Epididymis News and Research

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SARS-CoV-2 found in semen of COVID-19 patients

Since the novel coronavirus, now called the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in December 2019, viral loads have been detected in body fluids, such as urine samples, saliva, stool samples, and in the gastrointestinal tract. Now, a new study reveals the SARS-CoV-2 virus in semen.

7 May 2020

Healthy mice pups can be produced from sperm without short RNA chains

Scientists from the University of Bath are challenging the claims of two high profile papers from 2018 which reported that in the mouse, RNA has to be added to sperm for them to be fully fertile.

4 Jul 2019

Small RNA in sperm shown to be essential for embryonic development

New research has shown that small RNA in sperm is essential for embryo implantation and embryonic development. The findings will be used to optimize IVF.

26 Jul 2018

Study: Environmental pollutants affect male reproduction in many species, including humans

In the St. Lawrence River near Montreal's sewage discharge site, male spottail shiners show the effects of pollution with more than one third of the fish having oocytes in their testes.

10 May 2018

Super-gonorrhea bug infects UK man

A man from United Kingdom has acquired a gonorrhea infection with bacteria that is resistant to most antibiotics used commonly against it. The man has a regular sexual partner but picked up this superbug from a sexual encounter with a partner in south-east Asia earlier this year.

29 Mar 2018

Father's stress affects the brain development of offspring, mice study shows

New research in mice has found that a father's stress affects the brain development of his offspring. This stress changes the father's sperm, which can then alter the brain development of the child. This new research provides a much better understanding of the key role that fathers play in the brain development of offspring.

19 Feb 2018

Researchers study Lassa fever patient's immune response and viral persistence

When an American nurse working in West Africa became ill with Lassa fever and was evacuated to the U.S. for treatment in 2016, it provided a rare opportunity.

22 Jun 2017

Irreversible infertility risk in men linked to urogenital infections

In couples who have not been able to have children, male infertility is the cause in at least half of cases. In 6-10% the cause is a urogenital infection.

14 Jun 2017

Vitamin A combined with high-fat diet may lead to increased risk for obesity and diabetes

Vitamin A is an essential nutrient that the human body needs to function properly. But new research presented today at the American Physiological Society annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2017 in Chicago suggests that normal levels of vitamin A within a high-fat diet can negatively affect expression of liver genes associated with glucose and fat metabolism.

26 Apr 2017

Research finds diagnostic tests to be less accurate for children with impaired kidney function

Breaking research published today in AACC's Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine reveals that a number of diagnostic tests are less accurate when performed in pediatric patients with impaired kidney function.

17 Apr 2017

Modern ultrasound for male contraception

The ideal male contraceptive would be inexpensive, reliable, and reversible. It would need to be long acting but have few side effects. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology used commercially available therapeutic ultrasound equipment to reduce sperm counts of male rats to levels which would result in infertility in humans.

30 Jan 2012

Sex during adolescence can have negative effects on body and mood well into adulthood

A new study suggests that sex during adolescence can have lasting negative effects on the body and mood well into adulthood, most likely because the activity occurs when the nervous system is still developing.

16 Nov 2011

FDA clears Abbott's new ARCHITECT HE4 assay for monitoring ovarian cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared a new diagnostic test to monitor ovarian cancer, a disease that will strike an estimated one out of every 71 women in the United States in their lifetimes. Abbott's new ARCHITECT HE4 (human epididymis protein 4) assay, the first automated test of its kind available in the United States, uses a simple blood test to aid in monitoring for the recurrence or progression of this disease.

4 Jun 2010

Multivariable analyses identify epidemiological risk factors for ovarian cancer

Concentrations of the biomarkers CA125, human epididymis protein 4 (HE4), and mesothelin began to rise 3 years before clinical diagnosis of ovarian cancer, according to a new study published online December 30 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. However, the biomarkers became substantially elevated only in the last year prior to diagnosis.

31 Dec 2009

Frequent sex improves sperm quality

Daily sex (or ejaculating daily) for seven days improves men's sperm quality by reducing the amount of DNA damage, according to an Australian study presented today (Tuesday) to the 25th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam.

30 Jun 2009

Researchers clone key sperm-binding proteins

New treatments for infertility could be closer to reality, thanks to a discovery from scientists at the Université de Montréal and Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Centre.

17 Mar 2009

Quality control mechanism tags defective sperm cells inside the body

Defective sperm cells do not pass through the body unnoticed. A new University of Missouri study provides evidence that the body recognizes and tags defective sperm cells while they undergo maturation in the epididymis, a sperm storage gland attached to the testis.

24 Jan 2008

Discovery of gene and mechanism essential to the embryonic development of the epididymis

Human sperm cells travel up to 6 meters in their transit from testes to penis, and most of that journey occurs in the epididymis, a tightly coiled tube that primes the cells for their ultimate task: fertilization.

28 Jun 2007

Protein circulating in the blood delivers selenium to germ cells, enabling normal development of sperm

A paper to be published in the journal Biology of Reproduction offers evidence that a protein circulating in the blood of mammals delivers the dietary micronutrient selenium to germ cells, enabling these cells to develop into normal sperm.

7 Mar 2005

Safe, effective and reversible alternative contraceptives for men

Most men know when their family is complete, and vasectomy remains the most effective and safest form of sterilization. Around 10% of vasectomized men in the U.S desire vasectomy reversal due to the high divorce rate in this country and other life circumstances.

16 Nov 2004