Association of high fetuin-B concentrations in serum with fertilization rate in IVF: a cross-sectional pilot study.

Study Question: Is serum fetuin-B associated with the fertilization rate in in vitro fertilization (IVF)?

Summary Answer: Serum fetuin-B increased during IVF cycles when oocytes could be fertilized while remained unchanged in fertilization failure.

What Is Known Already: Fetuin-B deficiency in mice causes premature zona pellucida hardening mediated by the zona protease ovastacin. Thus fetuin-B deficiency renders females infertile.

Cryopreservation of spermatozoa in alginic acid capsules.

Objective: To develop a method of freezing small amounts of spermatozoa in polymerized alginic acid drops, which can be liquified after thawing for recovery of the spermatozoa.

Design: Prospective clinical study.

Setting: Medical School, RWTH Aachen, Aachen Germany.

Heparin and aspirin attenuate placental apoptosis in vitro: implications for early pregnancy failure.

Objective: Live birth rates are increased by treatment with heparin and aspirin in cases of poor pregnancy outcome such as antiphospholipid syndrome. Both drugs may attenuate miscarriage by inhibiting aberrant coagulation or by modulating trophoblast apoptosis. Here we assessed their roles in trophoblast apoptosis in vitro.

Poor responder-high responder: the importance of soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 in ovarian stimulation protocols.

This study was designed to detect vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its soluble receptor (sVEGFR-1) in follicular fluid specimens and to evaluate the importance of sVEGFR-1 with respect to ovarian response to gonadotrophin stimulation. A total of 69 patients was treated for IVF with recombinant human follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). Concentrations of VEGF and sVEGFR-1 were quantified in follicular fluids from oocyte retrievals.

Modification of bleomycin-induced chromosome aberrations by hyperthermia and under energy depleting conditions in human peripheral lymphocytes.

Synergistic effects of bleomycin (BLM) and hyperthermia were studied in human peripheral lymphocytes (HPL). The frequencies of breaks produced by BLM were dependent on dose, incubation temperature, and treatment time. Heat alone did not induce chromosome aberrations.