The effect of short term exposure to outdoor air pollution on fertility.

Background: There is evidence to suggest that long term exposure to air pollution could be associated with decreased levels of fertility, although there is controversy as to how short term exposure may compromise fertility in IVF patients and what windows of exposure during the IVF process patients could be most vulnerable.

Methods: This prospective cohort study aimed to evaluate the impact of acute exposure that air pollution have on reproductive outcomes in different moments of the IVF process. Women undergoing IVF living in Barcelona were recruited.

A microfluidic sperm-sorting device reduces the proportion of sperm with double-stranded DNA fragmentation.

Sperm DNA fragmentation can be produced in one (ssSDF) or both (dsSDF) DNA strands, linked to difficulties in naturally achieving a pregnancy and recurrent miscarriages, respectively. The techniques more frequently used to select sperm require centrifugation, which may induce sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF). The objective of this study was to assess whether the microfluidic-based device FertileChip® (now ZyMot®ICSI) can diminish the proportion of sperm with dsSDF.

Impact of an oral anticoagulation self-monitoring and self-management program in patients with mechanical heart valve prosthesis.

To analyze impact of implementation of an oral anticoagulation self-monitoring and self-management program among patients with mechanical valve prosthesis. Observational and retrospective study performed in Hospital Moises Broggi, Barcelona, Spain. The program started on June 2019.

Sperm telomere length in motile sperm selection techniques: A qFISH approach.

Several studies have associated telomere shortening with alterations in reproductive function. The objective of the present study was to determine telomere length (TL) in spermatozoa selected by either density-gradient centrifugation (DGC) or swim-up. The analysis of TL was performed using quantitative fluorescent in situ hybridisation (qFISH) using PNA probes in combination with a chromatin decompaction protocol in sperm cells.

Outdoor air pollution and sperm quality.

Unlabelled: Exposure to air pollution has been clearly associated with a range of adverse health effects, including reproductive toxicity, but its effects on male semen quality are still unclear. We performed a systematic review (up to June 2016) to assess the impact of air pollutants on sperm quality. We included 17 semi-ecological, panel, and cohort studies, assessing outdoor air pollutants, such as PM2.