Employment of a Newly Defined In Vitro Fertilization Protocol to Determine the Cytoskeletal Machinery, DNA Damage, and Subsequent DNA Repair Resulting from Endocrine Disruption by Hexavalent Chromium in Rat Metaphase II Oocytes.

These protocols describe a detailed method to determine the DNA damage and F-actin and microtubule defects of metaphase II oocytes caused by hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC). The protocol provides systematic steps to determine protein expression encoded by pluripotency proteins such as Oct4, Nanog, and Cdx2 during early embryonic development. Occupational or environmental exposure to EDCs has significantly increased infertility in both men and women.

Development of a dynamic machine learning algorithm to predict clinical pregnancy and live birth rate with embryo morphokinetics.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of generating a center-specific embryo morphokinetic algorithm by time-lapse microscopy to predict clinical pregnancy rates.

Design: A retrospective cohort analysis.

Setting: Academic fertility clinic in a tertiary hospital setting.

Association of ovarian response with picoAMH in women undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation.

Objective: Our study aims to evaluate the diagnostic performance of a high-sensitivity picoAnti-Müllerian Hormone (picoAMH) for predicting ovarian response in women undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation and occurrence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study at a single academic fertility center including all patients with picoAMH ELISA who underwent controlled ovarian hyperstimulation. The primary outcome was the number of oocytes retrieved, and secondary outcomes included cycle cancellation and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome.

The importance of estradiol measurement in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization.

Successful outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) are dependent in part on successful oocyte maturation and retrieval during a controlled ovarian stimulation process, which is guided by serial ultrasound and estradiol measurements. Yet, laboratory analysis of estradiol poses challenges due to the need for accuracy and specificity across concentrations that span multiple orders of magnitude. The Endocrine Society released a 2013 position statement that called for improvements in methods to analyze estradiol, and while some progress has been made in standardization and assay specificity, further work is needed to meet the needs of patients in both the IVF setting and in other clinical contexts.

Validation of the picoAMH assay on the Dynex DS2 platform.

Objectives: Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is increasingly used as a biomarker of ovarian reserve in clinical practice, and is used both for management of fertility treatments and prediction of menopause. We sought to validate the newly FDA-approved Ansh Laboratories MenoCheck picoAMH ELISA on the Dynex-DS2 platform for clinical use in our obstetrics and gynecology center.

Design: Validation of the picoAMH ELISA on the Dynex-DS2 was performed according to CLSI guidelines.