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HOME-BASED COLLECTION OF BIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS AND SPECIMENS FROM MEN
Citation:
DARNEY, S. P., R. R. BUUS, A. OLSHAN, S. C. JEFFAY, AND L. F. STRADER. HOME-BASED COLLECTION OF BIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS AND SPECIMENS FROM MEN. Presented at International Society of Environmental Epidemiology, Johannisburg, SOUTH AFRICA, September 13 - 16, 2005.
Description:
Environmental epidemiology studies of relations between exposures and male reproductive health face the same challenges as studies of female reproductive health in geographically dispersed individuals or groups (as discussed in the previous talk). Semen quality can be used as an indicator of testicular function and its endocrine support. However, many semen studies suffer from low participation rates, presumed to be due to the inconvenience and embarrassment of collecting a semen sample, especially in a medical setting. Use of a mail-in kit for home collection of semen may overcome these barriers and has proved to be feasible in a number of studies. Furthermore, mail-in kits enable samples to be evaluated in a single laboratory, thereby avoiding inter-laboratory variability. Semen transport kits may be complex, requiring men to add preservatives and/or special buffers that appear to sustain sperm motility, or simple, requiring only repackaging of a sample with a cold pack. With the latter, sperm motility is unreliable, but other routine and genetic outcomes are stable. These kits can easily accommodate a concurrent urine sample for analysis of xenobiotics and their metabolites, and cotinine to confirm smoking status, as well as a mouth wash sample for DNA extraction and subsequent detection of polymorphisms that may modify response to xenobiotics. The timing of puberty in adolescents provides another indication of male reproductive health, especially when evaluating endocrine disruptors that might delay or advance puberty. Limited information indicates that spermarchy may be reliably determined by finding sperm in urine, i.e., spermatouria. Simple systems for monitoring spermatouria, such as urine filter devises, could make it feasible to evaluate puberty more precisely, and non-invasively, in boys. Together, these methods are expected to facilitate large population based studies examining environmental impacts on male reproductive health.This is an abstract of a proposed presentation and does not necessarily reflect EPA policy.