Salidroside Improves Oocyte Competence of Reproductively Old Mice by Enhancing Mitophagy.

The decline of oocyte quality with advanced maternal age has a detrimental effect on female fertility. However, there is limited knowledge of therapeutic options and their mechanisms to improve oocyte quality in reproductively older women. In this study, we demonstrated that supplementation of salidroside improves the oocyte quality of reproductively old mice.

The Effects of Heat Stress on the Ovary, Follicles and Oocytes: A Systematic Review.

Climate change is driving significant environmental changes with profound implications for human health, including fertility. While the detrimental effects of heat on spermatogenesis are well-documented, the impact of elevated temperatures on ovaries and female fertility remains less explored. This review systematically examines the literature on heat stress (HS) effects on mammalian ovaries, follicles, and oocytes.

Phthalates are detected in the follicular fluid of adolescents and oocyte donors with associated changes in the cumulus cell transcriptome.

Objective: To investigate the follicular fluid (FF) phthalate levels in adolescents undergoing fertility preservation compared with oocyte donors and explore its association with ovarian reserve and cumulus cell (CC) gene expression.

Design: Retrospective study and molecular analysis of CCs and FF.

Setting: Not applicable.

The oocyte microenvironment is altered in adolescents compared to oocyte donors.

Study Question: Do the molecular signatures of cumulus cells (CCs) and follicular fluid (FF) of adolescents undergoing fertility preservation differ from that of oocyte donors?

Summary Answer: The microenvironment immediately surrounding the oocyte, including the CCs and FF, is altered in adolescents undergoing fertility preservation compared to oocyte donors.

What Is Known Already: Adolescents experience a period of subfecundity following menarche. Recent evidence suggests that this may be at least partially due to increased oocyte aneuploidy.

Phthalates are detected in the follicular fluid of adolescents and oocyte donors with associated changes in the cumulus cell transcriptome.

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.

The oocyte microenvironment is altered in adolescents compared to oocyte donors.

Study Question: Are the molecular signatures of cumulus cells (CCs) and follicular fluid (FF) of adolescents undergoing fertility preservation differ from that of reproductively adult oocyte donors?

Summary Answer: The microenvironment immediately surrounding the oocyte, including the CCs and FF, is altered in adolescents undergoing fertility preservation compared to oocyte donors.

What Is Known Already: Adolescents experience a period of subfecundity following menarche. Recent evidence suggests that this may be at least partially due to increased oocyte aneuploidy.

Shear wave elastography to assess stiffness of the human ovary and other reproductive tissues across the reproductive lifespan in health and disease†.

The ovary is one of the first organs to show overt signs of aging in the human body, and ovarian aging is associated with a loss of gamete quality and quantity. The age-dependent decline in ovarian function contributes to infertility and an altered endocrine milieu, which has ramifications for overall health. The aging ovarian microenvironment becomes fibro-inflammatory and stiff with age, and this has implications for ovarian physiology and pathology, including follicle growth, gamete quality, ovulation dynamics, and ovarian cancer.

Cumulus expansion is impaired with advanced reproductive age due to loss of matrix integrity and reduced hyaluronan.

Reproductive aging is associated with ovulatory defects. Age-related ovarian fibrosis partially contributes to this phenotype as short-term treatment with anti-fibrotic compounds improves ovulation in reproductively old mice. However, age-dependent changes that are intrinsic to the follicle may also be relevant.

Intrauterine Insemination After Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Trigger or Luteinizing Hormone Surge: A Meta-analysis.

Objective: To assess the odds of pregnancy after intrauterine insemination (IUI) timed by ultrasound monitoring and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration compared with monitoring luteinizing hormone (LH) levels.

Data Sources: We searched PubMed (MEDLINE), EMBASE (Elsevier), Scopus (Elsevier), Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics), ClinicalTrials.gov (National Institutes of Health), and the Cochrane Library (Wiley) from the inception until October 1, 2022.

Common mechanisms of physiological and pathological rupture events in biology: novel insights into mammalian ovulation and beyond.

Ovulation is a cyclical biological rupture event fundamental to fertilisation and endocrine function. During this process, the somatic support cells that surround the germ cell undergo a remodelling process that culminates in breakdown of the follicle wall and release of a mature egg. Ovulation is driven by known proteolytic and inflammatory pathways as well as structural alterations to the follicle vasculature and the fluid-filled antral cavity.

Morphokinetic parameters of mouse oocyte meiotic maturation and cumulus expansion are not affected by reproductive age or ploidy status.

Introduction: Morphokinetic analysis using a closed time-lapse monitoring system (EmbryoScope + ™) provides quantitative metrics of meiotic progression and cumulus expansion. The goal of this study was to use a physiologic aging mouse model, in which egg aneuploidy levels increase, to determine whether there are age-dependent differences in morphokinetic parameters of oocyte maturation.

Methods: Denuded oocytes and intact cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were isolated from reproductively young and old mice and in vitro matured in the EmbryoScope + ™.

Ovarian volume partially explains associations of phthalate biomarkers with anti-Müllerian hormone and estradiol in midlife women.

Background/objectives: Women are ubiquitously exposed to endocrine disruptors, including phthalates. Ovarian follicles undergoing folliculogenesis (indirectly measured by ovarian volume) produce anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and estradiol (E2). We evaluated associations of phthalates with ovarian volume to assess whether this explained prior positive associations of phthalates with AMH and E2.

Follicle isolation methods reveal plasticity of granulosa cell steroidogenic capacity during mouse in vitro follicle growth.

Follicles are the functional unit of the ovary and several methods have been developed to grow follicles ex vivo, which recapitulate key events of oogenesis and folliculogenesis. Enzymatic digestion protocols are often used to increase the yield of follicles from the ovary. However, the impact of these protocols on the outermost theca and granulosa cells, and thereby follicle function, is not well defined.

Quantitative morphokinetic parameters identify novel dynamics of oocyte meiotic maturation and cumulus expansion†.

Meiotic maturation and cumulus expansion are essential for the generation of a developmentally competent gamete, and both processes can be recapitulated in vitro. We used a closed time-lapse incubator (EmbryoScope+™) to establish morphokinetic parameters of meiotic progression and cumulus expansion in mice and correlated these outcomes with egg ploidy. The average time to germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), time to first polar body extrusion (PBE), and duration of meiosis I were 0.

Fertility Preservation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Modified But Uncompromised.

Throughout COVID-19, our clinic remained operational for patients requiring urgent fertility preservation (FP). This study aimed to characterize changes to clinical protocols during the first wave of COVID-19 and compare outcomes to historical controls. We performed a retrospective cohort study at a university fertility center examining all patients who underwent medically indicated FP cycles during the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) COVID-19 Task Force-recommended suspension of fertility treatment (March 17-May 11, 2020) and patients from the same time period in 2019.

Age-associated changes in cumulus cells and follicular fluid: the local oocyte microenvironment as a determinant of gamete quality.

The ovary is the first organ to age in humans with functional decline evident already in women in their early 30s. Reproductive aging is characterized by a decrease in oocyte quantity and quality, which is associated with an increase in infertility, spontaneous abortions, and birth defects. Reproductive aging also has implications for overall health due to decreased endocrinological output.

Immature Follicular Origins and Disrupted Oocyte Growth Pathways Contribute to Decreased Gamete Quality During Reproductive Juvenescence in Mice.

Egg quality dictates fertility outcomes, and although there is a well-documented decline with advanced reproductive age, how it changes during puberty is less understood. Such knowledge is critical, since advances in Assisted Reproductive Technologies are enabling pre- and peri-pubertal patients to preserve fertility in the medical setting. Therefore, we investigated egg quality parameters in a mouse model of the pubertal transition or juvenescence (postnatal day; PND 11-40).

Menstruation: science and society.

Women's health concerns are generally underrepresented in basic and translational research, but reproductive health in particular has been hampered by a lack of understanding of basic uterine and menstrual physiology. Menstrual health is an integral part of overall health because between menarche and menopause, most women menstruate. Yet for tens of millions of women around the world, menstruation regularly and often catastrophically disrupts their physical, mental, and social well-being.

Baseline Endometrial Thickness or Endometrial Thickness Change in Response to Estrogen Is Not Predictive of Frozen Embryo Transfer Success in Medicated Cycles.

There is some consensus that endometrial thickness (EMT) needs to be at least 7 mm on day of embryo transfer. However, the predictive role of baseline EMT and EMT change in response to estrogen is largely unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of endometrial thickness in frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles.

Embryo through the lens: from time-lapse cinematography to artificial intelligence.

"Once a new technology rolls over you, if you're not part of the steamroller, you're part of the road." -Stewart Brand.

Perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (PEComa) in pregnancy with uterine rupture and ongoing abdominal gestation: A case report.

Perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (PEComa) represent a rare family of tumors characterized by distinct histology and immunohistochemistry characteristics. Approximately one-quarter of reported cases are gynecologic in origin and associated pregnancies are rare. We report a case of PEComa in pregnancy with initial undiagnosed presentation at 18 weeks of gestation and subsequent presentation and diagnosis at 30 weeks of gestation.