Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to L Wichmann.
Human mitochondrial DNA polymerase, encoded by POLG, contains a polyglutamine tract encoded by a CAG microsatellite repeat. Analysis of POLG genotypes in different populations identified an association between absence of the common, ten-repeat allele and male infertility typified by a range of sperm quality defects but excluding azoospermia.
The present paper is the first report to demonstrate that measurable amounts of activin B are secreted into the saliva. The results show wide fluctuations in activin B concentrations during the menstrual cycle with peak values detected at the follicular phase. Estrogen replacement therapy was found to increase salivary activin B levels in post-menopausal subjects. The concentration in males was negligible. These data suggest that activin B concentrations in the human saliva may be under hormonal regulation and propose that salivary activin B measurements may prove useful in investigating the as yet less well defined local and/or physiological roles of activin B. The present paper reports, in addition, the immunohistochemical localization of activin/inhibin subunits in the duct systems of the rat submandibular, sublingual and parotid salivary glands.
This report describes a prospective follow-up study on 907 infertile men presenting as partners of infertile couples. Couples who conceived were compared to those who remained infertile during a 3-year follow up. A univariate life table analysis showed that the duration of infertility, the age of both spouses, a history of male urethritis, the body mass index, the percentage of motile spermatozoa, the quality of motility, the motile sperm density, the total motile count, the sperm morphology, and the pH of semen were significant predictors of fertility. Another eleven socio-demographic and nine semen variables were not associated with fertility. Cox multiple regression analysis identified the duration of infertility, percentage total motility, the quality of motility combined, a history of male urethritis, the wife's age, and the morphology of the spermatozoa to be independent predictors of the reproductive outcome. A prognostic 'risk' ratio (chance for achieving pregnancy) was calculated as a function of these variables for each couple and a life table analysis was made between three classified subgroups of couples with different risk ratios. These life table curves make it possible to define the probability of an individual couple to achieve pregnancy at any given time.
The immunohistochemical localization of lactoferrin in the normal human prostate, seminal vesicle, vas deferens, epididymis and testis was studied using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method at the light and electron microscopical level. Lactoferrin immunoreactivity was localized in the glandular epithelial cells and granulocytes in the prostate and seminal vesicle. In the prostate, lactoferrin showed an uneven distribution; some of the glands contained exclusively positive cells and others were completely lactoferrin negative, while the rest contained scattered positive cells. The seminal vesicles were divided into three segments, and their lactoferrin content varied significantly although it was always epithelial. The ductus deferens, epididymis and testis contained no lactoferrin. In conclusion, lactoferrin was found in the prostate and seminal vesicles, but not in the testis.
This noncompetitive avidin-biotin assay for lutropin (LH) in urine is based on the use of solid-phase, monoclonal antibodies, avidin-biotin binding, and enzyme label. The detection limit for LH is 0.5 int. unit/L. Performance time is 2 h. Intra- and interassay CVs were 4.2% and 6.2%, respectively. The assay is more specific for intact LH than are RIAs, and the results are unambiguous as compared with those by RIAs. LH is stable for a week in refrigerated urine; thus urine is a convenient sample material in follow-up studies for clinical ovulation timing. This rapid and sensitive nonisotopic LH assay avoids the disadvantages of blood samples. The assay provides clinically relevant predictions of ovulation timing from the amount of hormone measured in a 3-h urine specimen.
Seventy-one infertile men were studied for the presence of seminal leucocytosis, and for the levels of acid phosphatase activity and Chlamydia trachomatis antibodies of IgA class using a novel method of solid-phase radioimmunoassay. The findings were compared with those of 56 fertile men. Chlamydial IgA antibodies were found in the semen of 51.1% of infertile men with seminal leucocytosis and decreased seminal acid phosphatase activity, i.e. those defined as having asymptomatic chronic prostatitis. This frequency was significantly higher than among fertile men (23.2%, P less than 0.01) and those infertile men who had no signs of chronic prostatitis (26.9%, P less than 0.05). It is concluded that Chlamydia trachomatis seems to be a common cause of prostatitis and may also interfere with fertility.