Topical reinforcement of the cervical mucus barrier to sperm.

Close to half of the world's pregnancies are still unplanned, reflecting a clear unmet need in contraception. Ideally, a contraceptive would provide the high efficacy of hormonal treatments, without systemic side effects. Here, we studied topical reinforcement of the cervical mucus by chitosan mucoadhesive polymers as a form of female contraceptive.

An Open, Uncontrolled Pilot Study on 12-Week Use of VagiVital for Treatment of Vulvovaginal Atrophy in Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Adjuvant Aromatase-Inhibitor Therapy.

Purpose: This pilot study assessed the efficacy of 12 weeks of daily treatment with a vaginal gel based on a water-based cellulose gel in reducing the severity of moderate-severe symptoms of vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA) and followed adverse events in female breast cancer patients undergoing treatment with adjuvant aromatase- inhibitor therapy.

Methods: In this open, uncontrolled pilot study, the efficacy and safety of the gel during a treatment period of 12 weeks (daily 1×1 mL) were evaluated (n=28). The gel is made of water and hypromellose, a hydropropylmetyl cellulose, which works by coating the vagina, and was developed to treat moderate-severe symptoms of VVA.

A Vaginal Inlay for Reduction of Stress Urinary Incontinence: Outcome of a Randomized Clinical Trial and Four User Acceptance Studies.

A multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial and four postmarket user acceptance investigations were carried out to document the safety, performance, and user acceptance of Efemia Bladder Support, a novel vaginal inlay for the temporary reduction of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). The clinical investigation enrolled 97 women diagnosed with SUI, randomized 3 : 1 to either treatment or standard care (control). The primary endpoint was reduction of urine leakage, measured as change in pad weight baseline week compared with treatment week.

The cytokine profile of menstrual blood.

Introduction: The menstrual cycle is regulated by a complex interplay between endometrial epithelial cells, endothelial cells, immune cells, and sex hormones. To communicate, cells secrete cytokines that have multiple and diverse effects on recipient cells. Knowledge of how these cells interact in the uterus is insufficient.

Correction to: Defined serum- and xeno-free cryopreservation of mesenchymal stem cells.

In the original article, Fig. 1A was by mistakenly duplicated. The corrected image is provided in this correction article.

Population Pharmacokinetic Analysis of Vaginally and Intravenously Administered Oxytocin in Postmenopausal Women.

Oxytocin is a neuropeptide hormone used clinically for more than 50 years due to its ability to induce uterine contractions and milk ejection. Vagitocin is a vaginal oxytocin gel developed as a potential treatment of vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women. The aim of this study was to characterize the oxytocin pharmacokinetics following vaginal and intravenous administration in postmenopausal women.

Treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder with the GABA receptor modulating steroid antagonist Sepranolone (UC1010)-A randomized controlled trial.

Context: Allopregnanolone is a metabolite from progesterone and a positive modulator of the GABA receptor. This endogenous steroid may induce negative mood in sensitive women when present in serum levels comparable to the premenstrual phase. Its endogenous isomer, isoallopregnanolone, has been shown to antagonize allopregnanolone effects in experimental animal and human models.

Annual direct and indirect costs attributable to nocturia in Germany, Sweden, and the UK.

Objective: Our aim was to estimate the prevalence-based cost of illness imposed by nocturia (≥2 nocturnal voids per night) in Germany, Sweden, and the UK in an average year.

Methods: Information obtained from a systematic review of published literature and clinicians was used to construct an algorithm depicting the management of nocturia in these three countries. This enabled an estimation of (1) annual levels of healthcare resource use, (2) annual cost of healthcare resource use, and (3) annual societal cost arising from presenteeism and absenteeism attributable to nocturia in each country.

Oxytocin improves cytological and histological profiles of vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women.

Objective: To investigate if topical oxytocin can reverse vaginal atrophy, as assessed by cytological and histological examination of the vaginal mucosal epithelium, in postmenopausal women after 12 weeks of treatment as compared to placebo.

Study Design: Sixty-eight postmenopausal women diagnosed with vaginal atrophy were randomized for this multicenter, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. Thirty-three women received 600 IU vagitocin, an oxytocin containing gel, and 35 women received a placebo gel intravaginally.

Intravaginally applied oxytocin improves post-menopausal vaginal atrophy.

Objective: To explore the efficacy of local oxytocin for the treatment of post-menopausal vaginal atrophy.

Design: Double-blinded randomised controlled trial.

Setting: Healthy post-menopausal women in Stockholm, Sweden.

Defined serum- and xeno-free cryopreservation of mesenchymal stem cells.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have vast potential in cell therapy, and are experimentally used in the clinic. Therefore, it is critical to find a serum- and xeno-free cryopreservation method. The aim of this study was to compare two serum- and xeno-free cryoprotectants for MSCs.

Defined serum-free media for in vitro expansion of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

Background: There is a growing interest in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) because they are regarded as good candidates for cell therapy. Adipose tissue represents an easily accessible source to derive mesenchymal stem cells (Ad-MSCs) non-invasively in large numbers. The aim of this study was to evaluate a defined serum-free medium for in vitro expansion of MSCs as a prerequisite for their clinical use.

Topical oxytocin reverses vaginal atrophy in postmenopausal women: a double-blind randomized pilot study.

Introduction: Oxytocin is a peptide hormone produced in the hypothalamus and it is best known for its role in labour and lactation. This double-blind, randomized study was performed at Huddinge Hospital of Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm in order to test the effectiveness of topical oxytocin gel in women with postmenopausal vaginal atrophy.

Methods: Twenty postmenopausal women (at least two years after menopause) with symptoms of vaginal atrophy such as vaginal dryness, pain, itching, discomfort and bleeding during intercourse were enrolled in the study when visual inspection of the vagina had confirmed that their mucosa was atrophic.

Vitamin D induction of the human antimicrobial Peptide cathelicidin in the urinary bladder.

The urinary tract is frequently being exposed to potential pathogens and rapid defence mechanisms are therefore needed. Cathelicidin, a human antimicrobial peptide is expressed and secreted by bladder epithelial cells and protects the urinary tract from infection. Here we show that vitamin D can induce cathelicidin in the urinary bladder.

Different estrogen sensitivity of urogenital tissue from women with and without stress urinary incontinence.

Aims: Oral hormone replacement therapy (HRT) based on estradiol-17beta (E2), E2 esters or conjugated equine estrogens gives rise to huge amounts of circulating estrone (E1) as a result of the first liver pass. E1 is an estrogen (ER) receptor agonist but has also been reported to act as a partial E2 antagonist in vitro. Our aim was to investigate the influence of circulating estrogens on estrogen sensitivity of urogenital tissue collagen turnover in patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and in urologically healthy women, with and without HRT, in view of possible effects of E1 as a partial E2 antagonist.

Retest reliability of surface electromyography on the pelvic floor muscles.

Aims: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the retest reliability of repeated intravaginal surface electromyography (surface EMG) of the pelvic floor muscles in healthy women, who were able to perform correct pelvic floor muscle contractions.

Methods: Seventeen nullipara women in the age of 20-35 years completed the measurements. The surface EMG was performed with the subjects in supine position with knees bent.

Efficacy and safety of duloxetine in elderly women with stress urinary incontinence or stress-predominant mixed urinary incontinence.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of duloxetine in community-dwelling women > or =65 years with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) or stress-predominant mixed urinary incontinence (S-MUI) versus placebo.

Methods: Patients were randomly assigned for 12 weeks to placebo (N=134) or duloxetine (N=131) (20mg twice daily [BID] for 2 weeks and 40 mg BID for an additional 10 weeks), followed by a double-blind 4-week dose de-escalation/discontinuation phase. The primary efficacy variable was the percent change in incontinence episode frequency (IEF) from baseline to endpoint.

Endocrine status and markers of collagen synthesis and degradation in serum and urogenital tissue from women with and without stress urinary incontinence.

Aims: To investigate possible differences in androgen/estrogen status between patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and healthy women's and to study possible associations between circulating estrogens and androgens on the one hand and collagen synthesis and metabolism in urogenital tissue on the other.

Methods: Markers of collagen turnover, the carboxy-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP), the carboxy-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP), and the amino-terminal propeptide of procollagen III (PIIINP), were assayed in urogenital tissue homogenates and estradiol-17beta (E2), total testosterone (T), and sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were assayed in peripheral serum from 58 patients with SUI and 30 urologically healthy women. Apparent concentrations of free testosterone (fT) were calculated from T, SHBG, and a fixed albumin value.

Conjugated estrogen/progestagen versus tibolone hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women: Effects on carbohydrate metabolism and serum sex hormone-binding globulin.

Objective: To study the effects of different types of continuous hormone replacement therapy on carbohydrate metabolism.

Method: Postmenopausal women were treated with conjugated estrogens, 0.625 mg/medroxyprogesterone acetate, 2.

Markers of collagen synthesis and degradation in urogenital tissue from women with and without stress urinary incontinence.

Aims: Multiparity and obesity are risk factors for stress urinary incontinence (SUI), but collagen synthesis and metabolism in the urogenital tissue itself may also affect its function and control of micturition. Whether changes in synthesis or degradation of collagen are part of the etiology of SUI is not known and published studies show diverging results. The aims of the present study was to investigate collagen turnover in urogenital tissue in women with SUI (n=71) and in urologically healthy women (n=31).

Difference in mRNA expression and occurrence of plasminogen activator inhibitors in intrauterine decidua of normal and ectopic human pregnancies.

The objective of this study was to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the formation of a functional decidua. The concentrations of plasminogen activators and plasminogen activator inhibitors in intrauterine decidua from normal and ectopic pregnancies were compared. Intrauterine decidua was obtained by curettage from 17 women with ectopic pregnancies and from five women with normal pregnancies.