Biomarkers of oxidative stress and reproductive complications.

Oxidative stress is the result of an imbalance between the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the levels of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants. The assessment of biological redox status is performed by the use of oxidative stress biomarkers. An oxidative stress biomarker is defined as any physical structure or process or chemical compound that can be assessed in a living being (in vivo) or in solid or fluid parts thereof (in vitro), the determination of which is a reproducible and reliable indicator of oxidative stress.

Effect of magnesium sulfate on the osmotic fragility and lipid peroxidation of intact red blood cells from pregnant women with severe preeclampsia.

Objective: To evaluate the osmotic fragility and level of lipid peroxidation of red blood cells from pregnant women with severe preeclampsia, treated or not with MgSO(4).

Methods: Osmotic fragility and lipid peroxidation of red blood cells was evaluated in 11 normotensive pregnant women and eleven pregnant women with severe preeclampsia.

Results: MgSO(4) therapy, either in vivo or in vitro, leads to a reduction of the osmotic fragility and the level of lipid peroxidation of red blood cells from pregnant women with severe preeclampsia.

[New biochemical and molecular aspects of estrogen's action].

Estrogens have several biologic actions. The specific nuclear actions of estrogens are determined by the hormone structure, the isoform subtype of the involved estrogen receptor, the characteristics of the target gene promoter, and the balance between coactivator and corepressor proteins that modulate the final transcriptional response of the complex between estrogens and its receptors. In this review we focus on the new biochemical and molecular aspects of the estrogens action.

[Selective estrogen receptors modulators (SERMs): biochemistry, pharmacology, and clinical use in gynecology].

The selective strogen receptors modulators (SERMs) were initially developed as antistrogens for the treatment of breast cancer, but their unusual properties have led to their use in the treatment and prevention of other diseases as well. SERMs bind the strogen receptor (ER) and modulated ER-mediated gene transcription. Tamoxifen is an effective treatment for hormone responsive breast cancer and can prevent breast cancer in high-risk women.

Effect of magnesium sulfate on the calcium-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase activity and lipid peroxidation of red blood cell membranes from preeclamptic women.

The effect of the treatment with magnesium sulfate (MgSO(4)) on Ca-ATPase activity and level of lipid peroxidation of red blood cells from preeclamptic pregnant women was examined because it is known that these parameters are affected with preeclampsia. Red cell ghosts from 11 normotensive and 11 preeclamptic pregnant women, before and after treatment with MgSO(4), were assayed for Ca-ATPase activity and level of lipid peroxidation, determined as TBARS or conjugated dienes. It was found that the Ca-ATPase activity is significantly lower and the level of lipid peroxidation is significantly higher in the preeclamptic women with no treatment, as compared to normotensive pregnant women.

[Current evaluation of male infertility].

An understanding of the physiologic events of male fertility provides a logical and practical organizational framework for dealing with the causes of infertility in men based its pathophysiology. The several disorders that cause male infertility emphasize the heterogeneous nature of infertility and the need for an integral clinical evaluation. Usually, semen analysis provides the first sign that a male factor is contributing to the couple's infertility.

[Progesterone antagonists: biochemical and pharmacological aspects and clinical usefulness].

Although classically the antiprogestins have been used for the control of pregnancy diseases and adrenal function, in the medical literature are a plenty of papers about the treatment with progesterone antagonists of leiomyoma, breast cancer, endometriosis and meningioma. The treatment is beneficial or mitigating in greatest number of cases, but they have other different uses than usual like contraception and abortion.