Modulating impact of human chorionic gonadotropin hormone on the maturation and function of hematopoietic cells.

hCG hormone is a naturally occurring, immune-modulating agent, which is highly expressed during pregnancy and causes improvements of some autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease. Little is known about its immune-modulating effects. This study in MNCs of women who received hCG as preconditioning prior to IVF demonstrates that hCG increases anti-inflammatory IL-27 expression and reduces inflammatory IL-17 expression.

[Assisted reproductive techniques: key procedures and results in Germany and Europe].

The wide application of in vitro fertilization (IVF) since the 1980s years has revolutionized the treatment of infertility. Since then more than four million babies have been born following IVF. Diversification of the original IVF has led to many new techniques.

[Significance of insemination in the era of IVF and ICSI].

The first step in the treatment of infertile couples in most cases is the method of intrauterine insemination (IUI), as it is less invasive than the extracorporeal procedures of ART (artificial reproductive techniques). However, in comparison to the methods of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), IUI is discussed controversially, especially in terms of effectiveness and efficacy, for the result of IUI is influenced by multiple factors. Thus, not only methodological aspects, e.

[Testicular sperm extraction and intracytoplasmic sperm injection : Are there useful predictors of pregnancy and take home baby rate?].

Among married couples in Germany, 3-9% suffer from infertility. Due to the tremendous changes in reproductive medicine, several successful approaches including ICSI after operative sperm retrieval are available.The age of the woman has a positive predictive value for the ICSI outcome, but for the male partner no predictive value for any parameter before TESE and ICSI has been demonstrated.

Semen donors in Germany: a study exploring motivations and attitudes.

Background: Germany is one of the countries where donor insemination (DI) is shrouded in secrecy and where, until recently, donors were assured of anonymity, and clinics were able to destroy documents after 10 years. For many years, preparation seminars for recipients have been conducted. Almost all participants of these seminars intend to disclose the nature of conception to their child, thus representing the beginning of a culture change.

Follitropin-alfa for ovarian stimulation during assisted reproduction treatment: a national collaborative study.

This prospective, observational study investigated the efficacy and tolerability of follitropin-alfa for ovarian stimulation in routine clinical practice. The study involved a large, unselected population of women. Stimulation parameters and treatment outcomes were documented for 767 patients who underwent a total of 1098 cycles of follitropin-alfa according to the clinic's standard protocol.

[MESA (microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration) and IVF (in vitro fertilization). A therapy concept in treatment of male infertility].

Microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA), or sperm microaspiration retrieval technique (SMART), in conjunction with in vitro fertilization is a successful therapy in male infertility. From November 1991 to March 1994 a total of 29 attempts at MESA with subsequent IVF were made. Of 48 aspirations, 37 were successful and 13 attempts at IVF were possible, 6 of which were successful with 10 subsequent embryo transfers.

[Cryopreservation of human spermatozoa--evaluation of 93 semen depots].

Cryopreserved semen depots from 93 patients who had terminated contract with the CRYO-BANK-KREFELD were evaluated for prefreeze quality and post-thaw motility after a few days and after long-term storage (mean = 44 month). 2/3 of these patients had onkological disease. Only 20% of the ejaculates were normozoospermic and showed motility after thawing of more than 20%.

Prognostic value of the sperm-penetration-meter test according to Kremer.

An eighteen month follow up of 84 couples with unexplained infertility was analysed to determine the significance of the sperm-penetration-meter test (SPM-test). Pregnancy occurred independently of treatment in 16 couples (19%). The fertile and infertile group displayed no difference in the classical semen parameters such as volume, density and morphology.

[Crossed sperm-penetration-meter test. Prognostic value in male subfertility].

57 infertile couples with "unknown" or "therapy resistant" infertility were investigated by the double crossed sperm-penetration-meter-test (SPM-test). The results of the SPM-test were compared with the results of the postcoital-tests, the duration of infertility, and the male and female diagnosis of infertility. Postcoital tests and SPM-tests showed only in 63% of cases corresponding results.

A new instant cryoprotectant for human sperm.

A new instant cryoprotectant, mainly containing culture medium, human serum albumin, and kallikrein, and its laboratory handling in the cryoprotection of semen are described. A comparative study distributed to three cryobiological centers using either egg yolk citrate medium or instant cryoprotectant showed that neither had a significantly better or worse mean percentage recovery rate. The advantage of the new instant cryoprotectant presented consists clinically in the absence of egg yolk and technically in its easy handling.

Further evaluation of the split ejaculate for artificial insemination.

The role of artificial insemination with husband semen (AIH) in solving fertility problems has been studied by many investigators. Different conclusions have been made due to the variety of indications for AIH. This communication attempts to evaluate the use of the best split ejaculate fraction for AIH in 55 couples in which the only pathological condition was oligozoospermia or oligoasthenozoospermia.

[Menstrual cycle changes during consecutive artificial insemination therapy and their treatment].

Emotional stress-induced problems generated by the application of artificial insemination therapy by donor (AID) are considerable. After 6 months of frustrane insemination treatment, 54% of the women exhibited irregular or anovulatory cycles. Especially the persistent late ovulation often leads to a failure of the mechanisms of conception.

Results of donor artificial insemination (AID) in 415 couples.

During a 4.5-year period 415 spouses of infertile males were treated by artificial insemination with donor semen, resulting in 210 pregnancies (51%). An average of 7.