Advances in the genetic etiology of female infertility.

Human reproduction is a complex process involving gamete maturation, fertilization, embryo cleavage and development, blastocyst formation, implantation, and live birth. If any of these processes are abnormal or arrest, reproductive failure will occur. Infertility is a state of reproductive dysfunction caused by various factors.

Screening of miRNAs in human follicular fluid reveals an inverse relationship between microRNA-663b expression and blastocyst formation.

Research Question: Are miRNAs found in follicular fluid related to blastocyst formation from the corresponding oocytes?

Design: In this study, 91 individual follicular fluid samples from single follicles containing mature oocytes from 91 women were collected and classified into group 1 (n = 38) with viable blastocysts, and group 2 (n = 53) with no blastocyst. TaqMan human miRNA cards and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction were used to identify differently expressed follicular fluid miRNAs between the two groups.

Results: We found MIR-663B to be significantly differentially expressed in follicular fluid of oocytes that yielded viable blastocysts versus those that did not develop into blastocysts (14.

[Effects of different doses of dexmedetomidine combined with ropivacaine for brachial plexus nerve block in children undergoing polydactyly surgery].

Objective: To observe the anesthetic effect and safety of different doses of dexmedetomidine combined with ropivacaine for brachial plexus nerve block in children undergoing polydactyly surgery.

Methods: Eighty children undergoing polydactyly surgery were randomized into 4 groups to receive brachial plexus nerve block with dexmedetomidine at 0.25, 0.

[Application of human oocyte morphometric parameters in assessment of fertilization and embryo development].

Objective: To investigate the correlation of human oocyte morphometric parameters with fertilization and embryo development in the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles.

Methods: The morphometric parameters of oocytes collected and submitted to evaluation using OCTAX Eye-ware software just before ICSI. Oocyte diameter (OD), perivitelline space width (PSW), zonapellucida thickness (ZPT) and the shape of first polar body (FPB) (intact or fragmented) were analyzed.

Sperm chromatin structure assay results after swim-up are related only to embryo quality but not to fertilization and pregnancy rates following IVF.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) results after swim-up are related to fertilization rates, embryo quality and pregnancy rates following in vitro fertilization (IVF). A total of 223 couples undergoing IVF in our hospital from October 2008 to September 2009 were included in this study. Data on the IVF process and sperm chromatin structure assay results were collected.

[A 10-year survey on birth defects after in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer in Shanghai].

Objective: To survey birth defects of neonates conceived by using various types of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) between 1998 and 2007 in Shanghai.

Methods: From 1998 to 2007, 8507 neonates from 6551 pregnancies conceived through assistant reproductive technology (ART) from 7 reproductive medicine center in Shanghai were enrolled in this retrospective study, including Shanghai Ji-Ai Genetics and IVF Institute, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine affiliated Renji Hospital, Ruijin Hospital, China Welfare Institute International Maternal and Infant Health Hospital, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Health Hospital, Shanghai the Ninth People's Hospital and the Second Military Medical University affiliated Changhai Hospital. The clinical data about the type and incidence of birth defect were analyzed.

Activation of paternally expressed imprinted genes in newly derived germline-competent mouse parthenogenetic embryonic stem cell lines.

Parthenogenetic embryonic stem (pES) cells provide a valuable in vitro model system for studying the molecular mechanisms that underlie genomic imprinting. However, the pluripotency of pES cells and the expression profiles of paternally expressed imprinted genes have not been fully explored. In this study, three mouse pES cell lines were established and the differentiation potential of these cells in extended culture was evaluated.

Temporal and parental-specific expression of imprinted genes in a newly derived Chinese human embryonic stem cell line and embryoid bodies.

Although the study of imprinted genes in human development is very important, little is known about their expression and regulation in the early differentiation of human tissues due to lack of an appropriate model. In this study, a Chinese human embryonic stem (hES) cell line, SHhES1, was derived and fully characterized. Expression profiles of human imprinted genes were determined by Affymetrix Oligo micro-array in undifferentiated SHhES1 cells and SHhES1-derived embryoid bodies (EBs) at day 3, 8, 13 and 18.