Relationship between risk factors for infertility in women and lead, cadmium, and arsenic blood levels: a cross-sectional study from Taiwan.

Background: The World Health Organization reported that more than 10 % of women are severely affected by infertility, making the condition a major worldwide public health problem. Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As) are environmental pollutants that may contribute to reproductive disorders. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between blood concentrations of Pb, Cd, and As and risk factors for infertility in women.

Preliminary study of blood methylmercury effects on reproductive hormones and relevant factors among infertile and pregnant women in Taiwan.

Methylmercury (MeHg) is the most poisonous mercury species and an endocrine-disrupting chemical that could cause reproductive and developmental harm effects in animals. In this study, we recruited 310 infertile women and 57 pregnant women and investigated their blood MeHg levels. The distribution of blood reproductive hormone, selenium and zinc levels, and the difference of relevant factors by the reference level of blood MeHg (5.

Dietary intake, glucose metabolism and sex hormones in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) compared with women with non-PCOS-related infertility.

The present study investigated dietary intake, glucose metabolism and sex hormones in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). A total of forty-five women (aged 25–40 years) with PCOS and 161 control women (aged 25–43 years) with non-PCOS-related infertility were recruited. Anthropometry, glucose tolerance and sex hormones were determined and dietary intake was assessed.

Prevalence of insulin resistance and determination of risk factors for glucose intolerance in polycystic ovary syndrome: a cross-sectional study of Chinese infertility patients.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of abnormalities in glucose metabolism in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and control infertility patients in Taiwan, and to determine the predictive risk factors for PCOS.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Infertility Center, Taiwan Adventist Hospital.

Abnormal preconception oral glucose tolerance test predicts an unfavorable pregnancy outcome after an in vitro fertilization cycle.

Objective: To determine the relationship between the 75-g oral glucose tolerance test and pregnancy outcome after women's first IVF cycle.

Design: Prospective study.

Setting: Infertility center at a private tertiary hospital in Taiwan.

Correlation between fluorescence in situ hybridization and testicular biopsy for the prediction of spermatogenesis in 37 patients with nonobstructive azoospermia.

Objectives: We applied interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to testis sections to examine the evidence of spermatogenesis in patients with nonobstructive azoospermia. This technique was evaluated and compared with conventional testicular histopathologic findings for the possibility of additional clinical applications.

Methods: Thirty-seven consecutive patients with nonobstructive azoospermia were carefully evaluated clinically.