According to some estimates, at least 70% of feedstuffs and finished feeds are contaminated with one or more mycotoxins and, due to its significant prevalence, both animals and humans are highly likely to be exposed to these toxins. In addition to health risks, they also cause economic issues. From a healthcare point of view, zearalenone (ZEA) and its derivatives have been shown to exert many negative effects. Specifically, ZEA has hepatotoxicity, immunotoxicity, genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, intestinal toxicity, reproductive toxicity and endocrine disruption effects. Of these effects, male reproductive deterioration and processes that lead to this have been reviewed in this study. Papers are reviewed that demonstrate estrogenic effects of ZEA due to its analogy to estradiol and how these effects may influence male reproductive cells such as spermatozoa, Sertoli cells and Leydig cells. Data that employ epigenetic effects of ZEA are also discussed. We discuss literature data demonstrating that reactive oxygen species formation in ZEA-exposed cells plays a crucial role in diminished spermatogenesis; reduced sperm motility, viability and mitochondrial membrane potential; altered intracellular antioxidant enzyme activities; and increased rates of apoptosis and DNA fragmentation; thereby resulting in reduced pregnancy.

There are different estimates for the incidence of infertility. Its occurrence may vary from area to area, but on average, it affects 15% of couples and 10–12% of men worldwide. Many aspects of infertility can be linked to reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the process of oxidative stress (OS). The association between poor semen quality and OS is well known. Unfortunately, there is no accepted protocol for the diagnosis and treatment of OS in andrology. Oxido-reduction potential (ORP) measurement is a new method for determining the ratio between oxidant and antioxidant molecules. Currently, ORP measurement is one of the fastest and most user-friendly methods of andrological OS determination and our goals were to confirm published correlations between ORP values and sperm parameters, examine how sperm concentration influences these results, and investigate whether intracellular ROS formations are also manifested in the ORP values or not after artificial ROS induction. Intracellular ROS formations were induced by menadione (superoxide anion inducer), hydrogen peroxide, and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (lipid peroxidation inducer) treatments; sperm parameters like motility and viability were determined with an SCA Scope system, and ORP changes were recorded by the Mioxsys system. Significant correlations were noticed among the ORP, spermatozoa concentration, motility, progressive motility, and viability. Nevertheless, only the ORP value after normalization with the sperm count correlated with these parameters. Due to normalization, very low and very high sperm concentrations can give misleading results. The means of the non-normalized ORP values were almost the same. All of the applied treatments resulted in decreases in the viability, motility, and progressive motility, and interestingly, altered ORP levels were detected. In addition, it was determined that seminal plasma had a significant protective effect on spermatozoa. The elimination of seminal plasma caused higher sensitivity of spermatozoa against used OS inducers, and higher ORP levels and decreased viabilities and motilities were measured. The ORP level could be a good indicator of male OS; however, in cases of low and high sperm counts, its result can be misleading. Overall, the conclusion can be drawn that ORP determination is a suitable method for detecting intracellular ROS accumulation, but it has limitations that still need to be clarified.

Magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) is a well-known sperm selection technique, which is able to remove apoptotic spermatozoa from semen samples using the classic annexinV based method. Leukocytes and erythrocytes in semen samples or in testicular tissue processed for in vitro fertilization (IVF) could exert detrimental effects on sperm. In the current study, we rethought the aforementioned technique and used magnetic microbeads conjugated with anti-CD45/CD235a antibodies to eliminate contaminating leukocytes and erythrocytes from leukocytospermic semen samples and testicular tissue samples gained via testicular sperm extraction (TESE). With this technique, a 15.7- and a 30.8-fold reduction could be achieved in the ratio of leukocytes in semen and in the number of erythrocytes in TESE samples, respectively. Our results show that MACS is a method worth to reconsider, with more potential alternative applications. Investigations to find molecules labeling high-quality sperm population and the development of positive selection procedures based on these might be a direction of future research.

Azoospermia, the absence of sperm cells in semen, affects around 15% of infertile males. Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCOS) is the most common pathological lesion in the background of non-obstructive azoospermia and is characterised by the complete absence of germinal epithelium, with Sertoli cells exclusively present in the seminiferous tubules. Studies have shown a correlation between successful spermatogenesis and male fertility with lipid composition of spermatozoa, semen, seminal plasma or testis. The aim of this research was to discover the correlation between the Johnsen scoring system and phospholipid expressions in testicular cryosections of SCOS patients. MALDI imaging mass spectrometry is used to determine spatial distributions of molecular species, such as phospholipids. Phosphatidylcholines (PCs), phosphatidylethanolamines (PEs) and sphingomyelins (SMs) are the most abundant phospholipids in mammalian cells and testis. SMs, the structural components of plasma membranes, are crucial for spermatogenesis and sperm function. Plasmalogens, are unique PCs in testis with strong antioxidative properties. This study, using imaging mass spectrometry, demonstrates the local distribution of phospholipids, particularly SMs, PCs, plasmalogens and PEs in human testicular samples with SCOS for the first time. This study found a strong relationship between the Johnsen scoring system and phospholipid expression levels in human testicular tissues. Future findings could enable routine diagnostic techniques during microTESE procedures for successful sperm extraction.

According to some statistics, absolute asthenozoospermia affects every 1 in 5000 men. Although this incidence rate does not appear to be too high, it is extremely important to address the phenomenon because it can drastically reduce the chances of pregnancy, even with assisted reproduction. The biggest problem with absolute asthenozoospermia is that it is difficult to distinguish between live and dead sperm cells, and fertilization with non-viable spermatozoa may contribute to the failure of an assisted reproduction cycle. Nowadays, DNA fragmentation (DF) is a crucial parameter of semen analysis, and in this paper, we provide evidence of the correlation between DF and vitality. For this purpose, the main semen parameters were investigated by a CASA system (concentration, motility, progressive motility, vitality and DF). In the necrozoospermic group (vitality < 58%), all the measured parameters showed significant differences compared to normal vitality. Concentration (30.1 M mL⁻¹ vs. 13.6 M mL⁻¹), motility (31.9% vs. 18.3%), and progressive motility (24.3% vs. 12.7%) were significantly decreased, while DF was significantly increased (17.4% vs. 23.7%). Based on the connection between vitality decrement and DF increment, DF lowering methods, such as magnetic-activated cell sorting, have been hypothesized as novel methods for the elimination of dead spermatozoa.

Bevezetés: A WHO adatai szerint a felnőttkorúak mintegy 17,5%-a küzd fertilitási problémákkal, mind a nők, mind a férfiak kb. egyformán érintettek. Az is megfigyelhető, hogy az elmúlt évtizedek során folyamatos emelkedés látható a meddőségi kezelésre szorulók számában, s ez a tendencia sokkal jobban érinti a fejlett/iparosodott országokat. Ezekben az évtizedekben életkörülményeink is átalakultak, ami több ponton is kapcsolatba hozható a meddő kapcsolatok számának növekedésével. Célkitűzés: A szakirodalomból tudjuk, hogy a túlsúly, a dohányzás, az alkoholfogyasztás, a nagymértékű kezeletlen stressz és akár a túlzott vitaminfogyasztás is képes negatívan befolyásolni fertilitási esélyeinket. Tanulmányunk célja annak vizsgálata, hogy a meddőségi kezelésben részt vevő pároknál milyen mértékben nyilvánulnak meg a szakirodalomból ismert potenciálisan káros életviteli tényezők. Módszer: Vizsgálatunk során az intézetünkben 2020 és 2021 között in vitro fertilizációs beavatkozásra jelentkező pároknál mértük fel életviteli szokásaikat, és eredményeinket leíró jelleggel összehasonlítottuk a hazai statisztikákkal. 200 pár töltötte ki a kérdőívet, a válaszadó nők életkora 22–46 év, a férfiaké pedig 23–66 év volt. Eredmények: A válaszadó nők 45%-a, míg a férfiak 79,2%-a túlsúlyos vagy elhízott. A nők 24%-a fogyaszt legalább heti egyszer alkoholt, a férfiaknak pedig az 54%-a. Rendszeresen dohányzik minden ötödik nő (19%) és minden negyedik férfi (26%). Mindezek mellett csak a válaszadók 21,5%-a sportol legalább heti 3 alkalommal. Felmérésünk kitért pácienseink stresszérzetére is. A részt vevő nők 27,8%-a és a férfiak 12,5%-a vallotta magát depressziósnak, míg a nők 41%-a és a férfiak 15%-a feszült a gyermekvállalási nehézségek miatt. Megbeszélés és következtetés: Felmérésünk szerint a szakirodalomban részletesen taglalt életviteli kockázati tényezők a mi pácienseink életében is jellemzőek, s ez jól jelzi az egészségtudatossági, illetve családtervezési edukáció fontosságát. A fenti tényezők hozzájárulhatnak az intézetünkben jelentkezők szív- és érrendszeri, valamint diabetológiai problémáihoz. Az eredmények ismeretében meglepő a betegek körében a nagyarányú zöldség- és gyümölcsfogyasztás, valamint fontos kiemelni, hogy sokan alkalmaznak gyakorlatilag minden nap valamilyen vitaminkészítményt. Összességében elmondható, hogy betegeinknél kedvezőtlen egészségügyi kép tapasztalható, mely illeszkedik a hazai statisztikák adataiba. Orv Hetil. 2024; 165(36): 1423–1432.