International Journal Of Fertility and Sterility
Volume:4 Issue: 1, Apr-Jun 2010

Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) defines a heterogenenous group of interrelated lesions that arise from the trophoblastic epithelium of the placenta. There are several histologically distinct types of GTD: hydatiform mole (complete or partial), persistant/invasive gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN), choriocarcinoma and placenta site trophoblastic tumors. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and risk factors of GTD among women admitted to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ahvaz, Iran. This was a cross-sectional study conducted at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ahvaz, Iran. All hospital records related to GTD (132) from 1996 until 2006 were reviewed. Demographic and histo-pathologic characteristics were extracted. Chi-square and Fisher-exact tests were used to analyze all variables. P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. SPSS, version 11 was used for statistical analysis. The mean age of patients was 27.6 years. Most patients who presented with GTD were of ages 18-35 years (71.3%). There was no relationship between age and hydatiform mole during the reproductive years. There were 28 (18.9%) patients over the age 40, of which 18 (15.90%) of these had a complete hydatiform mole. Within this group, 9 (6.8%) changed to a persistent mole. There was a significant relationship between age over 40 and complete mole (p

We examined whether pregnant women with preeclampsia have an increased rate of pre-pregnancy polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This study also evaluated whether the association, if any, was a result of preeclampsia and its relationship to PCOS or dependent upon concurrent obesity. In this study, 75 preeclampsia cases and 225 normotensive pregnant controls, matched for age and gravidity, were enrolled. A confirmation of pre-pregnancy PCOS was ascertained by recording medical history, along with a physical examination directed for signs and symptoms of PCOS, an ultrasound report of polycystic ovaries and laboratory tests which confirmed hyperandrogenism prior to pregnancy. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated for each patient. Participants were classified into two categories: lean/normal and obese according to a BMI

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of chronic exposure to imidacloprid (IM) insecticide on male testicular tissue, sperm morphology and testosterone levels in the serum of mature male rats. Animals were divided into and control-sham groups. The test group was subdivided into two groups of rats which were administered doses of 225 and 112 mg/kg IM per group. Each test group received the designated oral dose of IM once daily, for 60 days while the control-sham group received corn oil (0.2 ml/day) for the same time period. Clinical observations demonstrated decreased movement, staggering gait, occasional trembling, diarrhea and spasms in the test groups. No clinical signs were seen in control-sham rats. Light microscopic analyses revealed increased thickness of tunica albuginea, obvious edema in the sub-capsular and interstitial connective tissue, atrophied seminiferous tubules, arrested spermatogenesis, negative tubular differentiation and repopulation indexes, decreased Leydig cells/ mm2 of interstitial tissue, hypertrophy and cytoplasmic granulation of the Leydig cells, vasodilation and thrombosis, elevated death, as well as immature and decreased immotile sperm velocity. Hormonal investigations showed significant (p

The main aim of the present study was to evaluate the ameliorative effect of curcumin on aflatoxin-induced changes in caput and cauda epididymis of mice. Aflatoxin was obtained by growing Aspergillus parasiticus in sucrose - magnesium sulphate - potassium nitrate - yeast extract (SMKY) liquid medium. Pure curcumin (97% purity) was purchased from Hi-Media Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India. Young inbred, Swiss strain male albino mice (Mus musculus), weighing approximately 37-40 g, were obtained from Cadila Health Care, Ahmedabad, India. Aflatoxin was orally administered in 25 [low dose (LD)] and 50 [high dose (HD)] μg/0.2 ml olive oil/animal/day (750 and 1500 μg/kg body weight) respectively with and without curcumin for 45 days. On day 46, animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. Caput and cauda epididymis were quickly isolated, blotted free of blood, weighed and used for biochemical studies. Our results revealed that oral administration of aflatoxin for 45 days caused, as compared with vehicle control, significant reduction in the activities of succinate dehydrogenase and adenosine triphosphatase as well as sialic acid and protein contents in both caput and cauda epididymides. The effect was dose-dependent. As compared with aflatoxin alone treated animals, curcumin administration along with aflatoxin significantly ameliorates aflatoxin-induced changes in caput and cauda epididymis. Ameliorative effect of curcumin on aflatoxin-induced changes in caput and cauda epididymis of mice might be due to its antioxidative property.

Pyrethroids are commonly used as insecticides for both household and agricultural applications, and have recently been linked to endocrine disruption. Cypermethrin is a type П pyrethroid which is used widely throughout the world. The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of cypermethrin on the sexual behaviour and plasma level of pituitary-gonadal hormones of adult male mice. Research methodology comprised injecting mice daily with cypermethrin (10, 15, 20 mg/kg i.p.) or DMSO (0.2 ml) for five weeks. Receptive female mice were used to test male sexual behaviors (sniffing, following, mounting, and coupling). Plasma concentrations of testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulation hormone (FSH) were measured after five weeks treatment using the ELISA method. The results of the present study showed that cypermethrin-treated groups exhibited reduced sexual behavior when compared with the control group. Assay results demonstrate significantly reduced serum testosterone levels (p

A major hurdle to improved in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rate is defective endometrial receptivity and implantation. Various techniques have been advocated to increase implantation while reducing side effects. Currently, embryo transfer (ET) is performed blindly without direct visualization. As such, we sought to develop a technique utilizing a flexible minihysteroscope with a flexible catheter for direct implantation of the blastocyst(s). This was a case study performed at West Coast IVF Clinic, Inc., Beverly Hills, California 90212. A total of 15 IVF Cycles in 13 patients (average age = 29) underwent visually directed ET and endometrial implantation. All women received luteal support. The main outcome measure in this study, both clinically and procedurally, was the relevant development and assessment of a novel surgical technology. In this study, eight (60%) pregnancies ensued [5 (62.5%) clinical and 3 (37.5%) biochemical]. Of note, there was no uterine scratching, uterine bleeding, or ectopic pregnancies. Significantly, high-order pregnancies were decreased; only one twin was conceived. Preliminary data suggest mechanically assisting implantation with a hysteroscopic blastocyst ET (SEED) offers a viable option for improving pregnancy outcome.

Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is a primary, simple and effective method of infertility treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the success rate of IUI and some related male and female factors. This quasi - experimental study was done on 500 infertile couples from 2006 to 2008. Either clomiphene or human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG) alone or clomiphene with HMG was used for ovulation induction. Patients were subsequently followed by vaginal sonography. When at least one follicle of 16 mm or more in diameter was noted, patients were administered 5000 IU human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and 36 hours later, IUI was done. Age, duration of infertility, follicle number, treatment regimen, etiology of infertility and the outcome was recorded for every patient. In this study, the pregnancy rate was 19.6%. In pregnant women, the mean age was lower than non - pregnant women (p=0.004). The mean duration of infertility in pregnant women was significantly lower than others (p =0.002), but the number of dominant follicle, type of treatment regimen and etiology of infertility did not show significant differences between pregnant and nonpregnant women (p >0.05). The result of this study showed that etiology of infertility, type of treatment regimen for induction ovulation and the number of dominant follicles did not correlate with pregnancy occurrence in an IUI cycle, but the womens’ ages and duration of infertility correlated with the occurrence of pregnancy.

In combination with randomization, blinding or masking is an important factor in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), particularly in trials that assess therapeutic effects. Here an attempt is made to explain blindness and why it is important. In clinical trials, blinding is defined as the condition imposed on a study in which study participants, health care providers and assessors collecting outcome data are unaware of the assigned intervention throughout the study. A single-blind trial means that usually one of three above mentioned categories of individuals remains unaware of the intervention assignment throughout the trial. The optimal approach, however, is the double-blind trial in which neither the participant nor the health care providers and assessors involved in implementation of the intervention, evaluation or measurement of outcomes are aware of the treatment received. Additionally, nomenclature such as triple-blind or quadruple-blind exist in the literature which offer different and confusing interpretations and definitions. Thus what is very important in reporting the clinical trial is that researchers should clearly state those who are blinded and unblinded in their trial rather than solely labeling their trial as single-blind, double blind, etc. This issue is quite useful for the reader to judge the effects of blinding on bias reduction. Knowledge of treatment allocation can affect patients’ responses since participants who know that they have received a new intervention may report symptoms differently from blinded participants. Another risk of unblinding in the therapeutic trial is unequal cointervention in which patients receive a wide range of other treatments that will, on average, favorably affect their outcomes. This phenomenon may cause confusion in determining whether any outcome differences are due to the experimental treatment or to unequal cointervention. Furthermore, lack of blinding can cause ascertainment bias. Ascertainment bias is more important in subjective outcome assessments such as pain scores. Under these circumstances, if individuals are not successfully blinded, psychological responses to intervention could affect the measure of association. The last risk of unblinding that should be considered in designing of trials is contamination of the control group. When the clinician or the patient is pretty suspicious that the experimental treatment is better than standard treatment one or both of them may take some actions leading to access of control group to the experimental treatment. This contamination results in a decrease in any difference in outcomes between the two groups. Other essential topics that should be taken into account in the blinding procedure are the methods to maintain blinding of participants and health care providers, assessment of success of blinding and the difference between blinding and allocation concealment. We will consider these topics in future notes (1-2).

This is the first report implementing combined density gradient centrifugation/Zeta (DGC/Zeta) sperm selection procedure for a couple with eleven previous intra cytoplasmic sperm injection/ in vitro fertilization (ICSI/IVF) failure cycles. Semen analysis was carried out according to World Health Organization criteria. Protamine deficiency, DNA fragmentation and morphology were assessed by chromomycin A3 (CMA3), TUNEL assay and papanicolaou staining, respectively. Patient was counseled regarding DGC/Zeta sperm preparation procedure. 10 oocytes were injected with combined DGC/Zeta sperm preparation which resulted in 90% fertilization rate and eight embryos with good quality. Three embryos were transferred on day three. Singleton pregnancy and healthy girl baby delivered with cesarean section. Result of this case report opens the horizon for further evaluation Zeta of sperm selection procedure for couples with repeated ICSI/IVF failure.