Association of neighborhood social vulnerability with ovarian cancer survival.

Objective: Social determinants of health (SDOH) impact cancer outcomes. The CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) integrates scores for four neighborhood-based SDOH domains (socioeconomic status, household characteristics, minority status, and housing type/transportation) to assess neighborhood social vulnerability (NSV). While NSV has been associated with overall cancer mortality and lung, breast, colon, and endometrial cancer-specific mortality, the relationship between NSV as defined by the SVI and ovarian cancer outcomes remains unknown.

Multicenter Comparison of Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests for the Diagnosis of Rectal and Oropharyngeal Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infections.

Research using nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) have repeatedly found rectal and oropharyngeal infections with Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae to be common and potentially more difficult to treat than genital infections. Unfortunately, public health and patient care efforts have been hampered by the lack of FDA-cleared NAATs with claims for anorectal or oropharyngeal samples. At the time of the initiation of this study, no commercially available assays had these claims.

Nonclassical androgen and estrogen signaling is essential for normal spermatogenesis.

Signaling by androgens through androgen receptor (AR) is essential to complete spermatogenesis in the testis. Similarly, loss of the main estrogen receptor, estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1; also known as ERα), results in male infertility, due in part to indirect deleterious effects on the seminiferous epithelium and spermatogenesis. Effects of steroid hormones are induced primarily through genomic changes induced by hormone-mediated activation of their intracellular receptors and subsequent effects on nuclear gene transcription.

Chlamydial Pgp3 Seropositivity and Population-Attributable Fraction Among Women With Tubal Factor Infertility.

Background: Chlamydial infection is associated with tubal factor infertility (TFI); however, assessment of prior chlamydial infection and TFI is imperfect. We previously evaluated a combination of serological assays for association with TFI. We now describe the chlamydial contribution to TFI using a newer Chlamydia trachomatis Pgp3-enhanced serological (Pgp3) assay.

Regulation of mammalian spermatogenesis by miRNAs.

Male fertility requires the continual production of sperm by the process of spermatogenesis. This process requires the correct timing of regulatory signals to germ cells during each phase of their development. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) in germ cells and supporting Sertoli cells respond to regulatory signals and cause down- or upregulation of mRNAs and proteins required to produce proteins that act in various pathways to support spermatogenesis.

Co-occurring Substance Use Disorders Identified Among Delivery Hospitalizations in the United States.

Objectives: Substance use in pregnancy is increasing in the United States (US), although little is know about co-occurring substance use disorders in pregnancy. Our objective was to determine the prevalence and patterns of co-occurring substance use disorders identified at delivery hospitalizations among US women.

Methods: Using data from the National Inpatient Sample, a nationally representative sample of hospitalizations in the US, we identified females ages 15 to 44 years with a delivery hospitalization from 2007 to 2016 (weighted N = 38 million).

Greater dapivirine release from the dapivirine vaginal ring is correlated with lower risk of HIV-1 acquisition: a secondary analysis from a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Introduction: A vaginal ring containing 25 mg of the antiretroviral dapivirine has demonstrated efficacy in reducing women's risk of sexually acquiring HIV-1; however, imperfect ring use likely diluted efficacy estimates in clinical trials. The amount of dapivirine remaining in returned rings may reflect the extent of product use, permitting estimation of HIV protection in the context of consistent use.

Methods: We measured the amount of dapivirine in returned rings from a placebo-controlled trial of the dapivirine vaginal ring conducted between August 2012 and June 2015 among 2629 African women.

Gonadotrophin-mediated miRNA expression in testis at onset of puberty in rhesus monkey: predictions on regulation of thyroid hormone activity and DLK1-DIO3 locus.

Molecular mechanisms responsible for the initiation of primate spermatogenesis remain poorly characterized. Previously, 48 h stimulation of the testes of three juvenile rhesus monkeys with pulsatile LH and FSH resulted in down-regulation of a cohort of genes recognized to favor spermatogonia stem cell renewal. This change in genetic landscape occurred in concert with amplification of Sertoli cell proliferation and the commitment of undifferentiated spermatogonia to differentiate.

Mixed Chlamydia trachomatis Peptide Antigens Provide a Specific and Sensitive Single-Well Colorimetric Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Detection of Human AntiC. trachomatis Antibodies.

Sensitive and specific detection of anti- antibodies in standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) is compromised by cross-reactivity and poor sensitivity of classical antigens. Previously, we discovered 48 strongly reactive peptide antigens of -specific B-cell epitopes from 21 immunodominant proteins. By comprehensive individual testing of 11 top-ranked peptide antigens, we found very high sensitivity and specificity for detection of anti- antibodies in chemiluminescent ELISAs.

The testicular transcriptome associated with spermatogonia differentiation initiated by gonadotrophin stimulation in the juvenile rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta).

Study Question: What is the genetic landscape within the testis of the juvenile rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) that underlies the decision of undifferentiated spermatogonia to commit to a pathway of differentiation when puberty is induced prematurely by exogenous LH and FSH stimulation?

Summary Answer: Forty-eight hours of gonadotrophin stimulation of the juvenile monkey testis resulted in the appearance of differentiating B spermatogonia and the emergence of 1362 up-regulated and 225 down-regulated testicular mRNAs encoding a complex network of proteins ranging from enzymes regulating Leydig cell steroidogenesis to membrane receptors, and from juxtacrine and paracrine factors to transcriptional factors governing spermatogonial stem cell fate.

What Is Known Already: Our understanding of the cell and molecular biology underlying the fate of undifferentiated spermatogonia is based largely on studies of rodents, particularly of mice, but in the case of primates very little is known. The present study represents the first attempt to comprehensively address this question in a highly evolved primate.

Identification of Chlamydia trachomatis Antigens Recognized by T Cells From Highly Exposed Women Who Limit or Resist Genital Tract Infection.

Background:  Natural infection induces partial immunity to Chlamydia trachomatis Identification of chlamydial antigens that induce interferon γ (IFN-) secretion by T cells from immune women could advance vaccine development.

Methods:  IFN-γ production by CD4 and CD8 peripheral blood T cells from 58 high-risk women was measured after coculture with antigen-presenting cells preincubated with recombinant Escherichia coli expressing a panel of 275 chlamydial antigens. Quantile median regression analysis was used to compare frequencies of IFN-γ responses in women with only cervical infection to those in women with endometrial infection and frequencies in women who remained uninfected for over 1 year to those in women who developed incident infection.

Neuroendocrine control of the onset of puberty.

This chapter is based on the Geoffrey Harris Memorial Lecture presented at the 8th International Congress of Neuroendocrinology, which was held in Sydney, August 2014. It provides the development of our understanding of the neuroendocrine control of puberty since Harris proposed in his 1955 monograph (Harris, 1955) that "a major factor responsible for puberty is an increased rate of release of pituitary gonadotrophin" and posited "that a neural (hypothalamic) stimulus, via the hypophysial portal vessels, may be involved." Emphasis is placed on the neurobiological mechanisms governing puberty in highly evolved primates, although an attempt is made to reverse translate a model for the timing of puberty in man and monkey to non-primate species.

A conditional mouse model for human MUC1-positive endometriosis shows the presence of anti-MUC1 antibodies and Foxp3+ regulatory T cells.

Endometriosis is defined by the presence of tissue implants resembling endometrial glands outside of the uterus, at ectopic sites, frequently on the ovarian surface. The ectopic lesions are often invasive, resistant to therapy, and may predispose to endometrioid and clear cell ovarian tumors. The complex mechanisms leading to chronic endometriosis are mediated partly by impaired immune surveillance in the host.

Placental HIF-1 alpha, HIF-2 alpha, membrane and soluble VEGF receptor-1 proteins are not increased in normotensive pregnancies complicated by late-onset intrauterine growth restriction.

Inadequate trophoblast invasion and spiral artery remodeling leading to poor placental perfusion are believed to underlie the pregnancy pathologies preeclampsia (PE) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). The main objective of this study was to investigate hypoxia-inducible transcription factor-alpha (HIF-alpha) and downstream genes (VEGF receptor-1) Flt-1 and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) proteins in IUGR placentas. Placentas from normal pregnant (NP; n = 18), PE (n = 18), and IUGR (n = 10) patients were investigated.

Mifepristone and misoprostol for the treatment of early pregnancy failure: a pilot clinical trial.

Background: In an attempt to improve efficacy for women who desire medical management of early pregnancy failure (EPF), we studied the efficacy and acceptability of mifepristone 200 mg, orally (po), followed 24 h later by misoprostol 800 microg, vaginally (pv), for the treatment of EPF.

Methods: We enrolled 30 women with EPF in this pilot clinical trial. All women used misoprostol 800 microg, pv, 24 h after ingesting 200 mg mifepristone.

Renal function during normal pregnancy and preeclampsia.

Glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow increase by 40 to 65 and 50 to 85%, respectively, during normal pregnancy in women. Studies using the gravid rat as a model have greatly enhanced our understanding of mechanisms underlying these remarkable changes in the renal circulation during gestation. Hyperfiltration is largely due to increased renal plasma flow, the latter attributable to profound reductions in both the renal afferent and efferent arteriolar resistances.

Colposcopically obtained images of vulvar, vaginal, and cervical epithelium for assessment of safety of intravaginal agents among normal adolescent females: comparison with in vivo exam and interobserver agreement.

Objectives: This study was designed to assess identification of epithelial abnormalities of both in vivo examination as compared with colposcopically obtained images and interobserver assessment of the same images of the lower genital tract in healthy women.

Materials And Methods: Ninety women between the ages of 14 and 21 years were recruited for a phase II trial of a vaginal Lactobacillus crispatus capsule. All women underwent a baseline and 1-week colposcopic examination.

The in utero passage of meconium by very low birth weight infants: a marker for adverse outcomes.

Objectives: To determine the incidence of in utero meconium passage and the rate of associated complications among VLBW infants.

Study Design: Retrospective review of medical records and prospective evaluation of placental samples from 431 VLBW infants who survived >24 h. Cases with histologic evidence of meconium were re-examined and hemosiderin excluded by a negative iron stain.

Effects of long-term use of nonoxynol-9 on vaginal flora.

Objective: Products containing nonoxynol-9 have been used as spermicidal contraceptives for many years, but limited data have been published describing the long-term effects of nonoxynol-9 use on the vaginal microbial ecosystem. This longitudinal study was conducted to examine the effects of nonoxynol-9 on the vaginal ecology.

Methods: Vaginal swabs were obtained from 235 women enrolled in a randomized clinical trial before initiation of use of 1 of 5 different formulations of nonoxynol-9 for contraception, and up to 3 more samples were gathered over 7 months of use.

A pilot study of mifepristone and misoprostol administered at the same time for abortion in women with gestation from 50 to 63 days.

Introduction: In the interest of decreasing the amount of time it takes to achieve a medical abortion, we performed a pilot study to evaluate the simultaneous administration of mifepristone and vaginal misoprostol for women with gestation from 50 to 63 days.

Materials And Methods: Forty women were enrolled with undesired pregnancies from 50 to 56 days' gestation (group 1) and 40 from 57 to 63 days' gestation (group 2). All women used misoprostol 800 mug vaginally immediately after having swallowed the 200 mg mifepristone tablet.

A pilot study of mifepristone and misoprostol administered at the same time for abortion up to 49 days gestation.

Hypothesis: Simultaneous administration of mifepristone and misoprostol for medical abortion in women up to 49 days gestation will result in complete abortion in 90% of women within 24 h of treatment.

Materials And Methods: Forty women with pregnancies up to 49 days gestation inserted 800 mug vaginal misoprostol in our office immediately after taking mifepristone 200 mg orally. Follow-up visits, which included vaginal ultrasonography, occurred 24+/-1 h and 2 weeks after treatment.

Evidence against the hypothesis that endothelial endothelin B receptor expression is regulated by relaxin and pregnancy.

The endothelial endothelin B (ET(B)) receptor subtype is critical for renal vasodilation induced by relaxin in nonpregnant rats and during pregnancy (the latter via endogenous circulating relaxin). Here we tested whether expression of vascular ET(B) receptor protein is regulated by relaxin. Small renal arteries were harvested from virgin and midterm pregnant rats as well as nonpregnant rats that were administered recombinant human relaxin (rhRLX) at 4 mug/h or vehicle for 5 d or 4-6 h.

The true cost differential between mifepristone and misoprostol and misoprostol-alone regimens for medical abortion.

Our objective was to evaluate relative differences in direct and total (direct and indirect) costs for medical abortion regimens using mifepristone and misoprostol or misoprostol alone. We created formulas to evaluate relative differences in costs in the United States, Chennai (Madras), India, and a hypothetical developing country based on published protocols and efficacy data. Follow-up visits and suction aspiration procedures in the United States were evaluated over a range of costs.

Ability of the clinician and patient to predict the outcome of mifepristone and misoprostol medical abortion.

We performed this analysis to evaluate the ability of both women and their clinicians to predict pregnancy expulsion after using mifepristone and misoprostol for medical abortion up to 63 days gestation. Women who participated in a multicenter, randomized trial comparing misoprostol 6-8 h vs. 23-25 h after mifepristone attended a follow-up visit approximately 7 days after mifepristone treatment.