Application of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Female Infertility Treatment: Protocols and Preliminary Results.

Infertility is a global phenomenon that impacts people of both the male and the female sex; it is related to multiple factors affecting an individual's overall systemic health. Recently, investigators have been using mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy for female-fertility-related disorders such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), premature ovarian failure (POF), endometriosis, preeclampsia, and Asherman syndrome (AS). Studies have shown promising results, indicating that MSCs can enhance ovarian function and restore fertility for affected individuals.

Bisphenol A correlates with fewer retrieved oocytes in women with tubal factor infertility.

Purpose: Serum and urinary bisphenol A (BPA) concentrations have been associated negatively with the number of retrieved oocytes after in vitro fertilization (IVF). The impact of BPA upon women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and women with tubal factor infertility (TFI), following IVF, was investigated. To this purpose, associations among serum and urinary and follicular fluid (FF) BPA concentrations and the number of retrieved and fertilized oocytes and comparisons between pregnancy rates were evaluated.

Long-Term Metabolic Consequences in Patients with a History of Gestational Diabetes.

Gestational diabetes mellitus is a common metabolic complication of pregnancy. Universal guidelines on gestational diabetes have been impeded by the long-term controversies on its definition and screening strategies. The prevalence of gestational diabetes is rising all over the world, is significantly influenced by ethnicity and its rise is mainly attributed to increasing maternal obesity and age.

Serum Bisphenol A concentrations in men with idiopathic infertility.

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) has been associated with male reproductive dysfunction. However, few studies have assessed BPA according to the cause of male infertility.

Aim: To investigate serum BPA concentrations in infertile men according to infertility cause.

Ethnic variation in the activity of lipid desaturases and their relationships with cardiovascular risk factors in control women and an at-risk group with previous gestational diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Lipid desaturase enzymes mediate the metabolism of fatty acids to long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and their activities are related to metabolic risk factors for Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and coronary heart disease (CHD). There are marked ethnic differences in risks of CHD and T2DM but little is known about ethnic differences in desaturase activities.

Methods: Samples from a study of CVD risk in women with previous gestational diabetes were analysed for percentage fatty acids in plasma free fatty acid, triglyceride, cholesterol ester and phospholipid pools for 89 white European, 53 African Caribbean and 56 Asian Indian women.

Epidemiological characteristics of children with autoimmune thyroid disease.

Objective: Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) is the most common cause of thyroid disease in children. The aim of the study was to define the epidemiological clinical and laboratory characteristics of children and adolescents with AT.

Design: Various parameters including thyroid ultrasonography of 228 children and adolescents aged 10.

Primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease: a case report in a 7-year-old girl.

Primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease (PPNAD) is a rare cause of Cushing syndrome in children, often occurring in association with Carney complex. We report a case of Cushing syndrome due to isolated non-familial PPNAD. The child presented with typical clinical characteristics, growth retardation and obesity.

Sex determination and disorders of sex development according to the revised nomenclature and classification in 46,XX individuals.

There have been considerable advances concerning understanding of the early and later stages of ovarian development; a number of genes have been implicated and their mutations have been associated with developmental abnormalities. The most important genes controlling the initial phase of gonadal development, identical in females and males, are Wilms' tumor suppressor 1 (WT1) and steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1). Four genes are likely to be involved in the subsequent stages of ovarian development (WNT4, DAX1, FOXL2 and RSPO1), but none is yet proven to be the ovarian determining factor.

Treatment with thyroxine reduces thyroid volume in euthyroid children and adolescents with chronic autoimmune thyroiditis.

Background/aims: Treatment with thyroxine in children with chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) is controversial. The aim of this study is to investigate, by using thyroid ultrasonography, whether thyroxine influences thyroid volume in non-goitrous euthyroid children with AT.

Methods: We studied 50 euthyroid non-goitrous children and adolescents with AT for 2 years by thyroid function tests and ultrasonography; 25 were randomized to receive thyroxine and 25 did not receive treatment.

Pleiotropic genetic syndromes with developmental abnormalities associated with obesity.

Childhood obesity is a common and complex problem that may persist in adulthood. It may present as a component of genetic syndromes associated with dysmorphic features, developmental abnormalities, mental retardation and/or learning disabilities and often neuroendocrine dysfunction. Although the chromosomal abnormalities of these rare syndromes are already known, the specific genetic and pathophysiological mechanisms leading to the distinct phenotypes and obesity still remain unclarified.

Growth hormone deficiency in a patient with autoimmune polyendocrinopathy type 2.

Autoimmune polyglandular syndrome (APs) type 2 is characterized by the presence of Addison's disease, in association with autoimmune thyroid disease and/or type 1 diabetes mellitus and is rare in children. A 12.5 yr old prepubertal boy presented with symptoms related to Addison's disease and a large goiter.

Early metabolic defects following gestational diabetes in three ethnic groups of anti-GAD antibodies negative women with normal fasting glucose.

Objective: To characterise early metabolic abnormalities and the impact of ethnicity following gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Design: Women with a history of GDM belonging to three different ethnic groups were evaluated. Using the insulin-modified, frequently-sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIVGTT) and HOMA we studied 34 European, 16 South Asian and 10 Afro-Caribbean women with normal fasting glucose following GDM and 44 European, 16 South Asian and 19 Afro-Caribbean controls to assess insulin action and secretion.

Premature adrenarche leads to polycystic ovary syndrome? Long-term consequences.

Premature adrenarche is characterized by an early increase in adrenal androgen production that results in the development of pubic hair before the age of 8 years in girls and 9 years in boys, with or without axillary hair, and with no other signs of sexual development. Premature adrenarche has no adverse effects on the onset and progression of gonadarche and final height. However, it can no longer be considered a benign condition as it has been associated with hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia, and obesity already in the prepubertal period and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at adolescence.

Polycystic ovary syndrome. Revised diagnostic criteria and long-term health consequences.

The diagnostic criteria for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have recently been revised. The polycystic ovarian morphology has been introduced as part of the criteria and an international consensus has been achieved providing the basis for future research and collaboration. It is now accepted that polycystic ovary syndrome has important long-term health implications, including metabolic disorders and increased risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Ectopic thyroid tissue in the lower neck with a coexisting normally located multinodular goiter and brief literature review.

Ectopic thyroid tissue in the lower neck with a coexisting normally located multinodular goiter is a rare entity. We present a 27-year old asymptomatic woman with a recent history of a painless mass in the left side of her lower neck. Thyroid function tests were normal.

The impact of ethnicity on glucose regulation and the metabolic syndrome following gestational diabetes.

Aims/hypothesis: We assessed the impact of ethnic origin on metabolism in women following gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).

Materials And Methods: Glucose regulation and other features of the metabolic syndrome were studied at 20.0 (18.

Prevalence of polycystic ovaries in women with androgenic alopecia.

Objective: Although androgenic alopecia is recognised to be a symptom of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), it is not known whether polycystic ovaries (PCO) and associated endocrine abnormalities are present in patients who present with alopecia as a primary complaint. We therefore set out to determine the strength of the association between androgenic alopecia and PCO. We examined the prevalence of ultrasound-based polycystic ovarian morphology and associated clinical and biochemical features in a large multiethnic group of women whose presenting complaint was of alopecia, and in a control group.

Insulin resistance and beta-cell dysfunction in normoglycaemic European women with a history of gestational diabetes.

Objective: Women with previous gestational diabetes (GDM) are at increased risk of subsequent type 2 diabetes. To characterize early metabolic abnormalities associated with this increased risk, we studied normoglycaemic women with a history of GDM.

Patients And Measurements: We performed an insulin-modified, frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIVGTT) in 34 normoglycaemic European women with previous GDM and 44 European control women, deriving measures of insulin sensitivity, glucose effectiveness, glucose disappearance rate and acute insulin response to glucose.

Delayed metabolic and thermogenic response to a mixed meal in normoglycemic European women with previous gestational diabetes.

We assessed postprandial thermogenesis (PPT) for 3 h following a mixed meal in 29 normoglycemic European women with previous gestational diabetes (GDM), compared with 37 control women. Given the potential role of catecholamines and insulin in the regulation of PPT, we assessed insulin and catecholamine responses to the meal. There was no significant difference between the two groups in resting energy expenditure, PPT (although lower in the GDM group), or catecholamine levels.

Elevation of soluble E-selectin levels following gestational diabetes is restricted to women with persistent abnormalities of glucose regulation.

Objective: Increased levels of the soluble adhesion molecule sE-selectin have been reported in normoglycaemic women with previous gestational diabetes but not in other groups at increased risk of future type 2 diabetes. To explore the basis for these discrepant findings, we studied the relationship between sE-selectin and glucose regulation in a large group of women with previous gestational diabetes.

Design: Comparison of sE-selectin levels between a study cohort ascertained on the basis of recent gestational diabetes and suitable control subjects.

Prevalence and features of pancreatic islet cell autoimmunity in women with gestational diabetes from different ethnic groups.

Objective: To assess the prevalence and characteristics of islet cell autoimmunity amongst women with gestational diabetes selected from South Asian and Afro-Caribbean as well as European populations.

Design: Cross-sectional retrospective survey of subject cohort.

Population: Three hundred and twenty-one women with a recent history of gestational diabetes (173 European, 86 South Asian and 62 Afro-Caribbean), a median (range) of 22 (1-150) months postpartum.

Evidence that single nucleotide polymorphism in the uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) gene influences fat distribution in women of European and Asian origin.

Aims/hypothesis: Uncoupling proteins are mitochondrial transmembrane carriers implicated in the regulation of energy balance. Dysfunction of UCP3 (the predominant uncoupling protein in skeletal muscle) might therefore be expected to reduce thermogenic capacity, alter energy homeostasis and influence predisposition to obesity and Type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. A variant in the putative promoter region of UCP3 (-55 c-->t) has recently been identified, and an association with obesity reported in French subjects.

Women with a history of gestational diabetes of European and South Asian origin are shorter than women with normal glucose tolerance in pregnancy.

Aims: It has been reported that short individuals are more likely to have abnormalities of glucose homeostasis. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between adult height and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), taking into account possible artefactual or confounding explanations.

Methods: Three hundred and forty-six women with previous GDM (169 European, 102 South Asian, 75 Afro-Caribbean) and 470 control women with no previous history of GDM (282 European, 94 South Asian and 94 Afro-Caribbean) were studied.