Circulating divalent cations in asymptomatic ovarian hyperstimulation and in vitro fertilization patients.

It is known that ovarian hyperstimulation and in vitro fertilization are accompanied by a steady increase in circulating estrogen and progesterone far beyond what is normal for young women. We have recently demonstrated that the biologically active fractions of calcium and magnesium in blood are altered depending on when in the menstrual phase a blood sample is drawn in normal cycling women. The serum ionized Ca/Mg ratio is also altered in accordance with the menstrual cycles.

Optimal pregnancy outcome in a minimal-stimulation in vitro fertilization program.

Objective: We sought to provide a cost-beneficial approach to in vitro fertilization for infertile patients who could not afford the standard treatment with in vitro fertilization and to determine the optimal level of minimal ovarian stimulation to achieve acceptable pregnancy rates.

Study Design: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 216 patients who underwent "minimal stimulation" in vitro fertilization between January 1994 and December 1998. During the first half of this study, various minimal ovarian stimulation protocols were performed in our private, free-standing center for in vitro fertilization.

11 beta-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzyme activity in granulosa cells derived from ovarian follicles of in vitro fertilization patients.

11 beta-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) activity was measured in freshly frozen granulosa cells isolated from follicles of twenty-one infertility patients undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). A total of 213 follicles were analyzed for 11 beta-HSD activity. Both nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) dependent 11 beta-dehydrogenase activities were measured in granulosa cells.

The pharmacology and the potential applications of GnRH antagonists.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonists are potent analogs of native GnRH. As biochemical probes, these recently developed compounds have allowed for profound insights into the physiology of the pituitary-ovarian and pituitary-testicular axes; as therapeutic alternatives, the GnRH antagonists hold great promise for various clinical applications, including contraception, ovulation induction, precocious puberty, and gonadal steroid-dependent neoplasia. Indeed, because of intrinsic mechanistic differences, the antagonists hold certain practical advantages over the GnRH agonists.