Effects of astaxanthin supplementation in fertilization medium and/or culture medium on the fertilization and development of mouse oocytes.

Objective: We investigated the effect of supplementing fertilization medium and/or culture medium with astaxanthin (AST) on the two phases of in vitro fertilization: gamete fertilization and embryo development.

Methods: Mouse cumulus-oocyte complexes were divided into four groups with 5 µM AST added to the fertilization medium (group 3, n=300), culture medium (group 2, n=300), or both media (group 4, n=290). No AST was added to the control group (group 1, n=300).

How to correct the impact of ethnicity on effectiveness of the second trimester maternal serum screen of fetal Down syndrome?

To compare the performance of second trimester maternal serum screen (MSS) for fetal Down syndrome in Thai population between the conventional method using Caucasian reference ranges with ethnic factor correction (CRR-EC) and the method using specific Thai reference ranges (TRRs). A prospective database of the MSS project was accessed. The concentrations of alpha fetoprotein (AFP), beta-hCG, and uE3 were converted to their multiple of medians (MoMs) by two methods; CRR-EC for Asian women and TRR.