Paternal HLA-Derived Epitopes and Live Birth in Secondary Recurrent Pregnancy Loss: New Insights From a Clinical Trial.

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), defined as two or more pregnancy losses before the 24th week of gestation, affects 1%-3% of women worldwide. Approximately, 40% of RPL cases are secondary RPL (sRPL), where women have given birth before facing pregnancy losses. The underlying causes of RPL remain unclear, but immune-related factors may play a role.

Defining Vaginal Community Dynamics: daily microbiome transitions, the role of menstruation, bacteriophages, and bacterial genes.

Background: The composition of the vaginal microbiota during the menstrual cycle is dynamic, with some women remaining eu- or dysbiotic and others transitioning between these states. What defines these dynamics, and whether these differences are microbiome-intrinsic or mostly driven by the host is unknown. To address this, we characterized 49 healthy, young women by metagenomic sequencing of daily vaginal swabs during a menstrual cycle.

Evaluating risk factors in recurrent pregnancy loss: A prospective cohort study and its impact on live birth outcomes.

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) affects 1-2 % of all couples trying to conceive and is a challenging heterogeneous condition. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and impact of various risk factors in patients suffering from RPL. We performed a prospective cohort study including patients at the tertiary RPL Unit in the Capital Region of Denmark between 1st January 2000 and 1st January 2023.

Investigations of microbiota composition and neuroactive pathways in association with symptoms of stress and depression in a cohort of healthy women.

Background: Despite mounting evidence of gut-brain involvement in psychiatric conditions, functional data remain limited, and analyses of other microbial niches, such as the vaginal microbiota, are lacking in relation to mental health. This aim of this study was to investigate if the connections between the gut microbiome and mental health observed in populations with a clinical diagnosis of mental illness extend to healthy women experiencing stress and depressive symptoms. Additionally, this study examined the functional pathways of the gut microbiota according to the levels of psychological symptoms.

Prospective reproductive outcomes according to sperm parameters, including DNA fragmentation, in recurrent pregnancy loss.

Research Question: Are the prospective reproductive outcomes in couples experiencing recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) related to the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI), as measured by sperm chromatin structure assay, sperm morphology and sperm concentration at referral?

Design: This prospective cohort study included 95 couples seen between 1 April 2018 and 1 December 2019 at the tertiary Copenhagen RPL Unit, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet and Hvidovre Hospital, Denmark. The couples had experienced three or more unexplained consecutive pregnancy losses or two late pregnancy losses (>12 weeks gestation). Follow-up was 12-31 months.

Smoking and recurrent pregnancy loss: A cohort study of 2829 women.

Smoking during pregnancy is associated with negative reproductive outcome. Less is known about the impact of smoking or previous smoking in women with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) which this study aimed to investigate. We included all women <42 years (n=2829) referred to a RPL unit at Copenhagen University Hospital between January 2000 and December 2021 in the cohort with follow-up until June 2022.

The microbiome in recurrent pregnancy loss - A scoping review.

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is a troubling condition that affects couples worldwide. Despite extensive research efforts, many RPL cases remain unexplained, highlighting the need for novel approaches to unravel its underlying mechanisms. Recent advances in microbiome research have shed light on the potential role of the microbiome in reproductive health and outcomes.

Full-Body Kinematics and Vertical Ground Reaction Forces in Elite Ten-Pin Bowling: A Field Study.

The purpose was to investigate full-body kinematics and vertical ground reaction forces in the lower extremities of the delivery and to determine delivery changes over time after many deliveries in ten-pin bowling. Six male elite ten-pin bowlers completed six bouts of twelve bowling deliveries, all strike attempts, while measuring full-body kinematics and vertical ground reaction forces. Full-body joint angles, peak vertical ground reaction forces in the feet, vertical breaking impulse, centre of mass velocity, bowling score, and ball release velocity (BR) were measured.

The development of an indel panel for microchimerism detection.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to create a simple assay for microchimerism detection independent of sex and without HLA genotyping.

Methods: The method is based on detection of insertion or deletions utilizing a multiplex PCR followed by fragment analysis by capillary electrophoresis, and probe-based qPCR assays. A total of 192 samples, taken either before pregnancy, during 1st trimester, or either during 2nd trimester or at miscarriage, obtained from a cohort of 97 female patients with either primary or secondary recurrent pregnancy loss, were screened for fetal microchimerism by the indel panel as well as an existing assay based on detection of the Y-chromosome marker; DYS14.

The healthy female microbiome across body sites: effect of hormonal contraceptives and the menstrual cycle.

Study Question: How does hormonal contraceptive use and menstrual cycle phase affect the female microbiome across different body sites?

Summary Answer: The menstrual cycle phase, but not hormonal contraceptive use, is associated with the vaginal and oral but not the gut microbiome composition in healthy young women.

What Is Known Already: Women with low vaginal levels of Lactobacillus crispatus are at increased risk of pre-term birth, fertility treatment failure, sexually transmitted infections and gynaecological cancers. Little is known about the effect of hormonal fluctuations on other body site's microbiomes as well as the interplay between them.

The microbiome in reproductive health: protocol for a systems biology approach using a prospective, observational study design.

Study Question: What is the microbiome profile across different body sites in relation to the normal menstrual cycle (with and without hormonal contraception), recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) (before and during pregnancy, pregnancy loss or birth) and endometriosis (before, during and after surgery)? How do these profiles interact with genetics, environmental exposures, immunological and endocrine biomarkers?

What Is Known Already: The microbiome is a key factor influencing human health and disease in areas as diverse as immune functioning, gastrointestinal disease and mental and metabolic disorders. There is mounting evidence to suggest that the reproductive microbiome may be influential in general and reproductive health, fertility and pregnancy outcomes.

Study Design Size Duration: This is a prospective, longitudinal, observational study using a systems biology approach in three cohorts totalling 920 participants.

Feelings of guilt and loss of control dominate in stress and depression inventories from women with recurrent pregnancy loss.

Purpose: Which feelings on the major depression inventory (MDI) and the perceived stress scale (PSS) are predominant among women with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL)?

Materials And Methods: Prospective cohort study of women with RPL referred to the tertiary RPL Unit at Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Denmark, from 2010-2013. All women answered the MDI and PSS at time of referral.

Results: In total, 298 women completed the MDI and the PSS, of which 162 had primary RPL and 136 secondary RPL.

Meditation and mindfulness reduce perceived stress in women with recurrent pregnancy loss: a randomized controlled trial.

Research Question: Can participating in a tailored 7-week meditation and mindfulness programme with additional standard supportive care versus standard supportive care only reduce perceived stress for women with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL)?

Design: A two-armed randomized controlled trial (RCT) with 12-month follow-up. In total 76 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to either standard supportive care or to a 7-week meditation and mindfulness programme led by an instructor in addition to standard supportive care.

Results: At intervention completion (after 7 weeks), perceived stress decreased significantly both in the intervention group (P = 0.

Stress and depression among women and men who have experienced recurrent pregnancy loss: focusing on both sexes.

Research Question: Are women and men suffering from recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) more affected by psychological stress and depression than the general population?

Design: Cross-sectional study investigating the prevalence of stress and depression in women and men with RPL seen in the Danish national RPL Unit. Data were collected between 2015-2018. All newly referred couples were asked to complete the Major Depression Index (MDI) and Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).

Dysbiosis of the Human Oral Microbiome During the Menstrual Cycle and Vulnerability to the External Exposures of Smoking and Dietary Sugar.

Physiological hormonal fluctuations exert endogenous pressures on the structure and function of the human microbiome. As such, the menstrual cycle may selectively disrupt the homeostasis of the resident oral microbiome, thus compromising oral health. Hence, the aim of the present study was to structurally and functionally profile the salivary microbiome of 103 women in reproductive age with regular menstrual cycle, while evaluating the modifying influences of hormonal contraceptives, sex hormones, diet, and smoking.

HLA-DRB1 polymorphism in recurrent pregnancy loss: New evidence for an association to HLA-DRB1*07.

Many cases of recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) defined as ≥3 consecutive pregnancy losses are suggested to be caused by an aberrant maternal immune response against the fetus or trophoblast. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DRB1 and -DQB1 polymorphisms are associated with most autoimmune disorders and studies of HLA-DBB1 polymorphism in RPL patients are thus relevant. In previous studies, the HLA-DRB1*03 allele was found with increased prevalence in RPL patients.

Assessment of and Protocols for Sequence-Based Characterization of the Human Vaginal Microbiome.

The vaginal microbiome has been connected to a wide range of health outcomes. This has led to a thriving research environment but also to the use of conflicting methodologies to study its microbial composition. Here, we systematically assessed best practices for the sequencing-based characterization of the human vaginal microbiome.

Serum ferritin level is inversely related to number of previous pregnancy losses in women with recurrent pregnancy loss.

Objective: To study whether low serum ferritin (s-ferritin) levels are associated with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), and whether low s-ferritin predicts the risk of another pregnancy loss or the ability to conceive.

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: Fertility clinic at a university hospital.

Treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin in patients with recurrent pregnancy loss: An update.

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) has a documented clinical effect in many autoimmune diseases and has so far been tested in >10 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in women with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). The results of the RCTs have, however, been very divergent. In meta-analyses of all trials, no significant impact on live birth rate has been reported.

Recurrent pregnancy loss: couples' perspectives on their need for treatment, support and follow up.

Study Question: What do couples referred to or attending a recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) clinic believe they need in terms of treatment, support and follow up?

Summary Answer: Men and women wish for more information, earlier access to treatment, support and follow up that is sensitive to their history of pregnancy loss (PL), includes both members of the couple, and acknowledges the psychological impact of RPL.

What Is Known Already: Previous research has highlighted women's dissatisfaction with medical care provided post-PL and their desire for medical professionals to have increased awareness about PL and recognition of the psychological impact of PL. Less is known about the needs of the male partner, the needs of those experiencing RPL and whether the needs differ during different reproductive stages.

Extrasystoles for fluid responsiveness prediction in critically ill patients.

Background: Fluid responsiveness prediction with continuously available monitoring is an unsettled matter for the vast majority of critically ill patients, and development of new and reliable methods is desired. We hypothesized that the post-ectopic beat, which is associated with increased preload, could be analyzed in relation to preceding sinus beats and that the change in cardiac performance (e.g.

Barriers and facilitators to using a web-based tool for diagnosis and monitoring of patients with depression: a qualitative study among Danish general practitioners.

Background: Depression constitutes a significant part of the global burden of diseases. General practice plays a central role in diagnosing and monitoring depression. A telemedicine solution comprising a web-based psychometric tool may reduce number of visits to general practice and increase patient empowerment.