Articles

Thyroid autoimmunity and IVF/ICSI outcomes in euthyroid women: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Thyroid autoimmunity (TAI) – the presence of anti-thyroid peroxidase and/or anti-thyroglobulin antibodies – affects 8–14% of reproductively-aged women. It is hotly debated whether TAI adversely affects IVF/ICS...

Authors: Ashley Venables, Wilbert Wong, Mandy Way and Hayden Anthony Homer

Establishment of an immortalized stromal cell line derived from human Endometriotic lesion

Endometriosis is a benign gynecological disease with obviously feature of estrogen-dependence and inflammatory response. The applications of primary endometriotic stromal cells in research of endometriosis are...

Authors: Zhi-Xiong Huang, Rong-Feng Wu, Xiao-Mei Mao, Shao-Min Huang, Tian-Tian Liu, Qiong-Hua Chen and Qing-Xi Chen

The association between anti-Müllerian hormone and vitamin 25(OH)D serum levels and polycystic ovarian syndrome in adolescent females

High anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels and 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] deficiency have been associated with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in adult women, and implicated in its pathogenesis. Herein we ...

Authors: Samantha Simpson, David B. Seifer, Veronika Shabanova, Anna Y. Lynn, Catherine Howe, Erin Rowe, Sonia Caprio and Alla Vash-Margita

Insulin regulation of solute carrier family 2 member 1 (glucose transporter 1) expression and glucose uptake in decidualizing human endometrial stromal cells: an in vitro study

Solute carrier family 2 member 1 (SLC2A1; previously known as glucose transporter 1), is the most abundant glucose transporter in human endometrium and is up-regulated during decidualization, whereas high insu...

Authors: Ivika Jakson, Dorina Ujvari, Sebastian Brusell Gidlöf and Angelica Lindén Hirschberg

Differential expression of Oct-4, CD44, and E-cadherin in eutopic and ectopic endometrium in ovarian endometriomas and their correlations with clinicopathological variables

Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent inflammatory disease that often causes infertility and chronic pelvic pain. Although endometriosis is known as a benign disease, it has demonstrated characteristics of ma...

Authors: Ceyda Sancakli Usta, Gulay Turan, Cagla Bahar Bulbul, Akin Usta and Ertan Adali

The effect of letrozole versus artificial hormonal endometrial preparation on pregnancy outcome after frozen-thawed embryos transfer cycles: a randomized clinical trial

Considering that clinical trial studies are limited in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients, and there is no consensus on an optimum endometrial preparation protocol for frozen embryo transfer (FET), the ...

Authors: Azadeh Hosseini-Najarkolaei, Ashraf Moini, Ladan Kashani, Maryam Farid Mojtahedi, Elnaz Hosseini-Najarkolaee and Ensieh Salehi

Paraoxonase single nucleotide variants show associations with polycystic ovary syndrome: a meta-analysis

Etiology of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is attributed to genetic and environmental factors. One environmental factor is oxidative stress. Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is an antioxidant high-density lipoprotein-as...

Authors: Anthicha Kunjantarachot, Noel Pabalan, Hamdi Jarjanazi, Denise Maria Christofolini, Erik Montagna, Caio Parente Barbosa and Bianca Bianco

Status of racial disparities between black and white women undergoing assisted reproductive technology in the US

Numerous studies have demonstrated substantial differences in assisted reproductive technology outcomes between black non-Hispanic and white non-Hispanic women. We sought to determine if disparities in assiste...

Authors: D. B. Seifer, B. Simsek, E. Wantman and A. M. Kotlyar

Racial disparities and in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment outcomes: time to close the gap

Authors: Tarun Jain

Retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in patients with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR): a cross-sectional study

Antioxidant/oxidant imbalance has been reported to be related to diminished ovarian reserve (DOR). Vitamin A (retinol), a kind of antioxidant, plays a role in restoring ovarian oxidative damage, while C-reacti...

Authors: Wen Zou, Zehao Wang, Jing Xia and Jing Yang

Advanced paternal age: effects on sperm parameters, assisted reproduction outcomes and offspring health

Many factors, including postponement of marriage, increased life expectancy, and improved success with assisted reproductive technologies have been contributing to increased paternal age in developed nations. ...

Authors: Iman Halvaei, Julia Litzky and Navid Esfandiari

Experiencing earthquake in the first trimester of the fetal life increases subsequent diabetes risk in the adulthood: a cross-sectional study

To investigate the long-term effect of prenatal exposure to earthquake stress on diabetes risk in the adulthood.

Authors: Na Li, Mei Song, Lan Wang, Xiao-chuan Zhao, Ran Wang, Yuan-yuan Gao, Lu-lu Yu, Cui-xia An and Xue-yi Wang

Evaluation of treatment of previous cesarean scar pregnancy with methotrexate: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Previous caesarean scar pregnancy is one type of ectopic pregnancy in myometrium and fibrous tissue of previous caesarean scar. One of the therapeutic methods of this type of ectopic pregnancy is treatment wit...

Authors: Nader Salari, Mohsen Kazeminia, Shamarina Shohaimi, Anis al-Dawlah Nankali and Masoud Mohammadi

HLA-A and HLA-DRB1 may play a unique role in ovarian teratoma-associated anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis

Ovarian teratoma-associated anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis (NMDAR-E) is a severe autoimmune neurological disorder, and the influence of teratoma-induced autoantibodies on the pathogenesis rema...

Authors: Xiaoya Zhao, Juan Li, Qian Zhu, Guiling Liang, Wei Xia, Xiaoqing He, Chenfeng Zhu, Hang Qi, Bo Deng, Xiangjun Chen and Jian Zhang

Developmental programming: gestational testosterone excess disrupts LH secretion in the female sheep fetus

Prenatal testosterone (T) excess results in reproductive and metabolic perturbations in female sheep that closely recapitulate those seen in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). At the neuroendocrine l...

Authors: Renata S. M. Landers, Vasantha Padmanabhan and Rodolfo C. Cardoso

The COVID-19 pandemic through eyes of a NYC fertility center: a unique learning experience with often unexpected results

Affecting basic tenets of human existence such as health, economic as well as personal security and, of course, reproduction, the COVID-19 pandemic transcended medical specialties and professional disciplines....

Authors: Norbert Gleicher

Biogenesis and functions of circular RNAs and their role in diseases of the female reproductive system

A member of the newly discovered RNA family, circular RNA (circRNA) is considered as the intermediate product of by-product splicing or abnormal RNA splicing. With the development of RNA sequencing, circRNA ha...

Authors: Yalan Ma, Ying Xu, Jingshun Zhang and Lianwen Zheng

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in spermatogenesis and male infertility

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have a size of more than 200 bp and are known to regulate a host of crucial cellular processes like proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis by regulating gene expression. Wh...

Authors: Meghali Joshi and Singh Rajender

The best execution of the DuoStim strategy (double stimulation in the follicular and luteal phase of the same ovarian cycle) in patients who are poor ovarian responders

Patients found to be poor ovarian responders (POR) are a challenging patient population for any assisted reproduction technology. Despite attempts at various controlled ovarian stimulation schemes, reproductiv...

Authors: Yanqun Luo, Li Sun, Mei Dong, Xiqian Zhang, Li Huang, Xiulan Zhu, Yingqi Nong and Fenghua Liu

Review of psychological stress on oocyte and early embryonic development in female mice

Psychological stress can cause adverse health effects in animals and humans. Accumulating evidence suggests that psychological stress in female mice is associated with ovarian developmental abnormalities accom...

Authors: Qiu-Yue Zhai, Jun-Jie Wang, Yu Tian, Xiaofang Liu and Zhenhua Song

Cyclosporin A protects JEG-3 cells against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis by inhibiting the p53 and JNK/p38 signaling pathways

Trophoblast cells are required for the establishment of pregnancy and fetal development. Apoptosis is an essential feature for trophoblast invasion. Uncontrolled trophoblast apoptosis is related to some compli...

Authors: Bin He, Qi Yue Li, Yuan Yuan Wu, Jing Ling Ruan, Xiao Ming Teng, Da Jin Li and Chuan Ling Tang

Sphingosine 1-phosphate protects against radiation-induced ovarian injury in female rats—impact on mitochondrial-related genes

The toxic effects of ionizing radiation on the gonads have been widely recognized. Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) has a protective effect on ovarian injury, and although it is known that mitochondria are involv...

Authors: Jiahui Zhao, Shuyun Zhang, Liesong Chen, Xiaolong Liu, Haihong Su, Lili Chen, Li Yang and Hong Zhang

Do human embryos have the ability of self-correction?

Human embryogenesis frequently coinciding with cell division mistakes contributing to pervasive embryonic aneuploidy/mosaicism. While embryo self-correction was elegantly demonstrated in mouse models, human st...

Authors: Raoul Orvieto, Chen Shimon, Shlomit Rienstein, Anat Jonish-Grossman, Hagit Shani and Adva Aizer

Does the transfer of a poor quality embryo with a good quality embryo benefit poor prognosis patients?

While single embryo transfer (SET) is widely advocated, double embryo transfer (DET) remains preferable in clinical practice to improve IVF success rate, especially in poor prognosis patients with only poor qu...

Authors: Wenjie Wang, Jiali Cai, Lanlan Liu, Yingpei Xu, Zhenfang Liu, Jinghua Chen, Xiaoming Jiang, Xiaohua Sun and Jianzhi Ren

Sperm impairing microbial factor: potential candidate for male contraception

Despite significant advances in contraceptive options for women, vasectomy and condoms are the only options available for male contraception. Due to this limitation, the burden of contraception resides on the ...

Authors: Aditi Chauhan, Deepali Thaper and Vijay Prabha

Association between obesity-associated markers and semen quality parameters and serum reproductive hormones in Chinese infertile men

The current evidence on the association between obesity-associated markers and semen quality, serum reproductive hormones and lipids remains inconsistent. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that, in infer...

Authors: Jian-Xiong Ma, Bin Wang, Hai-Song Li, Xue-Juan Jiang, Jia Yu, Cai-Fei Ding and Wang-Qiang Chen

Expression of angiopoietin-like protein 2 in ovarian tissue of rat polycystic ovarian syndrome model and its correlation study

This study investigated the expression of angiopoietin-like protein 2 (ANGPTL2) in the tissues of rat models of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and its correlation with PCOS.

Authors: Dandan Wang, Yihong Guo, Shujuan Chai, Ke Shen, Yanchun Li and Ruiqin Zhao

Association of the MTHFR 677C>T and 1298A>C polymorphisms and male infertility risk: a meta-analysis

One of the possible male sterility risk factors are polymorphisms of Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). However, the epidemiologic investigations described inconsistent results regarding MTHFR polymorph...

Authors: Fereshteh Aliakbari, Farkhondeh Pouresmaeili, Nahal Eshghifar, Zahra Zolghadr and Faezeh Azizi

Correction to: Value of endometrial echo pattern transformation after hCG trigger in predicting IVF pregnancy outcome: a prospective cohort study

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Zhaojuan Hou, Qiong Zhang, Jing Zhao, Aizhuang Xu, Aihua He, Xi Huang, Shi Xie, Jing Fu, Lan Xiao and Yanping Li

Growth hormone alleviates oxidative stress and improves the IVF outcomes of poor ovarian responders: a randomized controlled trial

Oxidative stress (OS), defined as an imbalance between excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and/or reactive nitrogen species (RNS) production and antioxidant insufficiency, has been suggested to be involved...

Authors: Yan Gong, Kun Zhang, Dongsheng Xiong, Jiajing Wei, Hao Tan and Shengfang Qin

A comprehensive assessment of predictors of fertility outcomes in men with non-obstructive azoospermia undergoing microdissection testicular sperm extraction

Microdissection testicular sperm extraction (microTESE) in men with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is the procedure that results in the highest number of sperm cells retrieved for in vitro fertilization (IV...

Authors: Parviz K. Kavoussi, Brady T. West, Shu-Hung Chen, Caitlin Hunn, Melissa S. Gilkey, G. Luke Machen, Keikhosrow M. Kavoussi, Amy Esqueda, J. David Wininger and Shahryar K. Kavoussi

Effect of endometrial thickness and embryo quality on live-birth rate of fresh IVF/ICSI cycles: a retrospective cohort study

Successful implantation and delivery require both the functional embryo and receptive endometrium in assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles. However, little is known about embryo-endometrial interaction...

Authors: Hong Lv, Xiuzhu Li, Jiangbo Du, Xiufeng Ling, Feiyang Diao, Qun Lu, Shiyao Tao, Lei Huang, Shiyao Chen, Xiumei Han, Kun Zhou, Bo Xu, Xiaoyu Liu, Hongxia Ma, Yankai Xia, Hongbing Shen…

A fast and safe technique for sperm preparation in ICSI treatments within a randomized controlled trial (RCT)

Recently a novel method based on horizontal sperm migration in injection dishes has been introduced as an additional tool for preparation of semen sample in assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures. I...

Authors: Domenico Baldini, Annamaria Baldini, Erica Silvestris, Giovanni Vizziello, Daniele Ferri and Damiano Vizziello

Regulation of [Ca²⁺]_i oscillations and mitochondrial activity by various calcium transporters in mouse oocytes

Oocyte activation inefficiency is one of the reasons for female infertility and Ca²⁺ functions play a critical role in the regulation of oocyte activation. We used various inhibitors of Ca²⁺ channels located on t...

Authors: Feng Wang, Ang Li, Tie-Gang Meng, Le-Yun Wang, Li-Juan Wang, Yi Hou, Heide Schatten, Qing-Yuan Sun and Xiang-Hong Ou

Establishment of a WHO Reference Reagent for anti-Mullerian hormone

There is a need for a reference material to support the development and ensure the quality of immunoassays for human AMH. A batch of ampoules, coded 16/190, containing lyophilised recombinant AMH was evaluated...

Authors: Jackie Ferguson, Jason Hockley, Peter Rigsby and Chris Burns

Correlation of low serum vitamin-D with uterine leiomyoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

There is a growing body of evidence on low serum vitamin-D levels and the risk of uterine leiomyomas (UL). Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the association betwe...

Authors: Ramin Mohammadi, Reza Tabrizi, Kamran Hessami, Hoda Ashari, Peyman Nowrouzi-Sohrabi, Mahnaz Hosseini-Bensenjan and Nasrin Asadi

Histone acetylation and the role of histone deacetylases in normal cyclic endometrium

Histone acetylation is a critical epigenetic modification that changes chromatin architecture and regulates gene expression by opening or closing the chromatin structure. It plays an essential role in cell cyc...

Authors: Palak Gujral, Vishakha Mahajan, Abbey C. Lissaman and Anna P. Ponnampalam

Effect of transient scrotal hyperthermia on human sperm: an iTRAQ-based proteomic analysis

Through this prospective study, we aimed to explore the change of molecular modification after the transient scrotal hyperthermia on human sperm.

Authors: Yan-Qing Wu, Meng Rao, Shi-Fu Hu, Dan-Dan Ke, Chang-Hong Zhu and Wei Xia

The significance of FMR1 CGG repeats in Chinese women with premature ovarian insufficiency and diminished ovarian reserve

Previous studies have shown that there is an association between FMR1 CGG repeats and ovarian dysfunction. The aim of this study is to assess the association between the number of CGG repeats in FMR1 in Chinese p...

Authors: Ruiyi Tang and Qi Yu

Androgen levels in the fetal cord blood of children born to women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a meta-analysis

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders in reproductive-aged women. It is reported that intrauterine exposure to hyperandrogenism may induce the development of PCOS and a...

Authors: Changling Duan, Tianjiao Pei, Yujing Li, Qi Cao, Hanxiao Chen and Jing Fu

Influence of human chorionic gonadotrophin during ovarian stimulation: an overview

It is widely known that luteinising hormone (LH) and human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) are integral in the female reproductive lifecycle. Due to the common binding site and similarity in molecular structure,...

Authors: Johan Smitz and Peter Platteau

Clinical outcomes of Preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) application in couples with chromosomal inversion, a study in the Chinese Han population

Chromosomal inversion was considered to have adverse effects on pregnancy outcomes through abnormal gametogenesis. The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate whether preimplantation genetic tes...

Authors: Yuhan Shao, Jing Li, Juanjuan Lu, Hongchang Li, Yueting Zhu, Wenjie Jiang and Junhao Yan

Intra-ovarian injection of platelet-rich plasma into ovarian tissue promoted rejuvenation in the rat model of premature ovarian insufficiency and restored ovulation rate via angiogenesis modulation

Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) is viewed as a type of infertility in which the menopausal status occurs before the physiological age. Several therapeutic strategies have been introduced in clinic for PO...

Authors: Shahin Ahmadian, Sepideh Sheshpari, Mohammad Pazhang, Alberto Miranda Bedate, Rahim Beheshti, Mehran Mesgari Abbasi, Mohammad Nouri, Reza Rahbarghazi and Mahdi Mahdipour

Comparative DNA methylome analysis of estrus ewes reveals the complex regulatory pathways of sheep fecundity

Sheep are important livestock with variant ovulation rate and fertility. Dorset sheep is a typical breed with low prolificacy, whereas Small Tail Han sheep with FecB mutation (HanBB) have hyperprolificacy. Our...

Authors: Xiangyang Miao, Qingmiao Luo, Lingli Xie, Huijing Zhao and Xiaoyu Qin

The effect of growth hormone supplementation in poor ovarian responders undergoing IVF or ICSI: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of growth hormone (GH) supplementation in poor responders undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Authors: Peiwen Yang, Ruxing Wu and Hanwang Zhang

Decellularization and recellularization of the ovary for bioengineering applications; studies in the mouse

Fertility preservation is particularly challenging in young women diagnosed with hematopoietic cancers, as transplantation of cryopreserved ovarian cortex in these women carries the risk for re-introducing can...

Authors: Ahmed Baker Alshaikh, Arvind Manikantan Padma, Matilda Dehlin, Randa Akouri, Min Jong Song, Mats Brännström and Mats Hellström

Human follicular fluid shows diverse metabolic profiles at different follicle developmental stages

To investigate the metabolic profiles in the follicular fluid (FF) samples from patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and to analyze the correlations with follicular development.

Authors: Jihong Yang, Ting Feng, Suying Li, Xinyue Zhang and Yun Qian

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist combined with hormone replacement therapy does not improve the reproductive outcomes of frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycle in elderly patients: a retrospective study

With the rapid development of whole embryo freezing technology, more and more frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) was used in assisted reproductive technology. However, the best FET program for elderly women h...

Authors: Mei Dong, Li Sun, Li Huang, Yanhong Yi, Xiqian Zhang, Ying Tan, Ge Song, Liling Liu, Fu Wei and Fenghua Liu

Does the sex ratio of singleton births after frozen single blastocyst transfer differ in relation to blastocyst development?

To investigate the associations between blastocyst development and the sex ratio (male:female) among singleton live births resulting from single-blastocyst frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles.

Authors: Hua Lou, Na Li, Xiaoke Zhang, Ling Sun, Xingling Wang, Dayong Hao and Shihong Cui

Association between mild stimulated IVF/M cycle and early embryo arrest in sub fertile women with/without PCOS

The in vitro maturation (IVM) technique has physical and financial benefits, but a lower efficiency and outcome that is still unclear whether it is related to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) itself or the IVM...

Authors: Nagwa Elshewy, Dongmei Ji, Zhiguo Zhang, Dawei Chen, Beili Chen, Rufeng Xue, Huan Wu, Jianye Wang, Ping Zhou and Yunxia Cao