Publications by authors named "Nino G Cassuto"

Research Question: Are bisphenols released from disposable devices used in assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures, and do they accumulate when several disposable devices are used sequentially under routine conditions?

Design: A comprehensive assessment of 19 individual disposable devices (31 assessments) and nine combinations of disposable devices replicating the main steps in an ART procedure was undertaken. The extraction of bisphenols followed routine-use conditions (temperature and duration). The concentrations of 10 bisphenols were determined using online solid-phase extraction/liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry methodology.

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Assisted reproduction techniques have improved considerably in recent decades, but despite these advances, success rates remain relatively low. Endometrial immune profiling involves the analysis of cytokine biomarkers in the endometrium during the mid-luteal phase. This profiling aims to provide insights into the immune environment of the uterus.

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Introduction: Complex chromosomal rearrangements (CCRs) involve two or more chromosomes and at least three breakpoints. Due to their complexity, they are associated with a high number of unbalanced gametes, whose fertilization is often incompatible with viable fetal development. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is usually offered to those patients and typically shows modest results considering the high number of unbalanced embryos.

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The control of the COVID-19 epidemics has been one global health priorities for the last 2 years. To that end, more reliable and easy-to-use, regardless of age, diagnostic tests are necessary. Considering that, we evaluated an innovative two-step self-test, the AAZ COVID-VIRO ALL IN®, switching from the classic nasal swab to a nasal sponge.

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Choosing spermatozoa with an optimum fertilizing potential is one of the major challenges in assisted reproductive technologies (ART). This selection is mainly based on semen parameters, but the addition of molecular approaches could allow a more functional evaluation. To this aim, we used sixteen fresh sperm samples from patients undergoing ART for male infertility and classified them in the high- and poor-quality groups, on the basis of their morphology at high magnification.

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To control the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemics, it is necessary to have easy-to-use, reliable diagnostic tests available. The nasopharyngeal sampling method being often uncomfortable, nasal sampling could prove to be a viable alternative to the reference sampling method. We performed a multicentre, prospective validation study of the COVID-VIRO® test, using a nasal swab sampling method, in a point-of-care setting.

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Introduction: Interphasic DNA has a constant three-dimensional conformation, which is particularly striking for spermatic DNA, with distinct chromosomal territories and a constant chromosomal conformation. We hypothesized that this organization is fragile, and that an excess or a lack of chromosomal segments could hinder the genomic structure as a whole.

Methods: Five human male chromosomal translocation carriers and five controls were included.

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Background: The prevalence of chromosomal translocations is 1/500 in the general population. While in the vast majority of cases, carriers have a normal phenotype; they can present with difficulty conceiving due to the presence of a proportion of unbalanced gametes as a consequence of abnormal chromosomal segregation during meiosis. Since complex translocations involve three or more chromosomes, meiotic segregation leads to a greater number of possible combinations which effectively complicate both their study and therapeutic care.

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Chromosomal translocations and other balanced rearrangements, although usually associated with a normal phenotype, can lead to the transmission of an abnormal unbalanced genome to the offspring. Balanced and unbalanced spermatozoa, being indistinguishable, cannot be selected or deselected for prior to IVF and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. Spermatozoa from 16 chromosomal rearrangement carriers were studied.

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Objective. To analyze DNA methylation levels between two groups of spermatozoa taken from the same sample, following morphological selection by high magnification (HM) at 6100x microscopy. A prospective study was conducted and studied 876 spermatozoa from 10 randomly selected men.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chromosomal translocations can lead to male infertility and complications in pregnancies, even if they don't show visible abnormalities in phenotype.
  • Research shows that sperm with chromosomal imbalances have increased DNA fragmentation, and separating sperm by density can help differentiate balanced from unbalanced cells.
  • A study measuring sperm nuclear volume found that unbalanced spermatozoa generally have larger nuclei, indicating abnormal DNA condensation, suggesting a method to isolate these cells to improve in vitro fertilization outcomes.*
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  • Balanced chromosomal carriers can face recurrent miscarriages and offspring malformations due to abnormal chromosome transmission, but a sperm preparation method called discontinuous gradient centrifugation (DGC) can reduce the number of unbalanced sperm.
  • A case study of a 37-year-old man with a specific chromosomal translocation demonstrated that DGC lowered the unbalanced sperm proportion from 63.6% to 52.3%, leading to successful intrauterine insemination.
  • This method represents a new option for translocation carriers, offering a less invasive alternative to traditional prenatal diagnosis and preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and has resulted in the first successful birth from this approach in France.
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  • A study was conducted to compare the risk of major birth defects in children conceived through standard ICSI versus morphologically selected sperm ICSI (IMSI) between 2005 and 2010.
  • The study involved 1,028 infants and found that major malformations occurred significantly less in the IMSI group (1.33%) compared to the ICSI group (3.80%).
  • The results suggest that selecting sperm before ICSI may lower the risk of birth defects, particularly in boys, highlighting the potential benefits of using IMSI.
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  • The study investigates whether discontinuous gradient centrifugation (DGC) can reduce the number of unbalanced spermatozoa in men with chromosomal rearrangements, which can cause miscarriages or malformations in offspring.
  • Results show that DGC effectively decreased unbalanced spermatozoa in 20 out of 21 participants, indicating its potential for improving IVF outcomes.
  • However, DGC doesn't completely eliminate unbalanced sperm, and further research is needed to find reliable methods for selecting only balanced sperm for use in IVF procedures.
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  • * A study examined sperm samples from six men with chromosomal rearrangements, using a TUNEL assay combined with FISH to assess DNA fragmentation and chromosomal segregation in their sperm.
  • * Results indicated that unbalanced sperm cells had a higher rate of DNA fragmentation than balanced ones, implying they might be more vulnerable to external factors causing fragmentation, though the exact reasons need further investigation.
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The utility of sperm DNA testing remains controversial. However, it may be helpful in couples with unexplained failures of multiple assisted reproductive techniques and/or recurrent abortions. This study analysed 10,400 spermatozoa of 26 patients for sperm-head morphology with high-magnification microscopy, DNA fragmentation and sperm chromatin decondensation.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to determine if observing sperm at a high magnification (× 6,100) can differentiate between sperm with balanced and unbalanced chromosomal content.
  • Six men with reciprocal translocations and three with Robertsonian translocations were examined using a technique called sperm fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).
  • Results showed that high-magnification observation did not significantly improve the selection of sperm with balanced chromosomes, as the rates remained similar to unselected sperm.
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Objective: To understand the correlation between normalcy of the sperm, fertilization, and early embryo development, and to establish a detailed classification scoring scale for the individual spermatozoon with the highest predictive fertilizing potential in real time during intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Design: A retrospective and analysis.

Setting: Laboratory Drouot.

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