Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) as a Predictor of Decreased Oocyte Yield in Patients with Normal Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) and Antral Follicle Count (AFC).

Background: The purpose of the current study was to determine the utility of early follicular phase follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) testing in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Methods: This was a retrospective review of patients from 2012 to 2015 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA. Included subjects had a normal anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) of 1 to 9 and antral follicle count (AFC) of 10 to 29.

Host immunity and KLF 11 deficiency together promote fibrosis in a mouse model of endometriosis.

Background: Endometriosis is a debilitating disease typically characterized by prolific fibrotic scarring. Earlier we reported downregulation of two transcription factors belonging TGF-βR signaling pathway Sp/Krüppel-like factor 11 (KLF11) and 10 (KLF10) in human endometriosis lesions. Here we investigated the role of these nuclear factors and immunity in the scaring fibrosis associated with endometriosis.

Lavender Aromatherapy to Reduce Anxiety During Intrauterine Insemination: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Infertility is a global public health issue. Therapies such as intrauterine insemination (IUI) are effective but may be associated with considerable anxiety. Preliminary data suggest that decreasing this anxiety might lead to improved outcomes.

MRI impacts endometriosis management in the setting of image-based multidisciplinary conference: a retrospective analysis.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to quantify the value of pre-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in guiding surgical management of women with endometriosis.

Methods: Pre-operative discussion of patient management and review of imaging occurred for 136 patients with endometriosis in an MRI-based multidisciplinary conference co-directed by an abdominal radiologist and gynecologic surgeon. A tri-compartmental report template guided the systematic imaging review.

Association between kissing and retropositioned ovaries and severity of endometriosis: MR imaging evaluation.

Purpose: To retrospectively investigate the relationship between ovarian positioning on pre-operative MR imaging and intra-operative staging of endometriosis.

Materials And Methods: Sixty-five women with suspected endometriosis who underwent pre-operative MRI and subsequent intra-operative staging of endometriosis formed the study group. A trained senior radiology resident and a board-certified staff radiologist experienced in endometriosis reviewed MR images for ovarian positioning and the presence of an endometrioma.

Clomiphene Stair-Step Protocol for Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Objective: To compare time to ovulation, ovulation rates, and side effect profile of traditional and the stair-step protocol for ovulation induction using clomiphene citrate in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Methods: We performed a retrospective study of women seeking care for infertility with a diagnosis of PCOS at a university-based infertility clinic from July 2012 to July 2014. We included patients who were resistant to the initial starting dose of 50 mg clomiphene.

Epigenetic Therapy: Novel Translational Implications for Arrest of Environmental Dioxin-Induced Disease in Females.

Increased toxicant exposure and resultant environmentally induced diseases are a tradeoff of industrial productivity. Dioxin [2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)], a ubiquitous byproduct, is associated with a spectrum of diseases including endometriosis, a common, chronic disease in women. TCDD activates cytochrome (CYP) p450 metabolic enzymes that alter organ function to cause disease.

Progressive Fibrosis: A Progesterone- and KLF11-Mediated Sexually Dimorphic Female Response.

Progressive scarring is ubiquitous postoperatively and in an array of chronic systemic diseases. Recent studies indicate that such scarring has a high female propensity; females are also almost exclusively affected by endometriosis, a common sex steroid-dependent fibrotic disease. Endometriosis-related fibrosis is regulated epigenetically through transcription factor Krüppel-like factor 11 (KLF11).

KLF11 is an Epigenetic Mediator of DRD2/Dopaminergic Signaling in Endometriosis.

Endometriosis is a heterogeneous, recalcitrant disease that affects 10% of reproductive-age women. Resistance to conventional therapy critically raises the need for novel treatment options that target specific, dysregulated underlying molecular mechanisms. Dopamine receptor 2 (DRD2) has been shown to be associated with vascularity and fibrosis in endometriosis.

Daptomycin-oxacillin combinations in treatment of experimental endocarditis caused by daptomycin-nonsusceptible strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with evolving oxacillin susceptibility (the "seesaw effect").

In vivo development of daptomycin resistance (DAPr) among Staphylococcus aureus strains, especially methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains, in conjunction with clinical treatment failures, has emerged as a major problem. This has raised the question of DAP-based combination regimens to enhance efficacy against such strains.

Failures in clinical treatment of Staphylococcus aureus Infection with daptomycin are associated with alterations in surface charge, membrane phospholipid asymmetry, and drug binding.

Increasingly frequent reports have described the in vivo loss of daptomycin susceptibility in association with clinical treatment failures. The mechanism(s) of daptomycin resistance is not well understood. We studied an isogenic set of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from the bloodstream of a daptomycin-treated patient with recalcitrant endocarditis in which serial strains exhibited decreasing susceptibility to daptomycin.

In vitro susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus to thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein-1 (tPMP-1) is influenced by cell membrane phospholipid composition and asymmetry.

Thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal proteins (e.g. tPMP-1) are small cationic peptides released from mammalian platelets.

Transposon disruption of the complex I NADH oxidoreductase gene (snoD) in Staphylococcus aureus is associated with reduced susceptibility to the microbicidal activity of thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein 1.

The cationic molecule thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein 1 (tPMP-1) exerts potent activity against Staphylococcus aureus. We previously reported that a Tn551 S. aureus transposon mutant, ISP479R, and two bacteriophage back-transductants, TxA and TxB, exhibit reduced in vitro susceptibility to tPMP-1 (tPMP-1(r)) compared to the parental strain, ISP479C (V.

Persistent bacteremia due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection is associated with agr dysfunction and low-level in vitro resistance to thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein.

Background: The causes of persistent bacteremia (PB) due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are poorly understood. This investigation examined potential associations between PB with key clinical features and several in vitro bacterial genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, in isolates from 1 institution.

Methods: Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) relatedness, thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein (tPMP)-susceptibility phenotype, accessory gene regulator (agr) genotype and functionality (via delta-lysin production), and autolysis phenotypes were assessed in MRSA isolates from the bloodstream of 21 prospectively identified patients with PB (blood cultures positive after > or =7 days of therapy) and of 18 patients with resolving bacteremia (RB) (sterile blood cultures within the first 2-4 days of therapy) due to MRSA.