### A. Overview

Extracellular purines (adenosine, ADP, and ATP) and pyrimidines (UDP and UTP) are important signaling molecules that mediate diverse biological effects via cell-surface receptors termed purine receptors. In this review particular emphasis is placed on the discrepancy between the

/pdf/receptors-for-purines-and-pyrimidines-56f78tnpew.pdf

Receptors for Purines and Pyrimidines

BACKGROUND Semen quality is taken as a surrogate measure of male fecundity in clinical andrology, male fertility, reproductive toxicology, epidemiology and pregnancy risk assessments. Reference intervals for values of semen parameters from a fertile population could provide data from which prognosis of fertility or diagnosis of infertility can be extrapolated. METHODS Semen samples from over 4500 men in 14 countries on four continents were obtained from retrospective and prospective analyses on fertile men, men of unknown fertility status and men selected as normozoospermic. Men whose partners had a time-to-pregnancy (TTP) of < or =12 months were chosen as individuals to provide reference distributions for semen parameters. Distributions were also generated for a population assumed to represent the general population. RESULTS The following one-sided lower reference limits, the fifth centiles (with 95th percent confidence intervals), were generated from men whose partners had TTP < or = 12 months: semen volume, 1.5 ml (1.4-1.7); total sperm number, 39 million per ejaculate (33-46); sperm concentration, 15 million per ml (12-16); vitality, 58% live (55-63); progressive motility, 32% (31-34); total (progressive + non-progressive) motility, 40% (38-42); morphologically normal forms, 4.0% (3.0-4.0). Semen quality of the reference population was superior to that of the men from the general population and normozoospermic men. CONCLUSIONS The data represent sound reference distributions of semen characteristics of fertile men in a number of countries. They provide an appropriate tool in conjunction with clinical data to evaluate a patient's semen quality and prospects for fertility.

/pdf/world-health-organization-reference-values-for-human-semen-3qu21s6tqf.pdf

World Health Organization reference values for human semen characteristics

WHO laboratory manual for the examination and processing of human semen

In this innovative book, a well-known feminist and sociologist-who is also the founding editor of Gender & Society-challenges our most basic assumptions about gender. Judith Lorber argues that gender is wholly a product of socialization, subject to human agency, organization, and interpretation, and that it is a social institution comparable to the economy, the family, and religion in its significance and consequences. Calling into question the inevitability and necessity of gender, she envisions a society structured for equality, where no gender, racial ethnic, or social class group is allowed to monopolize positions of power.

Paradoxes of gender

http://directory.umm.ac.id/Data%20Elmu/jurnal/A/Animal%20Reproduction%20Science/Vol60-61.Issue1-4.Jul2000/1971.pdf

The causes of reduced fertility with cryopreserved semen

Therapeutic intrauterine insemination (IUI) is frequently used as a first line of treatment of infertility The reported results vary, depending on the indication and the use of ovulation simulation protocols In the present study, we review the experience at the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Virginia from January 1989 to January 1991 The patients were preferentially treated with ovulation induction with gonadotropins With the addition of gonadotropin stimulation, the total and term pregnancy rates per cycle were 14% and 11%, respectively, including all etiologic factors These rates were improved over the 3% and 26% rates reported in our previous study in which ovarian stimulation was not generally used In male factor patients, the term pregnancy rate was 9%, higher than the 4% term pregnancy rate reported in our previous study In the present series, morphology was the only severely impaired parameter The term pregnancy rate was 11% for patients with ovulatory dysfunction, 10% for those with cervical factor, and 105% for those with unexplained infertility

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3109/01485019308988381

Therapeutic Intrauterine Insemination Improves with Gonadotropin Ovarian Stimulation

Pilot study evaluating a progesterone vaginal ring for luteal-phase replacement in donor oocyte recipients

Fifteen women with normal basal gonadotropin levels and adequate responses to conventional gonadotropin stimulation for in vitro fertilization (IVF) were pretreated with leuprolide acetate (LA) beginning in the midluteal phase prior to a repeat IVF attempt. A significantly longer duration of stimulation requiring a significantly higher total dosage of gonadotropins was observed in LA cycles. The number of preovulatory oocytes retrieved and preembryos transferred was significantly higher in LA cycles. Six of 15 women (40%) had cryopreservation of supernumerary preembryos in LA cycles, versus none in non-LA cycles; 22% of preovulatory oocytes aspirated in LA cycles were available for cryopreservation for future transfer. Five pregnancies occurred in the 15 LA cycles. IVF patients with normal basal gonadotropin levels and normal responses to conventional gonadotropin stimulation benefit from LA pretreatment.

Impact of leuprolide acetate on the response to follicular stimulation for in vitro fertilization in patients with normal basal gonadotropin levels.

The hemizona assay (HZA) has been developed as a diagnostic test for the tight binding of human spermatozoa to the human zona pellucida to predict fertilization potential. In this homologous bioassay, the two matching hemizona halves are functionally equal surfaces allowing controlled comparison of binding from a fertile control versus a test sample, with reproducible measurements of sperm binding obtained from a single oocyte. Oocytes from different sources (surplus from IVF treatment or recovered from ovarian tissue) are salt-stored and used after microbisection. Extensive clinical data have demonstrated excellent predictive power of the HZA for the outcomes of intrauterine insemination and IVF, and therefore the assay has relevance in the clinical diagnostic setting in infertility.

Sergio Oehninger

Papers

Therapeutic Intrauterine Insemination Improves with Gonadotropin Ovarian Stimulation

Pilot study evaluating a progesterone vaginal ring for luteal-phase replacement in donor oocyte recipients

Impact of leuprolide acetate on the response to follicular stimulation for in vitro fertilization in patients with normal basal gonadotropin levels.

The Hemizona Assay for Assessment of Sperm Function

P-465: Magnetic Resonance Imaging versus three dimensional transvaginal ultrasound for the diagnosis of Mullerian anomalies