Reproductive Sciences

Women who have experienced pregnancy complications, specifically preeclampsia and gestational diabetes, have well documented increased risks of cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurological disease later in life. This study examined how specific cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors for preeclampsia assessed in a non-pregnant state were associated with brain white matter microstructural integrity. This study examined sixty-two healthy women (mean age 31 ± 5 years) who received metabolic and cardiovascular assessments as well as multiple modality MRI imaging...

Endometriosis (EMT) -related infertility has been a challenge for clinical research. Many studies have confirmed that abnormal alterations in the immune microenvironment and glycolysis are instrumental in causing EMT-related infertility. Recently, our research team identified several key glycolysis-immune-related genes in the endometrial cells of EMT patients. This study aimed to further investigate the expression patterns of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 3 (PDK3), glypican-3 (GPC3), and alcohol dehydrogenase 6 (ADH6), which are related to glycolysis and immunity, in the follicular microenvironment of infertile patients with EMT using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assays...

Lipids play numerous pivotal physiological roles in mammalian reproduction, being indispensable for oocyte competence acquisition and post-fertilization embryonic development. Profiling lipids in minute samples, such as oocytes, presents challenges but has been accomplished through mass spectrometry technologies like Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) profiling. With the dual objectives of simplifying workflow and examining the influence of preanalytical conditions, we assessed whether transportation at room temperature affects the lipid profile of bovine oocytes...

More than 20% of pregnant women experience serious complications during pregnancy, that gravely affect the safety of both the mother and the child. Due to the unique state of pregnancy, medication during pregnancy is subject to various restrictions. Nanotechnology is an emerging technology that has been the focus of extensive medical research, and great progress has recently been made in developing sensitive diagnostic modalities and efficient medical treatment. Accumulating evidence has shown that nanodrug delivery systems can significantly improve the targeting, reduce the toxicity and improve the bioavailability of drugs...

The study encompassing research papers documented in the last two decades pertaining to the possible influence of bisphenol A (BPA) on the fertility of females are appraised with emphasis on the influence of BPA in reproductive organs (uterus and ovaries) and pregnancy outcomes including discussion on the reproductive process (implantation, estrous cycle, hormone secretion); outcomes reveal a connection amongst BPA and female infertility. Ovary, uterus, and its shape as well as function can alter a person's ability to become pregnant by influencing the hypothalamus-pituitary axis in the ovarian model...

The present study investigates the changes in M1/M2 macrophage polarization resulting from unilateral testicular torsion in the bilateral testis. The study sample included 63 male Sprague-Dawley rats, which were randomly divided into nine groups (n = 7): Control, Sham (4 h (4 h), 24 h, 7 days (7d), 14d), and Torsion/Detorsion (T/D) (4 h, 24 h, 7d, 14d). Histopathological evaluations revealed no changes in the Sham groups, while T/D was noted to cause edema, vascular occlusion, disruption of seminiferous tubule epithelial organization, germ cell abnormalities and structural anomalies in the experimental rats, the severity and extent of which increased from 4 h to 14d after T/D...

Ovarian aging reduced the quality of oocytes, resulting in age-related female infertility. It is reported that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) therapy can improve age-related ovarian function decline and the success rate of in vitro maturation (IVM) in assisted reproductive therapy. In order to investigate the effectiveness and mechanisms of MSCs to enhance oocyte quality of cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) in advanced age, this study focus on the respective functional improvement of oocytes and granulosa cells (GCs) from aging mice and further to explore and verify the possible mechanisms...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

While endometriosis is a common gynecologic disease associated with infertility, the psychosocial impact of endometriosis has not been evaluated against various quality of life (QoL) instruments and compared with other chronic illnesses. We rigorously analyzed the psychosocial burden of endometriosis in adult women and compared standardized and validated QoL scores of women with and without endometriosis, before and following treatment, and against other chronic illnesses. We searched PubMed, PsychINFO Embase, and Cochrane Reviews and ClinicalTrials...

Numerous studies have demonstrated a correlation between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and endometriosis. However, the precise nature of this association remains elusive. The causal connection between 25OHD and endometriosis remains uncertain, as it is yet to be determined whether one directly influences the other. The objective of our research was to investigate the cause-and-effect connection between 25OHD and endometriosis. The study employed Mendelian randomization (MR) in a bidirectional two-sample investigation to examine the causal relationship between 25OHD and endometriosis...

This study aimed to compare the impact of ablation and cystectomy for ovarian endometrioma on ovarian reserve, recurrence rates, and pregnancy rates. Databases were searched for studies reporting ovarian reserve (measurement of anti-müllerian hormone [AMH] only), recurrence rates, and/or pregnancy rates after cystectomy and ablation for ovarian endometrioma. Six randomized clinical trials and five prospective cohort studies were included in this meta-analysis. All included studies had a low risk of bias...

It is unknown if recurrent urinary tract infection in the gynecologic population is associated with Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma genitourinary infections. The purpose of this scoping review is to highlight the literature surrounding Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma infections in the setting of recurrent urinary tract infections in the gynecologic population. MEDLINE ALL and Embase were searched to retrieve articles published in or after 1950 through 2024. Studies included were those with adults over age 18, non-pregnant, diagnosed with recurrent urinary tract infection and concurrent genitourinary infection with Ureaplasma or Mycoplasma published in English...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) has demonstrated promising clinical utility in the treatment of endometrial injury and the restoration of fertility. However, since the efficacy of BMSCs after transplantation is not stable, it is very important to find effective ways to enhance the utilisation of BMSCs. Electroacupuncture (EA) has some positive effects on the chemotaxis of stem cells and diseases related to uterine injury. In this study, we established the intrauterine adhesion (IUA) model of the Sprague-Dawley rat using lipopolysaccharide infection and mechanical scratching...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders in women. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects and mechanism of Jujuboside A on PCOS using a dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)-induced PCOS mouse model. Estrogen and androgen homeostasis was evaluated in serum from both clinical samples and PCOS mice. The stages of the estrous cycle were determined based on vaginal cytology. The ovarian morphology was observed by stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Moreover, we analyzed protein expression of cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1), cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in ovary and KGN cells...

The methylation pattern of non-imprinting genes was little studied, although it is widely known that the abnormal methylation levels of imprinting genes are associated with different forms of male infertility. The purpose of this research was to assess the CREM gene's methylation status and seminal characteristics in infertile individuals who were potential intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) candidates. A total of 45 semen samples (15 normospermia, 15 asthenospermia, and 15 oligoasthenoteratospermia) were examined...

Over the years, several international guidelines have been developed by specialist organizations for the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). However, these guidelines vary and lack consensus on what level of glycemia defines GDM and worryingly, there is now evidence of over- or- under-diagnosis of women with GDM by current criteria. Towards this end, the National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) funded a program of research aimed at elucidating the problem with GDM diagnosis. It was determined, on completion of the project, that the solution required diagnosis of graded levels of dysglycemia in pregnancy and not just a diagnosis of presence or absence of GDM...

This study investigated the deleterious impact of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), commonly present in metabolic disorders like diabetes, obesity, and infertility-related conditions, on sperm structure and function using a mouse model where AGE generation was heightened through dietary intervention. Five-week-old C57BL/6 mice were divided into two groups, one on a regular diet (control) and the other on an AGE-rich diet. After 13 weeks, various parameters were examined, including fasting blood glucose, body weight, food consumption, sperm parameters and function, testicular superoxide dismutase levels, malondialdehyde content, total antioxidant capacity, Johnson score, AGE receptor (RAGE) content, and carboxymethyl lysine (CML) content...

Conventional Insemination (CI) and Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) are routinely used insemination methods in clinical Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) settings. However, the existing data on the developmental competence and implantation potential of CI and ICSI derived embryos are not unequivocal. This prospective study on 23 patients undergoing ART treatment explored whether the secretomes of CI- and ICSI-derived embryo differentially alter the expression of integrins (αv and β3 integrin) and MUCIN-1 (MUC-1) in a human endometrial epithelial cell line (Ishikawa)...

The fallopian tube (FT) plays a crucial role in the reproductive process by providing an ideal biomechanical and biochemical environment for fertilization and early embryo development. Despite its importance, the biomechanical functions of the FT that originate from its morphological aspects, and ultrastructural aspects, as well as the mechanical properties of FT, have not been studied nor used sufficiently, which limits the understanding of fertilization, mechanotrasduction, and mechanobiology during embryo development, as well as the replication of the FT in laboratory settings for infertility treatments...