Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction

166-173

Authors: Laishram Kipjen Singh, Manas Kumar Patra, Girish Kumar Mishra, Abhishek Chandra Saxena, Ujjwal Kumar De, Sanjay Kumar Singh, Harendra Kumar, Krishnaswamy Narayanan

Pyometra is one of the most common uterine pathologies of intact bitch at middle to advanced age. In the early stages, the disease shows subtle changes, making diagnosis a challenge. In contrast, at later stages, it manifests as potentially life-threatening systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Ultrasonographic examination of the uterus aids in the diagnosis, although it has limitation in ascertaining the clinical severity of pyometra. Moreover, differentiation of cystic endometrial hyperplasia from pyometra could not be discerned with greater accuracy. Therefore, false negative diagnosis of pyometra patients leads to development of systemic inflammatory response, which delays administration of therapies and results in deaths during early course of treatment. Further, indiscriminate use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials at higher dose in false positive cases considerably contributes to the rising pool of drug resistant pathogens, thereby increasing the risk of case fatality due to sepsis in a long-term. Monitoring the circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines, acute phase proteins, endotoxin, growth factors and inflammatory mediators is the current trend in pyometra research, especially for developing diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. The present review deals with the prospects of developing diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in the canine pyometra.

182-191

Authors: Mitra Zandi, Sahar Dabaghi, Narges Bagheri-Lankarani, Reza Omani-Samani, Mojtaba Naderi-Taheri

Objective: To elucidate theoretically the safety and identity of mothers receiving egg and the process of becoming a mother. Methods: This study was conducted during 7 months from July 2018 to January 2019 by using a grounded theory approach. Infertile women at the gestational age who received oocyte were selected with purposive sampling method and then entered the study using theoretical sampling. Mothers who had not decided definitely to participate and had not started the treatment course yet were excluded from the study. The participating mothers were 28- 44 years old with a mean age of (37.00±2.49) years. A total of 30 interviews were performed. Data were collected by unstructured deep interviews and field notes. The interview duration ranged between 19 to 74 min with a mean time of 40 min and they were performed individually. Results: Data analysis showed that “feeling of insecurity in personal and familial identity” formed in the context of “exposure to sociocultural constraints” was the main problem of mothers receiving donated oocyte. This led to a set of coping strategies as “gradual acceptance”, “attempts to maintain the marital life”, “sensitivity in selecting donor”, “sensitivity in fetal care”, “seeking information and consultation”, “challenging the internal restlessness”, and “treatment follow-up”, all indicating the concept of “protection of personal and familial identity” as the core variable. Conclusions: The challenge faced by Iranian mothers receiving donated oocyte in the constrained sociocultural context forms a multilateral and all-inclusive insecurity.

197-203

Authors: Clifford N Abiaezute, Chike F Oguejiofor, Innocent C Nwaogu, Ikechukwu R Obidike, Udensi M Igwebuike

Objective: To investigate seasonal changes in some reproductive characteristics of the male African straw-colored fruit bat [Eidolon (E.) helvum] in a tropical rain forest area of South-East Nigeria. Methods: Spermatozoal characteristics in the testes and cauda epididymides, testicular histology, and the circulating levels of the reproductive hormones, testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone were evaluated in male bats captured in late January (peak dry season), late May (early rainy season) and late September (late rainy season) of 2019. The bats were captured in Obiagu community in Enugu State, South-East Nigeria. Data were analyzed with analysis of variance. Results: There were high serum concentrations of testosterone in early and late rainy season and of luteinizing hormone in early rainy season, but the concentrations of both hormones were low during peak dry season. These hormonal changes corresponded with the testicular seminiferous and spermatogenic activities and testicular and epididymal sperm concentrations, which were also maximal during early and late rainy season but minimal during peak dry season. Epididymal sperm motility and vitality were also high in early and late rainy season but low in peak dry season, while sperm morphological abnormalities were low in early and late rainy season but elevated in peak dry season. There was histological evidence that spermatogenesis did not cease completely during testis regression, but continued at a reduced rate during the dry season. Conclusions: The findings do not support concurrent epididymal sperm storage with testis regression in E. helvum. Altogether, these indicate that seasonal changes significantly alter sperm characteristics, testicular histology and circulating levels of reproductive hormones in E. helvum within the study area.