Association between cigarette smoking and ovarian reserve among women seeking fertility care.

Introduction: This study examined the association of smoking with ovarian reserve in a cross-sectional study of 207 women enrolled in the Louisville Tobacco Smoke Exposure, Genetic Susceptibility, and Infertility (LOUSSI) Study and assessed effect modification by NAT2 acetylator phenotype.

Methods: Information on current smoking status was collected using a structured questionnaire and confirmed by cotinine assay. Serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels were used to assess ovarian reserve.

Effects of cadmium and high-fat diet on essential metal concentration in the mouse testis.

The effects of exposure to the environmental toxicant cadmium, in combination with obesity, on the metal content in mouse testis were evaluated. Starting in utero and continuing through to 10 or 24 weeks post-weaning, male mice were exposed to cadmium (0, 0.5 or 5 ppm), and fed either a low (LFD) or high fat diet (HFD) post-weaning.

Mitochondria in Ovarian Aging and Reproductive Longevity.

Mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the hallmarks of aging. Consistently mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number and function decline with age in various tissues. There is increasing evidence to support that mitochondrial dysfunction drives ovarian aging.

Levels of angiogenic markers in second-trimester maternal serum from in vitro fertilization pregnancies with oocyte donation.

Objective: To determine whether differences exist in angiogenic placental growth factor (PlGF) and antiangiogenic soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (sVEGFR-1; both being early markers of placental ischemic disease) in oocyte-donation (OD) pregnancies, compared with autologous in vitro fertilization (aIVF) and spontaneous pregnancies.

Design: Case-control study of residual second-trimester serum samples from women undergoing prenatal screening.

Setting: Academic medical center.

Minichromosome maintenance complex component 8 and 9 gene expression in the menstrual cycle and unexplained primary ovarian insufficiency.

Purpose: DNA repair genes Minichromosome maintenance complex component (MCM) 8 and 9 have been linked with gonadal development, primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), and age at menopause. Our objective was to characterize MCM 8 and 9 gene expression in the menstrual cycle, and to compare MCM 8/9 expression in POI vs normo-ovulatory women.

Methods: Normo-ovulatory controls (n = 11) and unexplained POI subjects (n = 6) were recruited.

Reduced levels of miRNAs 449 and 34 in sperm of mice and men exposed to early life stress.

Exposure of male mice to early life stress alters the levels of specific sperm miRNAs that promote stress-associated behaviors in their offspring. To begin to evaluate whether similar phenomena occur in men, we searched for sperm miRNA changes that occur in both mice and men exposed to early life stressors that have long-lasting effects. For men, we used the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) questionnaire.

Probing the potential of mucus permeability to signify preterm birth risk.

Preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal mortality, and is frequently associated with intra-amniotic infection hypothesized to arise from bacterial ascension across a dysfunctional cervical mucus plug. To study this dysfunction, we assessed the permeability of cervical mucus from non-pregnant ovulating (n = 20) and high- (n = 9) and low-risk (n = 16) pregnant women to probes of varying sizes and surface chemistries. We found that the motion of negatively charged, carboxylated microspheres in mucus from pregnant patients was significantly restricted compared to ovulating patients, but not significantly different between high- and low-risk pregnant women.

The Value of Anti-Müllerian Hormone in Predicting Clinical Pregnancy After Intrauterine Insemination.

Objectives: To evaluate the utility of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) in predicting clinical pregnancy with intrauterine insemination (IUI) and compare it to other markers of quantitative ovarian reserve.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of women undergoing natural and stimulated IUI cycles. All patients achieved a clinical pregnancy within three IUI cycles or completed three IUI cycles without pregnancy.

Mitotically Active Leiomyoma in a Woman with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser Syndrome: A Case Report.

Background: Cases of women with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome developing leiomyomata are rare. A case with mitotically active leiomyomata has not previously been described to our knowledge.

Case: A 43-year-old woman with MRKH syndrome found to have an incidental pelvic mass on imaging studies underwent a diagnostic laparoscopy, followed by resection of leiomyomata and uterine remnant via mini laparotomy.

Nonsurgical management of primary ovarian pregnancy with transvaginal ultrasound-guided local administration of methotrexate.

Primary ovarian pregnancy is a rare form of ectopic gestation and one that is often diagnosed only at the time of surgery. We report the first case to our knowledge of a live primary ovarian pregnancy diagnosed by transvaginal ultrasonography and successfully treated with transvaginal-guided aspiration and injection of methotrexate. Primary ovarian pregnancy can be diagnosed early in gestation with transvaginal sonography, affording the opportunity to successfully be managed with local administration of methotrexate.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate, a natural polyphenol, inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in human ovarian cancer cells.

Background: Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a polyphenol constituent present in green tea previously shown to inhibit cancer growth. However, studies on human ovarian cancer are limited. This study evaluated, the effects of EGCG as a potential anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic agent in the human ovarian cancer line, SKOV-3.

Body mass index and intercourse compliance.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between body mass index and intercourse compliance in the Reproductive Medicine Network's Pregnancy in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (RMN PPCOS) Trial.

Design: Post hoc data analysis of subjects in the RMN PPCOS Trial.

Setting: Academic medical centers.

Intercourse compliance, ovulation, and treatment success in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development-Reproductive Medicine Network's Pregnancy in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PPCOS) Trial.

Objective: To investigate the relationship among intercourse compliance, ovulation, and the occurrence of pregnancy in the Reproductive Medicine Network's Pregnancy in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (RMNPPCOS) Trial.

Design: Post hoc data analysis of subjects in the Reproductive Medicine Network PPCOS Trial.

Setting: Academic medical centers.

Predictive value of preimplantation genetic diagnosis for aneuploidy screening in repeated IVF-ET cycles among women with recurrent implantation failure.

Objective: To determine the predictive value of euploid embryos in women with recurrent implantation failure undergoing repeated IVF-ET cycles with PGD (PGD).

Design: Cohort of IVF-PGD cycles in a tertiary care ART facility. MATERIALS AND METHOD(S): Fifty-five consecutive patients with repeated implantation failure (more than three failed IVF-ET cycles) underwent two or more PGD cycles for aneuploidy testing.

Eosinophilic perifolliculitis presenting as a painful cystic ovarian mass in a woman with fibromyalgia: a case report.

Background: Autoimmune oophoritis is characterized by an ovarian lymphocytic infiltrate and is a rare finding in women with premature ovarian failure. Eosinophilic perifolliculitis is a possible variant of autoimmune oophoritis, of which the pathogenesis and natural history are largely unknown.

Case: A 45-year-old woman, gravida 2, para 2, status post total abdominal hysterectomy, presented to her internist complaining of cyclic, throbbing, right lower quadrant pain.

PGD analysis for aneuploidy in a patient heterozygous for a polymorphism of chromosome 16 (16qh-).

Objectives: Detection and study of a polymorphism of chromosome 16qh in preimplantational embryos as well as in peripheral blood from the carrier.

Methods: A polymorphism of chromosome 16 (16qh-) was detected in PGD analysis for aneuploidy using a probe for the centromeric region of chromosome 16. The lack of pericentromeric heterochromatin in one of the chromosomes 16 could lead to misdiagnosis in PGD.

Vulvar vestibulitis syndrome: reliability of diagnosis and evaluation of current diagnostic criteria.

Objective: To assess the reliability of the diagnosis of vulvar vestibulitis as defined by Friedrich and to evaluate the usefulness of Friedrich's criteria in the diagnostic process.

Methods: In a university hospital, 146 women with dyspareunia had two sets of gynecologic examinations involving vulvar pain ratings, took part in structured interviews, and completed the McGill-Melzack Pain Questionnaire.

Results: Kappa values for the vulvar vestibulitis diagnosis ranged from 0.

A randomized comparison of group cognitive--behavioral therapy, surface electromyographic biofeedback, and vestibulectomy in the treatment of dyspareunia resulting from vulvar vestibulitis.

This study compared group cognitive-behavioral therapy (12-week trial), surface electromyographic biofeedback (12-week trial), and vestibulectomy in the treatment of dyspareunia resulting from vulvar vestibulitis. Subjects were 78 women randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions and assessed at pretreatment, posttreatment and 6-month follow-up via gynecological examinations, structured interviews and standard questionnaires pertaining to pain (Pain Rating Index and Sensory scale of the McGill Pain Questionnaire, vestibular pain index, pain during intercourse), sexual function (Sexual History Form, frequency of intercourse, Information subscale of the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory), and psychological adjustment (Brief Symptom Inventory). As compared with pretreatment, study completers of all treatment groups reported statistically significant reductions on pain measures at posttreatment and 6-month follow-up, although the vestibulectomy group was significantly more successful than the two other groups.

Vulvar vestibulitis syndrome: a critical review.

Objective: Vulvar vestibulitis syndrome (VVS) is thought to be the most frequent cause of dyspareunia in premenopausal women and is one of the major subtypes of vulvodynia. Vulvar vestibulitis is a chronic, persistent clinical syndrome characterized by severe pain on vestibular touch or attempted vaginal entry, exquisite tenderness to a cotton-swab palpation of the vestibular area, and physical findings confined to vestibular erythema. The purpose of this paper is to critically review the descriptive, diagnostic, etiologic, and treatment studies on VVS.

Comparison of reoperation for moderate (stage III) and severe (stage IV) endometriosis-related infertility with in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of reoperation for stage III or IV endometriosis-related infertility versus IVF-ET.

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: In vitro fertilization-embryo transfer unit and tertiary infertility clinic.

The effect of antisperm autoantibodies in male or female partners undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of sperm bound autoantibodies on the outcome of IVF-ET.

Design: Couples with positive antisperm autoantibodies as determined by the immunobead test were retrospectively classified into two groups: group A, consisting of 15 couples with positive antisperm antibodies in the female sera; and group B, consisting of 16 couples with sperm antibodies bound to motile spermatozoa from the male partner. Both groups were subclassified according to pregnancy outcome, i.

Effects of Ringer's lactate, Interceed(TC7) and Gore-Tex Surgical Membrane on postsurgical adhesion formation.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of Ringer's lactate instillation, Interceed(TC7) (Johnson and Johnson Medical, Inc., New Brunswick NJ), and Gore-Tex Surgical Membrane (W. L.