Gel to boost male fertility being developed by scientists

British scientists have gained fresh insight into the causes of male infertility that promise to provide new treatments for couples struggling to have children.
Male fertility has been largely overlooked until recently with most treatments requiring women to take medication or undergo expensive and invasive procedures.
Up to half of the problems suffered by couples trying to conceive, however, are due to the man's fertility.
Now research into a key aspect of male fertility - how sperm cells swim - has enabled scientists at the University of Birmingham to identify potential new treatments that can "supercharge" men's reproductive cells.
The scientists have discovered chemical compounds that increase the swimming ability of sperm cells and they believe this can help to boost the number of cells capable of reaching a woman's egg.
They are now using the compounds to develop a new gel they hope will increase the chance of couples conceiving naturally without the need for expensive treatments such as IVF.

Father speaks of his pride at IVF baby daughter who took 21 years to arrive

The news could hardly have been more devastating for policeman John Powell.
Diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 32, he was given only six
months to live and told that aggressive chemo- therapy would leave him
infertile.
That was 21 years ago – and now he and his wife are celebrating the arrival
of a daughter.
Mr Powell had a sperm sample frozen before he began the treatment and, when he
was finally given the all-clear after two decades, it was used to create baby
Jasmine.
‘We couldn’t be happier – she is a wonder of medical science,’ said Mr
Powell at home with wife Chenphen in Orpington, Kent.
‘I look at little Jasmine and think she is nothing less than miraculous. I
honestly didn’t believe she was real until the moment she was born and I saw
her face. Now I hold her and think she is part of me from 20 years ago, before
I had chemotherapy.
‘It’s astonishing that something as beautiful and perfect as Jasmine could
come out of a time that was so painful and difficult.’
For Mr and Mrs Powell, the birth of their daughter on February 20 is even
more of a wonder because they had enough money to fund only one cycle of IVF.
They were also fighting against the clock because strict rules meant Mr
Powell’s sperm would have had to be destroyed when he reached the age of 55.
Medical staff at the Bridge Centre in London, where they underwent the
treatment, believe it is a British record for 20-year-old sperm to be
successful in its first cycle.
Trevor White, an engineer from Manchester, became a father in 2004 after his
sperm had been frozen for 21 years. However baby Daniel was conceived after
four separate rounds of IVF.
‘I never thought we would be lucky enough for it to work,’ said 53-year-old
Mr Powell, a former superintendent with the Metropolitan force. ‘I didn’t allow
myself to believe it had been a success until the moment Jasmine was born.’
Mr Powell already had a daughter, now 23, with his first wife when he was
diagnosed with cancer in 1990. They split a few years later and after a period
alone he visited Thailand, where friends introduced him to Chenphen.
Source: ukonlinenigeria.com

Single Frozen Sperm produces ‘Miracle Baby’ through IVF

While we all know that just one sperm and one egg are needed to produce a baby, we also know that the average male produces a lot more (60 million to 100 million per ejaculation), just to make sure one sperm makes it. So the odds of just one produced sperm being able to make an actual baby are pretty slim. Yet Jason and Jennifer Schiraldi have little Kenley to prove that it is possible – a miracle, but possible.
Jason and Jennifer were high school sweethearts. They had always known they wanted children, but after nine years of being together, they still hadn’t conceived even once. So, like most couples, they visited the doctor to find out why.
“I’d never had any woman problems and you never think it’s the guy,” Jennifer stated. But the tests proved she was wrong. “They took a sample and we found out immediately: There’s no sperm.”
So, as it turned out, Jason and Jennifer were among the 30 to 40 percent of infertile couples in which the male was the infertile partner. But this determined couple was unwilling to admit defeat.
“We always wanted kids and I didn’t want to be the one who couldn’t do that for her,” Jason stated.
He underwent an aggressive infertility treatment which included a testicular biopsy: a procedure in which small amounts of testicular tissue are removed to search for viable sperm. Jason shared that the surgical procedure was extremely challenging. But searching for viable sperm proved to be even more challenging for the lab staff.
The surgeon sent down three total samples. They used microscopes to scan each and every tissue sample. They searched for nine hours in total. Out of all of the samples, only one viable sperm was found…just one.
That one sperm would be used in a procedure known as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a special in-vitro fertilization technique developed by Nina Desai, the director of the IVF laboratory at the Clinic Cleveland that Jason and Jennifer went to. Tiny amounts of sperm are stored in a drop of fluid inside a straw as thin as a sewing needle. The sperm can then be frozen until it is ready to be thawed and used.
This new method is the result of almost two decades of research and development to save the smallest amounts of sperm possible. It is hoped to be a success for other men like Jason that struggle with extremely low sperm counts. In fact, since Jason and Jennifer’s success, another patient has already signed up to start to procedure.
Still, as promising as scientists and researchers hope the procedure to be, they usually have more than just one sperm to perform the fertilization process. Desai was skeptical that Jason and Jennifer would be able to walk away with a viable pregnancy.
“We froze that one sperm and we saved the rest of the specimens,” stated Desai. “It was like a shot in the dark….We really had no hope of it doing anything.”
Desai and her team were even more disheartened when it came time to harvest Jennifer’s eggs. She had fewer eggs than normal.
“I got 12 but only eight were good,” she stated.
With eight good eggs, the IVF experts went back to check Jason’s samples again, hoping they would find a few more sperm. They wanted to try and fertilize as many of Jennifer’s eggs as possible. But all they came up with was a few dead sperm. The one sperm was their only option.
“They got the one sperm and implanted the one egg,” explained Jennifer. “People don’t usually get pregnant when they only have one egg.”
Yet, despite all odds, scientists were able to fertilize the one egg with the one sperm. In three days, the fertilized egg started to divide into a viable embryo, which was then implanted into Jennifer’s uterus.
Sixteen days later, Jennifer was confirmed to be pregnant.
“It was very emotional,” Jason stated. “Miracle is not a large enough word to describe it. Of all of the fascinating and amazing things we do in the health care field, it’s amazing that this happens to us.”
Even the clinic joined in on the celebration.
“I was really surprised when I saw she had a positive pregnancy,” Desai stated. “This has been one of the real miracles in our IVF program.”
Jennifer had a pretty normal pregnancy – some morning sickness was her biggest complaint. Kenely did have to be delivered by C-section because she was breech, but other than that, she was a beautiful, healthy baby girl born on April 20th, 2011.
Now nine months old, Jason and Jennifer can’t help but be amazed at the wonderful miracle that is their daughter.
“It’s crazy. Sometimes I’m like, ‘Did we cheat?’” Jennifer said. “People ask if we’re going to have another child, but we made it this far to get her. I don’t know if I even want to press my luck.”
And while the Schiraldi family doesn’t plan to have any more children, they hope that their story can help encourage other couples faced with male fertility problems.
“People think once you’re stuck, you’re stuck,” Jason stated. “But there are people who can make wonderful things happen.”

Junk Food Shown To Cause Infertility In Younger Men

A joint American and Spanish study released this week shows that Junk food, especially foods with trans fats, can make healthy young men infertile by damaging their sperm.
Fertility experts from Harvard University and the University of Murcia, in southern Spain, analyzed sperm from hundreds of men aged between 18 and 22 and found those whose diet consisted more of junk food had lower quality sperm than those with a healthier diet.
The men were all assessed to ensure they were in good health and had no other issues that might effect their fertility and the sperm of those with "junk" diets seemed less likely to survive inside the womb so they could fertilize the egg and this was even the case if the men were at a balanced weight and took regular exercise.
Japanese scientists looking for similar traits focused more around exercise, showed that of the 215 men they studied those who took moderate exercise, even just brisk walking, had sperm with better swimming abilities than those who were less active.

Male Fertility Breakthrough Achieved By Researchers

A Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researcher has achieved a significant breakthrough in male fertility, producing normal sperm from mouse cells. "This study may open new therapeutic strategies for infertile men who cannot generate sperm and/or pre-pubertal cancer patients at risk of infertility due to aggressive chemo- or radiotherapy and cannot cryopreserve sperm as in adult patients," explains Prof. Mahmoud Huleihel, of BGU's Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the Faculty of Health Sciences. The article was just published online in Nature's Asian Journal of Andrology, and according to the authors is "the first original report revealing the generation of morphologically normal spermatozoa from mouse testicular germ cells." It outlines the generation of spermatozoa from mouse testicular germ cells under in vitro culture. Huleihel and his team used a three-dimensional Soft Agar Culture System (SACS) to generate the sperm. Previously, Huleihel pioneered the use of SACS for spermatogenesis in vitro.
source: medicalnewstoday

MEN, ARE YOU KILLING YOUR SPERM? QUANTITY, QUALITY, MATTER IN MALE FERTILITY

Most men don’t give much thought to their prenatal care, but, according to male-fertility experts, what guys do now could make the difference between becoming a dad or not.
Unlike women -- who have all the eggs they will ever have when they’re born -- men produce sperm all day long. Sperm takes about two to three months to fully mature, so a guy’s behaviour during the past 90 days will affect the baby he makes today, or whether he can make one at all, said Dr. Sijo Parekattil, director of urology at Winter Haven Hospital, where he specializes in male infertility.
Although society tends to focus on women when couples can’t conceive, about half the time it’s the guy’s fault, said Parekattil, who will be among several infertility and adoption experts speaking Saturday at a free conference in Lake Mary, Fla.
Among the more common sperm-killing behaviours guys engage in are keeping cellphones in pants pockets, and working with laptops on their laps, which raises sperm temperature.
Other behaviours not conducive to fatherhood are smoking; excessive drinking; frequenting saunas and hot tubs; wearing tight underwear; using recreational drugs, including marijuana; taking male supplements; and getting sick. Studies show that such behaviours can reduce sperm quality and quantity.
Ashok Agarwal, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, has conducted several studies on the effects of cellphone radiation on sperm. In one lab study, he found that the viability of sperm exposed to cellphone radiation for one hour dropped by 11 per cent compared with control samples.
His research also found that sperm count, motility and viability dropped more as cellphone exposure went up.
"Cellphones emit radiation, which can potentially harm the sperm in men who carry their phones in their pockets or on their belts," Agarwal said. "We believe these harmful effects are due to the proximity of the phones to the groin area."
A bout with the flu can lower sperm count, too, which is why experts recommend that men trying to have children get flu shots. Chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, also take their toll. Obesity can foster low sperm counts because excess fat causes men to produce more female hormones, Parekattil said.
When men take male supplements, including anabolic steroids, their bodies think they’re making too much testosterone and shut down the testicles, which actually atrophy, Parekattil said. Once guys stop taking supplements, sperm production can take a year to resume.
"A man’s lifestyle can impact the DNA organization inside the sperm and the surface properties of the sperm, which are critical for penetrating the egg, fertilizing it and helping the embryo get to full term," said Dr. Michael Witt, a urologist and male-fertility specialist who divides his time between Winter Park, Fla., and Atlanta.
Avoiding these sperm-unfriendly behaviours and conditions are sometimes all men need to do to give their sperm a boost, Witt said.
Besides having a better understanding of how lifestyle and anatomical stresses can affect sperm, men trying to become dads also benefit from another advance in male infertility: in-home sperm-test kits.
Although the home tests aren’t as sensitive as those in the urologist’s office, they’re a lot more convenient and less embarrassing than giving a sample at the doctor’s office.
A normal sperm count is about 40 million motile sperm per ejaculation, according to the World Health Organization. Most men produce that well into their 70s. However, of those men who have problems with infertility, about 10 per cent to 15 per cent make no sperm, and an additional 30 per cent have low sperm.
Among all men, about one in seven has a varicocele, in which excess blood vessels impair the count and quality of sperm, Witt said. Surgery to remove the veins often restores fertility.
Like 15 per cent of American couples, Clay and Wendi Harris of Orlando, Fla., couldn’t have a baby, despite trying for five years.
"We were tested seven ways to Sunday" to look for the cause, Clay Harris said.
After five failed rounds of in vitro fertilization, they had just about given up. Then tests showed that Harris, 38, had a sperm count in "the midrange." However, Witt reviewed Harris’ sample and thought the sperm quality would improve if he had varicocele surgery.
In November 2010, Harris had the surgery, and afterward, "my sperm count went through the roof. It skyrocketed to 90 million."
Now, the Harrises are expecting a baby boy in early February.
"When we go for our weekly ultrasound," said Clay Harris, "we just stare at the baby on the monitor and hold hands."

SOURCE: VANCOUVER SUN

Skeletons may hold the key to male infertility

Amanda Schaffer

FOR years, scientists thought they understood the skeleton. It serves as structural support for the body. It stores calcium and phosphate. It contributes to blood-cell development. And it serves, indispensably, as the creepy mascot of horror movies.

But as it turns out, there might be still more to bone.

A few years ago, researchers at Columbia University Medical Centre discovered, to everyone's surprise, that the skeleton seems to help regulate blood sugar. Now the team, led by a geneticist and endocrinologist at the university, Dr Gerard Karsenty, has found that bone might also play an unexpected role in reproduction. If the work pans out, it might help to explain some cases of low fertility in men.

''It's definitely an attention-grabber,'' says Dr William Crowley, of Harvard Medical School, who was not part of the research.

It is well known that the hormones oestrogen and testosterone, produced in the ovaries and testes, help to regulate bone growth. When women reach menopause, oestrogen levels decrease along with bone mass, putting them at increased risk of osteoporosis. As men age, their testosterone and oestrogen levels also decline. Men lose bone but much more slowly than women do. ''We thought that if the sex organs talk to the skeleton, then the skeleton should talk back to the sex organs,'' Karsenty says.

And, apparently, it does.

Early this year, Karsenty's team published a study demonstrating that in mice a protein called osteocalcin, which is produced by bone-forming cells called osteoblasts, binds to a specific receptor on cells of the testes. Male mice that were unable to make osteocalcin (due to genetic manipulation) produced less testosterone and were less fertile. When they mated, they had fewer and smaller offspring.

Fertility in female mice, on the other hand, was not affected by osteocalcin. Cells in their ovaries lacked the receptors to which the bone hormone binds. ''We were surprised by that,'' Karsenty says. ''We thought we'd find a hormone that regulated fertility in both sexes.'' Another compound, as yet unknown, might play the analogous role in females. Human testicular cells also have receptors for the hormone osteocalcin, Karsenty has found.

''I don't know of any hormone that functions in mice but not to some extent in humans,'' says a researcher at Maryland's Johns Hopkins University, Thomas Clemens. Still, the magnitude of the effect might not be the same as in mice.

The main hormone that stimulates testosterone production, in mice and men, is luteinizing, a protein made in the brain. Luteinizing hormone is ''the on-off switch'' for testosterone, Crowley says. Osteocalcin, on the other hand, looks more like a ''dimmer switch'' that modulates the process.

The question is, is it a critical mechanism or a back-up system? Does osteocalcin play a large role in problems such as low sperm count and low testosterone, or is it more peripheral?

Scientists now plan to study men with these problems and to measure their osteocalcin levels, Crowley says. Some of them might have a defect in osteocalcin that underlies their condition.

But, he says: ''I suspect this will turn out to be one chapter in an interesting and more complicated mystery.''

Karsenty has long argued that bone plays a central role in regulating body physiology. ''The body is not an assembly of silos that don't speak to each other but is full of surprising examples of crosstalk,'' he says.

In 2007, he showed that bone helps to regulate blood sugar, a result that startled hormone specialists. Working with mice, he reported that osteocalcin boosts insulin production in the pancreas and increases insulin sensitivity. Insulin, in turn, acts to lower blood sugar.

That work could prove relevant to diabetes, in which the body either does not produce enough insulin or stops heeding it.

Now, Karsenty hopes to unravel the complicated links binding the skeleton, sugar and gender. Bone mass tends to decline with age, he notes, as do blood-sugar control and fertility.

''One idea is that bone might not just be a victim of ageing. It might also be a contributor.''

The New York Times