• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.225-232
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• 1997

폐색성 혹은 비폐색성 무정자증에서 부정소 정자채취법 등이 부적절하다고 여겨질때는 정소 조직을 일부 절제하여 그 조직으로부터 정자를 직접 채취하게 되는데 일반적으로 이렇게 정소로부터 추출한 정소정자는 운동성이 전혀 없거나 매우 약한 운동성을 보이는 경우가 많다. 본 연구의 목적은 이러한 정소정자를 Vero cell과 공배양을 시킴으로써 운동성을 획득시키거나 향상시키고 이를 수정시키는 시기까지 지속시킴으로써 정소정자추출술 (TESE)을 시행하는 환자나 의료진들에게 보다 편안하고 융통성있는 시간대를 부여하고, 아울러 정자직접주입술 (ICSI)을 보다 용이하게 하여 성공적인 수정률과 임신율을 얻음에 있다. 또한 ICSI를 시행한 후, 운동성이 향상된 잉여의 정소정자를 냉동보존함으로써 차후에 TESE을 다시 시행치않고도 시험관 아기 시술을 시도할 수 있는 부가적인 잇점도 있다고 할 수 있다. 대상환자군은 정관폐색증(n=11) 혹은 비정관폐색증(n=2)을 보이는 13명의 무정자증의 남성불임환자였으며 난자회수예정일 3일전에 TESE를 시행하여 정소정자를 얻은 후 이를 정자직접주입술이 시행되는 당일까지 Vero cell과 공배양을 실시하였다. Vero cell과의 공배양에 의하여 운동성이 있는 정소정자의 수는 공배양전과 비교하여 평균 3.3배가 증가하였으며, 특히 공배양전에 운동성이 있는 정소정자의 수가 50,000/ml이하의 미약한 운동성만을 보였던 경우 (n=5)에는 공배양 후에 운동성이 있는 정소정자 수의 평균증가율이 7.7배였다. 공배양전 정자운동성이 전혀 없었던 2례의 비정관폐색증환자중 3일간의 공배양을 통하여 1례에서 운동성을 획득한 정소정자를 얻을 수 있었으며 (14,300/ml), 정자직접주입술을 통하여 성공적인 수정 및 임신에 도달할 수 있었다. Vero cell과 공배양을 하고 ICSI했던 결과, 평균 수정률은 75.0% 이었으며 임신율은 61.5%였다.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.219-224
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• 2009

Objective: Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) is an uncommon cause of male infertility. We investigated the outcome of gonadotropin therapy for restoring fertility and pregnancy outcomes in patients with HH. Methods: Medical charts of 10 infertile male patients with HH treated with gonadotropin were reviewed. Initial testicular volume were estimated. Semen analysis parameters (semen volume, sperm counts, motility), serum leutenizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), total testosterone were determined before and after human chorionic gonadotropin/human menopausal gonadotropin (hCG/hMG) treatment. Differences were analyzed statistically. Results: Of 10 patients, 7 (70%) succeed at pregnancy (nature pregnancy in 4). Semen analysis parameters, serum FSH, and testosterone were increased significantly after treatment. The population was stratified according to initial testicular volume into a small testis subset (testicular volume less than 10 cc in 4) and a large testis subset (testicular volume 10 cc or greater in 6). Semen analysis parameters and serum testosterone were increased significantly after treatment in large testis subset. Conclusion: Infertile men with HH initiate and maintain spermatogenesis with gonadotropin (hCG/hMG alone or combined) therapy, thus gonadotropin therapy is good choice in infertile men with HH.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.129-134
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• 2018

Objective: In frozen and thawed embryos, the zona pellucida (ZP) can be damaged due to hardening. Laser-assisted hatching (LAH) of embryos can increase the pregnancy rate. This study compared thinning and drilling of the ZP before frozen embryo transfer (FET). Methods: Patients were randomly allocated into two groups for LAH using thinning or drilling on day 2 after thawing. Twenty-five percent of the ZP circumference and 50% of the ZP thickness was removed in the thinning group, and a hole $40{\mu}m$ in diameter was made in the drilling group. Results: A total of 171 in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection FET cycles, including 85 cycles with drilling LAH and 86 cycles with thinning LAH, were carried out. The thinning group had a similar ${\beta}$-human chorionic gonadotropin-positive rate (38.4% vs. 29.4%), implantation rate (16.5% vs. 14.4%), clinical pregnancy rate (36.0% vs. 25.9%), miscarriage rate (5.8% vs. 2.4%), ongoing pregnancy rate (30.2% vs. 23.5%), and multiple pregnancy rate (7.0% vs. 10.6%) to the drilling LAH group. There were no significant differences in pregnancy outcomes between subgroups defined based on age (older or younger than 35 years) or ZP thickness (greater or less than $17{\mu}m$) according to the LAH method. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that partial ZP thinning or drilling resulted in similar outcomes in implantation and pregnancy rates using thawed embryos, irrespective of women's age or ZP thickness.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.120-139
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• 2014

Objectives: The tendency of experimental studies on the male infertility was analyzed through focusing on domestic theses for a degree to indicate the hereafter direction for its study in oriental herbal medicine. Methods: 35 domestic theses for a degree published after 2003 were analyzed. And theses were classified by year, study design, degree and subjects. Results: The followings are the results of this study. 1. 35 theses were reviewed. 11 master dissertations and 24 doctorate dissertations 2. In the annual publishing tendency, the number of theses began to increase from 2003 and the theses have been published actively from 2005. 3. Classified by study design, 19 in vitro & in vivo and 16 in vitro experimental studies were performed. 4. In the medication and prescription, the studies with single medication were 32, and prescription were 3. In the studies with single medication, four studies on Ginseng Radix (人蔘) were the most. 5. In theses related to single medication, BoYang-Yak was most prefered, followed BoYeum-Yak, BoKi-Yak, SabJung-ChukNyo-JiDae-Yak. 6. Analysed 35 theses by subject, concentrational experiments were 23, periodical experiment were 3, concentrational & periodical experiment was 1. 7. In theses related to herb medication, the themes were Body & testicular weight, sperm parameters, testosterone level, CREM mRNA level & CREM protein, seminiferous tubule and antioxidant activity. 8. Related to herb medication's antioxidant activity efficacy were 7 theses. Conclusions: If there are more diverse studies on medication, prescription, external treatment methods and experiment methods in the future, this will be very helpful for the clinical treatment of male infertility.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.141-150
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• 2019

Despite the development of assisted reproduction technologies (ART) including in vitro fertilization (IVF), the poor ovarian response and endometrial receptivity remains clinically a major unmet need. Although these problems are difficulties to solve in infertility treatment, there are no good therapeutic option yet. Traditional herbal remedies and acupuncture, therefore are being proposed as alternative treatment. Our group found that traditional herbal medicines such as Paeonia lactiflora L.(PL, 芍藥), Cyperus rotundus L.(CR, 香附子), and Perilla frutescens (PF, 紫蘇葉) could improve endometrial receptivity. In this study, we found out Yeosin-san (如神散) as an optimal herbal formula via combination of the previously established herbal medicines. Yeosin-san is a traditional Korean medical formula which was established by Ziming Jin (陳自明) and recorded in Furendaiquanliangfang (婦人大全良方) at first. The formula traditionally used for treating abnormal uterine bleeding and leukorrhea. It showed a highest effect on leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) expression and on the adhesion between trophoblastic cells and endometrial cells. In addition, it has been shown that the Yeosin-san not only increases the endometrial receptivity to improve the embryo implantation but also enhances the ovary function by expressing the angiogenesis-related genes. Here we suggest that Yeosin-san could be a novel and effective candidate for treating female infertility.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.1579-1589
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• 2021

Objective: This study was conducted to generate single stranded DNA oligonucleotides with selective affinity to bovine spermatozoa, assess its binding potential and explore its potential utility in trapping spermatozoa from suspensions. Methods: A combinatorial library of 94 mer long oligonucleotide was used for systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) with bovine spermatozoa. The amplicons from sixth and seventh rounds of SELEX were sequenced, and the reads were clustered employing cluster database at high identity with tolerance (CD-HIT) and FASTAptamer. The enriched nucleotides were predicted for secondary structures by Mfold, motifs by Multiple Em for Motif Elicitation and 5' labelled with biotin/6-FAM to determine the binding potential and binding pattern. Results: We generated 14.1 and 17.7 million reads from sixth and seventh rounds of SELEX respectively to bovine spermatozoa. The CD-HIT clustered 78,098 and 21,196 reads in the top ten clusters and FASTAptamer identified 2,195 and 4,405 unique sequences in the top three clusters from the sixth and seventh rounds, respectively. The identified oligonucleotides formed secondary structures with delta G values between -1.17 to -26.18 kcal/mol indicating varied stability. Confocal imaging with the oligonucleotides from the seventh round revealed different patterns of binding to bovine spermatozoa (fluorescence of the whole head, spot of fluorescence in head and mid- piece and tail). Use of a 5'-biotin tagged oligonucleotide from the sixth round at 100 pmol with 4×10⁶ spermatozoa could trap almost 80% from the suspension. Conclusion: The binding patterns and ability of the identified oligonucleotides confirms successful optimization of the SELEX process and generation of aptamers to bovine spermatozoa. These oligonucleotides provide a quick approach for selective capture of spermatozoa from complex samples. Future SELEX rounds with X- or Y- enriched sperm suspension will be used to generate oligonucleotides that bind to spermatozoa of a specific sex type.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.185-191
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• 2021

Chicken spermatozoa have the ability to survive in low-temperature environments; however, the effects of low temperature on sperm motility and acrosome damage have not been studied in detail. The present study investigated semen longevity following dilution of rooster semen with Beltsville Poultry Semen Extender (BPSE) and Lake extender in preservation vessels (1.5 mL e-tube and 0.5 mL straw). Spermatozoa motility in the closed-type vessel (0.5 mL straw) was higher than that in the 1.5 mL e-tube on day 3 of preservation (68.6±3.1% vs. 22.1±5.7%). The motility of rooster semen diluted with BPSE in 0.5 mL straw was also higher than that of the Lake extender on day 3 of preservation (57.7±5.6% vs. 37.7±5.4%). Furthermore, acrosome intactness was higher in 0.5 mL straw than in the 1.5 mL e-tube, and the rate of acrosome cap damage increased with preservation days. The present study demonstrates that a closed 0.5-mL straw vessel could be used for low-temperature semen preservation, with an increased motility rate and acrosome integrity in fresh rooster semen.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Embryo Transfer Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.80-80
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• 2002

This study was carried out that to investigate the effects of amino acids supplemented with culture medium on development of porcine embryos cultured in vitro. Cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were cultured in the maturation medium containing hormones (0.5$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ LH, 0.5$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ FSH and 1$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ estradiol-17${\beta}$) for 20-22 h at 39$^{\circ}C$ in an atmosphere of 5% CO$_2$in air. Subsequently, COCs were cultured in hormone-free maturation medium for 20-22 h. After maturation for 40-44h, oocytes were removed cumulus cells by pipetting and cultured with epididymal sperm for 5 h in the mTBM. Embryos obtained were divided in 4 groups (1) cultured in NCSU 23 containing 0.4% BSA to blastocyst stage(Control), (2) essential amino acids (EA), (3) non-essential amino acids (NA), (4) mixture of essential and non essential amino acid (EA+NA). All treated groups(2-4) were used a glucose free NCSU 23 medium supplemented with pyruvate (0.33 mM), lactate (4.5 mM) to morula stage. From morula to blastocyst stage embryos of all treated groups were cultured in NCSU 23 containing 0.4% BSA. The rates of cleaved oocytes at 48 h after IVF were from 82% to 88% in the groups of control, EA, NA and EA+NA, respectively. The in vitro developmental rates into blastocysts in the groups of EA and EA+NA were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those of group of control (35.1, 35.4 vs. 19.4%, respectively), however, no significant (P<0.05) between control and NA. In conclusion, supplemented with essential amino acid or mixture of essential and non essential amino acid in the culture medium at morula stage increased the rate of development to blastocyst on in vitro produced porcine embryos.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 1999

This study was carried out to investigate in vitro/in vivo development of vitrified-thawed immature mouse oocytes. Immature mouse oocytes were vitrified with EFS40 (40% ethylene glycol, 18% ficoll and 0.5 M sucrose). Thawed oocytes were matured for 16 hr in vitro. Matured oocytes with the first polar body were fertilized with the concentration of 1~2$\times$10$^{6}$ $m\ell$ of epididymal sperm. After fertilization, cleavage ($\geq$ 2-cell) and in vitro/in vivo development rates were examined. $\pi$ Ie results were summarized as follows: in vitro maturation rate of immature mouse oocytes in vitrified-thawed group was similar to that in exposed group (67.5%) and control (66.3%), but cleavage rate of vitrified-thawed oocytes (64.9 %) and blastocyst formation rate (59.0%) were significantly different compared to those of exposed group (83.7 and 74.7%) and control (90.7 and 83.7%) (p＜0.05). However, when the blastocysts derived from immature mouse oocytes vitrified-thawed were transferred to pseudopregnant mouse, total implantation (31.3%) was slightly lower than that in control (40.8%), but live fetus formation rate (66.7%)was slightly higher than that in control (58.1%), there was not significantly different. Therefore, when the blastocyts produced in vitro were transferred into recipients, although the development in vitro of oocytes vitrified-thawed was decreased, live fetus formation rate was similar to that of control group. The present results indicate that immature mouse oocytes can be frozen successfully by vitrification with EFS40.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.305-315
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• 2001

In this study, the production of transgenic embryo was attempted by microinjection or round spermatid cultured with foreign DNA. At first, the expression of haploid spermatids specific gene, mTP1 in mouse and hPrm2 in hamster spermatids were investigated by RT-PCR method in testes of young mice and hamster testis. The specific gene expression first appeared at 18 days post partum (dpp) in mice spermatid and 20 dpp in hamster spermatid. Therefore, the round spermatids isolated from 17 dpp mice and 19 dpp hamster were used for the introduction of foreign EGFP gene into haploid round spermatids. For the introduction of EGFP gene haploid round spermatids suspended in medium including EGFP gene were treated with a different electric field strength at 0.11, 0.18 and 0.44 ㎸/cm. After electrical stimulation, viability of testicular sperm cells and 67.6%, 66.4% and 49.9%, in mice and 62.6%, 57.9% and 27% in hamster, respectively. These values were significantly lower than those of non-treated control groups 80.5% in mouse and 69.1% in hamster After 72 hrs culture, the highest expression rate of EGFP gene, 28.5% in mice and 32.1% in hamster were obtained from tile spermatogenic cells electroporated by the field strength or 0.18 ㎸/cm. Then, the ability of fertilization and embryonic development of haploid spermatids transfected with foreign EGFP gene were estimated by the microinjection of spermatids into hamster oocytes. The Irate pronuclear formation rate (77.5%) was lower than non-treated control (80%), and the cleavage rate of the treated group (58.8%) was lower than control (65%). To prove the foreign EGFP integration in hamster embryos, 2-cell stage hamster embryos were subjected to the observation under the fluorescence microscope, and the PCR analysis. As a result, about 44% of 2-cell embryos were showed the integration of EFGP gene into their genome. Therefore, These results suggest the possibility to produce transgenic hamsters by microinjection of haploid spermatid transfected with foreign DNA.