Effect of diclofenac on semen quality: A review

Temporal modulation of inflammation and chondrogenesis through dendritic nanoparticle-mediated therapy with diclofenac surface modification and strontium ion encapsulation

Cartilage tissue engineering holds great promise for efficient cartilage regeneration. However, early inflammatory reactions to seed cells and/or scaffolds impede this process. Consequently, managing inflammation is of paramount importance. Moreover, due to the body's restricted chondrogenic capacity, inducing cartilage regeneration becomes imperative. Thus, a controlled platform is essential to establish an anti-inflammatory microenvironment before initiating the cartilage regeneration process. In this study, we utilized fifth-generation polyamidoamine dendrimers (G5) as a vehicle for drugs to create composite nanoparticles known as G5-Dic/Sr. These nanoparticles were generated by surface modification with diclofenac (Dic), known for its potent anti-inflammatory effects, and encapsulating strontium (Sr), which effectively induces chondrogenesis, within the core. Our findings indicated that the G5-Dic/Sr nanoparticle exhibited selective Dic release during the initial 9 days and gradual Sr release from days 3 to 15. Subsequently, these nanoparticles were incorporated into a gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogel, resulting in GelMA@G5-Dic/Sr. In vitro assessments demonstrated GelMA@G5-Dic/Sr's biocompatibility with bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs). The enclosed nanoparticles effectively mitigated inflammation in lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW264.7 macrophages and significantly augmented chondrogenesis in BMSCs cocultures. Implanting BMSCs-loaded GelMA@G5-Dic/Sr hydrogels in immunocompetent rabbits for 2 and 6 weeks revealed diminished inflammation and enhanced cartilage formation compared to GelMA, GelMA@G5, GelMA@G5-Dic, and GelMA@G5/Sr hydrogels. Collectively, this study introduces an innovative strategy to advance cartilage regeneration by temporally modulating inflammation and chondrogenesis in immunocompetent animals. Through the development of a platform addressing the temporal modulation of inflammation and the limited chondrogenic capacity, we offer valuable insights to the field of cartilage tissue engineering.

Paternal preconception exposure to non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs or opioids and adverse birth outcomes: A nationwide registry-based cohort study

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Paternal use of analgesics during the time of conception and adverse birth outcomes are poorly studied. We investigated the association between paternal exposure to non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids within 3 months before the date of conception and the risk of adverse birth outcomes (preterm birth, small for gestational age, low Apgar score, and major congenital malformations).

METHODS

We used nationwide data from the Danish health registers. We included information on all singleton live births, and their fathers and mothers from 1997 to 2018. We created two exposed cohorts, children with preconception paternal exposure to (1) non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and (2) opioids. The unexposed cohort was children without preconception paternal exposure to non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs or opioids, and we performed a sub-analysis against paternal use of acetaminophen (paracetamol). We used logistic regression models to estimate the odds ratios of adverse birth outcomes including 95% confidence intervals.

RESULTS

We identified 1,260,934 children, 45,667 children with paternal exposure to non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, 10,086 children with paternal exposure to opioids, and 1,205,181 unexposed children. The adjusted odds ratio for preterm birth was 1.08 (95% confidence interval, 1.03-1.13) after paternal exposure to non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and 1.21 (95% confidence interval, 1.08-1.35) after paternal exposure to opioids. The adjusted odds ratio for small for gestational age was 1.09 (95% confidence interval, 1.03-1.17) after paternal exposure to non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, and 1.03 (95% confidence interval, 0.88-1.21) after paternal exposure to opioids. We found null-associations for a low Apgar score and major congenital malformations. Estimates were attenuated when compared against paternal paracetamol exposure.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, we found null-associations across the comparisons made. Weak associations were found for paternal exposure to non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs or opioids and preterm birth and small for gestational age, but not with low Apgar score or major congenital malformation. All associations were attenuated when compared against an active comparator of paternal paracetamol exposure. The effect sizes were small and less likely to be of clinical relevance.

Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) and Male Reproductive Health: Challenging the Future with a Double-Edged Sword

Approximately 9% of couples are infertile, with half of these cases relating to male factors. While many cases of male infertility are associated with genetic and lifestyle factors, approximately 30% of cases are still idiopathic. Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) denote substances identified in the environment for the first time or detected at low concentrations during water quality analysis. Since CEC production and use have increased in recent decades, CECs are now ubiquitous in surface and groundwater. CECs are increasingly observed in human tissues, and parallel reports indicate that semen quality is continuously declining, supporting the notion that CECs may play a role in infertility. This narrative review focuses on several CECs (including pesticides and pharmaceuticals) detected in the nearshore marine environment of False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa, and deliberates their potential effects on male fertility and the offspring of exposed parents, as well as the use of spermatozoa in toxicological studies. Collective findings report that chronic in vivo exposure to pesticides, including atrazine, simazine, and chlorpyrifos, is likely to be detrimental to the reproduction of many organisms, as well as to sperm performance in vitro. Similarly, exposure to pharmaceuticals such as diclofenac and naproxen impairs sperm motility both in vivo and in vitro. These contaminants are also likely to play a key role in health and disease in offspring sired by parents exposed to CECs. On the other side of the double-edged sword, we propose that due to its sensitivity to environmental conditions, spermatozoa could be used as a bioindicator in eco- and repro-toxicology studies.

Long-term exposure to environmental diclofenac concentrations impairs growth and induces molecular changes in Lymnaea stagnalis freshwater snails

As pharmaceutical substances are highly used in human and veterinary medicine and subsequently released in the environment, they represent emerging contaminants in the aquatic compartment. Diclofenac (DCF) is one of the most commonly detected pharmaceuticals in water and little research has been focused on its long-term effects on freshwater invertebrates. In this study, we assessed the chronic impacts of DCF on the freshwater gastropod Lymnaea stagnalis using life history, behavioral and molecular approaches. These organisms were exposed from the embryo to the adult stage to three environmentally relevant DCF concentrations (0.1, 2 and 10 μg/L). The results indicated that DCF impaired shell growth and feeding behavior at the juvenile stage, yet no impacts on hatching, locomotion and response to light stress were noted. The molecular findings (metabolomics and transcriptomic) suggested that DCF may disturb the immune system, energy metabolism, osmoregulation and redox balance. In addition, prostaglandin synthesis could potentially be inhibited by DCF exposure. The molecular findings revealed signs of reproduction impairment but this trend was not confirmed by the physiological tests. Combined omics tools provided complementary information and enabled us to gain further insight into DCF effects in freshwater organisms.