follicular development

Permeabilities of various trace elements (TEs) through the blood-follicle barrier (BFB) play an important role in oocyte development. However, it has not been comprehensively described as well as its involved biological pathways. Our study aimed to construct a blood-follicle distribution model of the concerned TEs and explore their related biological pathways. We finally included a total of 168 women from a cohort of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer conducted in two reproductive centers in Beijing City and Shandong Province, China...

BACKGROUND: Stroke is a disease with high morbidity, disability, and mortality. Immune factors play a crucial role in the occurrence of ischemic stroke (IS), but their exact mechanism is not clear. This study aims to identify possible immunological mechanisms by recognizing immune-related biomarkers and evaluating the infiltration pattern of immune cells. METHODS: We downloaded datasets of IS patients from GEO, applied R language to discover differentially expressed genes, and elucidated their biological functions using GO, KEGG analysis, and GSEA analysis...

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that chemotherapy and radiotherapy can cause premature ovarian failure and loss of fertility in female cancer patients. Ovarian cortex cryopreservation is a good choice to preserve female fertility before cancer treatment. Following the remission of the disease, the thawed ovarian tissue can be transplanted back and restore fertility of the patient. However, there is a risk to reintroduce cancer cells in the body and leads to the recurrence of cancer. Given the low success rate of current in vitro culture techniques for obtaining mature oocytes from primordial follicles, an artificial ovary with primordial follicles may be a good way to solve this problem...

AIMS: Cutaneous follicular (infundibular-tricholemmal) squamous cell carcinoma (FSCC) is a new World Health Organization entity. We present the largest series of published cases, summarizing clinical data, diagnostic criteria, differential diagnosis, and implications for patient management. METHODS: Cases were identified from 2004 to 2011. Inclusion criteria included discrete attachment(s) of the tumor to the overlying epidermis via follicular infundibula, tricholemmal keratinization, and cellular pleomorphism...

Rationale: Primordial follicles are limited in number and cannot be regenerated, dormant primordial follicles cannot be reversed once they enter a growth state. Therefore, the length of the female reproductive lifespan depends on the orderly progression and selective activation of primordial follicles, the mechanism of which remains unclear. Methods: We used human ovarian cortical biopsy specimens, granulosa cells from diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) patients, Hdac6 -overexpressing transgenic mouse model, and RNA sequencing to analyze the crucial roles of histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) in fertility preservation and primordial follicle activation...

The occupational chemical 4-Vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) is a reproductively toxic environmental pollutant that causes follicular failure, leading to premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), which significantly impacts a woman's physical health and fertility. Investigating VCD's pathogenic mechanisms can offer insights for the prevention of ovarian impairment and the treatment of POI. This study established a mouse model of POI through intraperitoneal injection of VCD into female C57BL/6 mice for 15 days...

PURPOSE: To investigate follicular fluid (FF) phthalate levels in adolescents undergoing fertility preservation compared to oocyte donors and explore its association with ovarian reserve and cumulus cell gene expression. METHODS: 20 Adolescents (16.7 ± 0.6 years old) and 24 oocyte donors (26.2 ± 0.4 years old) undergoing fertility preservation were included in the study. Patient demographics, ovarian stimulation and oocyte retrieval outcomes were analyzed for each group...

Metabolic stress and subsequent hepatic dysfunction in high-producing dairy cows are associated with inflammatory diseases and declining fertility. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-binding protein (LBP) is produced by hepatocytes and controls the immune response, suggesting that it is involved in the pathophysiology of inflammation-related attenuation of reproductive functions during metabolic stress. This study investigated the effect of LBP on the inflammatory status, oocyte quality, and steroidogenesis in the follicular microenvironment of dairy cows...

Germ cells are highly conserved in the gonads, nurtured to either develop into a gamete or self-renew into a stem cell reserve. Preserving the germ cell pool and protecting the reproductive organs is essential for maintaining an individual's fertility. Several factors, including a sedentary lifestyle, pollutants, hormonal disruption, drugs, and a disease condition, have been shown to impair normal reproductive function. Irisin has recently been identified as an adipomyokine involved in modulating physiological functions based on the body's metabolic status...

BACKGROUND: Antral follicles consist of an oocyte cumulus complex surrounding by somatic cells, including mural granulosa cells as the inner layer and theca cells as the outsider layer. The communications between oocytes and granulosa cells have been extensively explored in in vitro studies, however, the role of oocyte-derived factor GDF9 on in vivo antral follicle development remains elusive due to lack of an appropriate animal model. Clinically, the phenotype of GDF9 variants needs to be determined...

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene fusions are rare in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) but may serve as a therapeutic target. This study aims to evaluate the preoperative cytologic findings and clinicopathologic features of a series of eight ALK-rearranged PTCs from our pathology archives and consultations. All cases were confirmed by ALK D5F3 immunohistochemistry and six with additional targeted RNA-based next-generation sequencing (NGS). The original fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology diagnosis included the Bethesda System (TBS) category II in three (37...

BACKGROUND: Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a major cause of hair loss resulting from a complex interplay between various genes and hormones with the result being follicular miniaturization and altered hair cycle dynamics. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has a well-established role as adjunctive therapy in AGA but there are many limitations of it. In an attempt to overcome the shortcomings of PRP, liquid platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) was developed. AIM: This article critically reviews the protocol for the preparation and clinical outcomes of PRF...

OBJECTIVES: The results of a recent single-arm trial (ZUMA-5) of axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel) for relapsed/refractory (r/r) FL demonstrated high rates of durable response and tolerable toxicity among treated patients. To quantify the value of axi-cel compared to standard of care (SOC) to manage r/r FL patients who have had at least two prior lines of systemic therapy (3L+), a cost-effectiveness model was developed from a US third-party payer perspective. METHODS: A three-state partitioned survival cost-effectiveness model was developed with a lifetime horizon...

Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative pathogen that colonizes the stomach, induces inflammation, and drives pathological changes in the stomach tissue, including gastric cancer. As the principal cytokine produced by Th17 cells, IL-17 mediates protective immunity against pathogens by inducing the activation and mobilization of neutrophils. Whereas IL-17A is largely produced by lymphocytes, the IL-17 receptor is expressed in epithelial cells, fibroblasts, and hematopoietic cells. Loss of the IL-17RA in mice results in impaired antimicrobial responses to extracellular bacteria...

A modified amphibian metamorphosis assay was performed in which Nieuwkoop and Faber (NF) stage 47 Xenopus laevis larvae were exposed to different concentrations of either perchlorate (ClO4 - ) or nitrate (NO3 - ) for 32 days. Larvae were exposed to 0.0 (control), 5, 25, 125, 625, and 3125 μg/L ClO4 - , or 0 (control), 23, 71, 217, 660, and 2000 mg/L NO3 - . The primary endpoints were survival, hind limb length (HLL), forelimb emergence and development, developmental stage (including time to NF stage 62 [MT62 ]), thyroid histopathology, wet weight, and snout-vent length (SVL)...

Somatic and biallelic DICER1 mutations are reported in subsets of thyroid tumors, supporting the role of this gene in thyroid tumor development. As recent studies have brought attention to macrofollicular patterns, atrophic changes, and papillary structures as being associated with DICER1 mutations, we sought to explore these observations in a bi-institutional cohort. A total of 61 thyroid lesions (54 tumors and 7 cases of thyroid follicular nodular disease; TFND), including 26 DICER1 mutated and 35 DICER1 wildtype controls were subjected to histological re-investigation and clinical follow-up...

Surfactant protein A (SP-A) and Surfactant protein D (SP-D) glycoproteins play a crucial role in maintaining lung homeostasis and lung host defense. Interestingly, these proteins are also expressed in extra-pulmonary tissues, including the female genital tract. The ovarian tissue, where SP-A and SP-D expression increases with follicular development, may serve as the primary site of defense for this tissue. However, their functions in these tissues are not well understood and are currently an active area of research...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the serum iron status and its relation to hematological indexes in cyclic mares. Blood samples were taken from 40 Spanish Purebred mares on days - 5, 0, + 5 and + 16 of their cycle. Concentration of transferrin (TRF) was significantly lower on day 0 than on days + 5 and + 16, transferrin saturation (TSAT) decreased significantly on days 0 and + 16 compared to day - 5, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) on day + 16 was significantly higher than those on days - 5 and 0, and on day + 5 it was also significantly higher than that on day 0, unsaturated iron-binding capacity (UIBC) was reduced on day + 16 compared to days - 5 and 0, red blood cell (RBC) count on day + 16 was higher than that on days - 5 and 0 (p < 0...

Background: Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). To develop novel antioxidant drugs, it is necessary to explore the key regulatory molecules involved in oxidative stress in PCOS. Plasma YKL-40 levels are elevated in patients with PCOS; however, its role remains unclear. Methods: The follicular fluids of 20 women with PCOS and 12 control subjects with normal ovarian function were collected, and YKL-40 in follicular fluids was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay...

BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrinological and metabolic disorder that can lead to female infertility. Lipid metabolomics and proteomics are the new disciplines in systems biology aimed to discover metabolic pathway changes in diseases and diagnosis of biomarkers. This study aims to reveal the features of PCOS to explore its pathogenesis at the protein and metabolic level. METHODS: We collected follicular fluid samples and granulosa cells of women with PCOS and normal women who underwent in vitro fertilization(IVF) and embryo transfer were recruited...