similarity was affected by BR and AOM. The present results show that bifidobacteria numbers were lower in rats fed the BR diet compared with those fed the C diet. However, the number of enterobacteria in colonic content was increased (P < 0*05) in the BR group compared with the C group. The results from the present study show that the DF of BR reduced the incidence of AOM-induced ACF and increased microbiota biodiversity

A panel of elite accessions of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) suitable for association mapping studies

Abstract The effectiveness of association mapping (AM) based on linkage disequilibrium (LD) is currently being tested in a number of crops. An important prerequisite for the application of AM is the availability of collections of accessions with a suitable level of genetic variation for target traits and with limited spurious LD due to the presence of population structure. Herein, the results of a genomewide molecular characterization of a collection of elite durum wheat accessions well-adapted to Mediterranean environments are presented. Ninety-seven highly polymorphic simple sequence repeats and 166 amplified fragment length polymorphism markers were used to characterize 189 durum accessions, mainly cultivars and advanced breeding lines. Genome-wide significant and sizeable LD indices at a centimorgan scale were observed, while LD mainly decayed within 10 cM. On the other hand, effects due to spurious LD were notably lower than those previously observed in a durum wheat collection sampling durum gene pools of more diverse origin. These results, coupled with the high level of genetic variability detected for a number of important morpho-physiological traits and their high heritability, indicate the suitability of this collection for AM studies targeting agronomically important traits