Affordability, negative experiences, perceived racism, and health care system distrust among black American women aged 45 and over.

Black Americans (AA) face a confluence of challenges when seeking care including unaffordable costs, negative experiences with providers, racism, and distrust in the healthcare system. This study utilized linear regressions and mediation analysis to explore the interconnectedness of these challenges within a community-based sample of 313 AA women aged 45 and older. Approximately 23% of participants reported affordability problems, while 44% had a negative experience with a provider.

Treatment with 5-MTHF to support the one-carbon cycle can overcome the deleterious impact of a triple SNP mutation in the male partner's MTHFR gene for a couple with a history of repeated miscarriage.

A couple presenting with more than 3 years' history of infertility and three miscarriages was tested for serum homocysteine levels and for the two principal MTHFR SNPs: 677C < T and 1298A < C, as per our general policy for patients with infertility of long duration. The woman was found to be wild type for both MTHFR SNPs with a serum homocysteine 10.5 µM, slightly higher than our accepted normal value of 8.

Can some metabolic one-carbon cycle linked diseases be prevented? The impact of treating hypo-fertile couples carrying MTHFR SNPs with folic acid and 5-MTHF on outcomes in the offspring: a case retrospective series.

Purpose: In our practice, testing hypo-fertile patients for circulating homocysteine (Hcy) and the two principal MTHFR SNPs (677C > T and 1298A > C) has been routine for the past 7 years. Couples carrying a genetic background known to be associated with the disease were proposed treatment regimens consisting of 5-methyl tetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) together with nutritional support of the one-carbon cycle (1-CC). Some patients preferred to continue with folic acid (FA) as prescribed by their referring gynecologist/obstetrician: this gave us the opportunity to compare outcomes between the two groups of patients.

Initiation and maintenance of the pluripotent epiblast in pre-implantation human development is independent of NODAL signaling.

The human blastocyst contains the pluripotent epiblast from which human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can be derived. ACTIVIN/NODAL signaling maintains expression of the transcription factor NANOG and in vitro propagation of hESCs. It is unknown whether this reflects a functional requirement for epiblast development in human embryos.