The effectiveness of cervical cerclage in twin pregnancies with a mid-trimester short cervix: A retrospective cohort study.

Objective: To analyze the effectiveness of cerclage in twin pregnancies with a short cervix.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study performed in two University Institutions in Valencia (Spain) with two different protocols for the management of asymptomatic dichorionic diamniotic twin pregnancies with mid-trimester cervical length ≤ 25 mm: treatment with indomethacin, antibiotics and cerclage (cerclage group) (N = 43) versus expectant management (control group) (N = 37).

Results: The initial cervical length was similar in both groups but detection of a short cervix was performed earlier in the cerclage group (21.

Decellularization Methods of Uterus in Tissue Engineering.

A new field of investigation which aims to design tissues and organs similar to their native origin has been developed recently, named as regenerative medicine (tissue engineering and bio-engineering). Uterus is the main organ for regeneration and contributes in the fertility. At an ultimate level, the uterus plays a role in embryo implantation, sperm migration and fetal nutrition.

Cytokines in embryonic secretome as potential markers for embryo selection.

Despite performing certain morphological assessments for selecting the best embryo for transfer, the results have not been satisfactory. Given the global tendency for performing quick and noninvasive tests for embryo selection, great efforts have been made to discover the predictive biomarkers of embryo implantation potential. In recent years, many factors have been detected in embryo culture media as a major source of embryo secretions.

An artificial intelligence model based on the proteomic profile of euploid embryos and blastocyst morphology: a preliminary study.

Research Question: The study aimed to develop an artificial intelligence model based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict the likelihood of achieving a live birth using the proteomic profile of spent culture media and blastocyst morphology.

Design: This retrospective cohort study included 212 patients who underwent single blastocyst transfer at IVI Valencia. A single image of each of 186 embryos was studied, and the protein profile was analysed in 81 samples of spent embryo culture medium from patients included in the preimplantation genetic testing programme.

Tacrolimus Improves the Implantation Rate in Patients with Elevated Th1/2 Helper Cell Ratio and Repeated Implantation Failure (RIF).

An abnormal endometrial immune response is involved in the pathogenesis of repeated implantation failure (RIF), so we investigated the effectiveness of tacrolimus treatment on the endometrium of RIF patients. Ten RIF patients with elevated T-helper 1/T-helper 2 (Th1/Th2) cell ratios were recruited into a clinical study. The expression of p53, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10, IL-17, and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) in the endometrium of patients with and without tacrolimus treatment and the association of these factors with assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes were investigated.

Personalized Medicine in Infertile Men.

Personalized medicine gathers the most relevant data involved in human health. Currently, the diagnosis of male infertility is limited to spermiogram, which does not provide information on the male fertile potential. New diagnostic methods are required.

New Insights into the Anterior Complex.

Objective: To introduce visualization of the germinal matrix (GM), external angle of the frontal horn, and periventricular white matter while evaluating the anterior complex (AC) during basic ultrasound assessment of the fetal brain.

Case Presentations: This is a retrospective observational study of healthy women with singleton pregnancies, with no increased risk of fetal central nervous system anomalies, attending routine ultrasound screening at 20-32 weeks' gestation. Seventeen cases are presented in which an abnormal aspect of the GM or external angle of the frontal horn or periventricular white matter on AC evaluation has allowed a prenatal diagnosis of peri-intraventricular hemorrhage, subependymal cysts, connatal cysts, periventricular venous hemorrhagic infarction, and white matter injury.

Long-term vitamin D treatment decreases human uterine leiomyoma size in a xenograft animal model.

Objective: To study the effects of short- and long-term vitamin D treatment on uterine leiomyomas in vivo through cell proliferation, extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation, and apoptosis.

Design: Preclinical study of human leiomyoma treatment with vitamin D in an nonhuman animal model.

Setting: Hospital and university laboratories.

Ovarian stimulation for oocyte vitrification does not modify disease-free survival and overall survival rates in patients with early breast cancer.

Research Question: Does ovarian stimulation for oocyte vitrification affect disease-free survival and overall survival rates in women with early breast cancer?

Design: This cohort study included 259 patients with early breast cancer; 148 patients underwent ovarian stimulation, whereas 111 patients did not. Patients were treated between January 2008 and December 2016. To calculate the disease-free survival time and overall survival rate, the time of definitive surgery was defined as the starting point.

Inhibition of KIF20A by BKS0349 reduces endometriotic lesions in a xenograft mouse model.

Several studies have suggested a possible etiological association between ovarian endometriosis and ovarian cancer. Evidence has shown that KIF20A overexpression might confer a malignant phenotype to ovarian tumors by promoting proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis. However, no data about the role of KIF20A in endometriosis have been described.

Single-cell RNA sequencing of oocytes from ovarian endometriosis patients reveals a differential transcriptomic profile associated with lower quality.

Study Question: Do oocytes from women with ovarian endometriosis (OE) have a different transcriptomic profile than those from healthy women?

Summary Answer: Oocytes from endometriosis patients, independently of whether they came from the affected ovary, exhibited a differential transcriptomic profile compared to oocytes from healthy egg donors.

What Is Known Already: Studies of endometriosis have sought to determine whether OE affects oocyte quality. While many reports indicate that oocytes recovered from endometriotic ovaries may be affected by the disease, other studies have found no significant differences among oocyte/embryo quality and fertilization, implantation and pregnancy rates in women with endometriosis.

iTRAQ comparison of proteomic profiles of endometrial receptivity.

Endometrial receptivity is a limiting step in human reproduction. A disruption in the development of endometrial receptivity is responsible for recurrent implantation failures (RIF) of endometrial origin. To understand the molecular mechanisms behind the endometrial receptivity process, we used the isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) method to compare three different endometrial statuses: fertile women, intrauterine device (IUD) carriers, and RIF patients.

Tissue-specific decellularized endometrial substratum mimicking different physiological conditions influences in vitro embryo development in a rabbit model.

In the last decades, the decellularization (DC) of organs has become an established technique in the field of regenerative medicine to yield complex and vascularized bioscaffolds. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated in vitro that these decellularized scaffolds retain their native tissue-specificity. This is also the case when this tissue-specific extracellular matrix (ECM) is solubilized and used as hydrogels or coatings to create a biomimetic environment.

Inhibition of tumor cell proliferation in human uterine leiomyomas by vitamin D via Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

Objective: To assess the effect of vitamin D (VitD) on human uterine leiomyomas through Wnt/β-catenin pathway inhibition, apoptosis induction, and cell growth arrest.

Design: A prospective study comparing leiomyoma vs. myometrium tissues.

Uterine stem cells: from basic research to advanced cell therapies.

Background: Stem cell research in the endometrium and myometrium from animal models and humans has led to the identification of endometrial/myometrial stem cells and their niches. This basic knowledge is beginning to be translated to clinical use for incurable uterine pathologies. Additionally, the implication of bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMDSCs) in uterine physiology has opened the field for the exploration of an exogenous and autologous source of stem cells.

Sperm lipidic profiles differ significantly between ejaculates resulting in pregnancy or not following intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

Although assisted reproduction techniques involve the use of semen samples, there is little scientific methodology applied when selecting sperm. To select the most appropriate spermatozoa, first we need to define the optimal molecular characteristics. Sperm lipids may contribute to sperm function, thus our aim was to compare the lipidic profiles of sperm samples used in intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles that ultimately led to a pregnancy with those that did not.

Relevance of assessing the uterine microbiota in infertility.

Technical advances in massive parallel sequencing have allowed the characterization of the whole reproductive tract microbiome in all the compartments beyond the vagina. The microbiota in the uterine cavity seem to be a continuum from the microbiota in the vagina, but several works have reported significant differences between vaginal and endometrial microbiota, highlighting the relevance of assessing the upper genital tract microbiota to better understand the potential roles of bacteria in the physiological and pathological processes taking place in the uterine cavity, including embryo implantation, pregnancy maintenance, and other gynecological diseases. However, the study of the endometrial microbiota, as with other low-biomass microbiota, presents important hurdles because, due to the small amount of starting material, they are easily contaminated by exogenous bacterial DNA.

Characterization of parent-of-origin methylation using the Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC array platform.

Aim: This study aimed to establish a catalog of probes corresponding to imprinted differentially methylated regions (DMRs) on the Infinium HumanMethylationEPIC BeadChip.

Materials & Methods: Reciprocal uniparental diploidies with low normal biparental mosaic contribution, together with normal diploid controls, were subjected to EPIC BeadChip hybridization. The methylation profiles were assessed for imprinted differential methylation.

Fetal sex determination in twin pregnancies using cell free fetal DNA analysis.

Objective(s): We sought to develop an accurate sex classification method in twin pregnancies using data obtained from a standard commercial non-invasive prenatal test.

Study Design: A total of 706 twin pregnancies were included in this retrospective analytical data study. Normalized chromosome values for chromosomes X and Y were used and adapted into a sex-score to predict fetal sex in each fetus, and results were compared with the clinical outcome at birth.

NGS Analysis of Human Embryo Culture Media Reveals miRNAs of Extra Embryonic Origin.

Our objective in this work was to isolate, identify, and compare micro-RNAs (miRNAs) found in spent culture media of euploid and aneuploid in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos. Seventy-two embryos from 62 patients were collected, and their spent media were retained. A total of 108 spent conditioned media samples were analyzed (n = 36 day 3 euploid embryos, n = 36 day 3 aneuploid embryos, and n = 36 matched control media).

Fertility rescue and ovarian follicle growth promotion by bone marrow stem cell infusion.

Objective: To assess if infusion of human bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMDSCs) could promote follicle development in patients with impaired ovarian functions.

Design: Experimental design.

Setting: University research laboratories.