In clinical practice, early pregnancy loss has afflicted approximately 15%–25% women of reproductive age worldwide, which is partially attributed to defects associated with the endometrium. During pregnancy, the endometrial stromal cells experience remarkable tissue remodeling and transformation, termed as decidualization, to support embryonic development, placental formation, and the maintenance of normal pregnancy in both mice and human. During this process, a series of dynamic developmental events, including rapid stromal proliferation, increased stromal cell size, enhanced angiogenesis, taken place in a highly-ordered manner under the precise regulation of steroid hormones. Meanwhile, diverse molecules exhibit spatiotemporal-specific expression pattern, implying their unique roles in decidual development. To achieve a more comprehensive understanding of these biological events and explore the underlying causes of early pregnancy disorders, this review emphasizes on the detailed developmental progression of decidual transformation and patterning as well as related pregnancy complications at the early stage of pregnancy.

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Recurrent implantation failure (RIF) is a syndrome of complex etiology. Excluding the involvement of embryonic factors, RIF is characterized by women aged ≤40 years who fail to achieve clinical pregnancy after at least four high-quality embryos transfer in a minimum of three fresh or frozen cycles. However, current methods in the treatment of RIF are controversial. So far, there are no reports of any criteria or guidelines, and the mechanism of RIF is still not clear. Herein, we summarize the pathogenesis of RIF and highlight recent methods in its treatment, to provide reference for the basic and clinical research on RIF.

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Background: The aim is to study the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) susceptibility locus in the THADA gene (rsl3429458) and PCOS in Xinjiang Uygur women. Methods: Seventy-seven Uygur patients with PCOS were enrolled from Reproductive Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University during May 2013 to January 2017; whereas 62 matched Uighur women of reproductive age with normal menstruation were set as the control group. Results: (1) The levels of body mass index, luteinizing hormone, testosterone (T), blood glucose after 2 h of oral glucose tolerance test, insulin, triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein in PCOS group were much higher than control group (P < 0.05). (2) The frequencies of TT, TG, and GG of SNP13429458 in PCOS were 63.5%, 26.2%, and 10.3%, respectively; compared to the frequencies in the control group being 48.5%, 39.3%, and 22.2%, respectively. The difference between these two groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The allele frequency of T was much higher in PCOS than control women (76.5% vs. 61.4%, P < 0.05). Conclusions: SNPl3429458 in the THADA gene is associated with the susceptibility of PCOS in Uygur women, which may be involved in the metabolic abnormality.

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Background: The aim of this study was to retrospectively investigate the 18-year experience of prenatal diagnosis of fetal karyotype analysis by amniocentesis. Methods: In this study, the authors reviewed the cytogenetic results of 40,208 fetuses with indications for amniocentesis enrolled from December 1998 to December 2015. Cytogenetic analysis of amniotic fluid was performed in all these pregnancies. Eight indications for amniocentesis were included. The detection rate and distribution of abnormal karyotypes were observed in each indication. Results: Among all these samples, abnormal maternal serum screening test was the most common indication for amniocentesis (17,536, 43.67%), followed by advanced maternal age (11,734, 29.18%), abnormal ultrasound findings (5,328, 13.25%), and required by pregnant women (2,557, 6.36%). Chromosomal abnormality was detected in 1,349 (3.36%) samples, 63.01% of the abnormalities were numerical, and 36.99% were structural. The detection rates of abnormal karyotype were 55.60% in one of the couple with chromosomal abnormality, 4.43% in the pregnant women with pathological ultrasound finding, 2.83% in the pregnant women with advanced age, and 2.73% in women with abnormal maternal serum screening tests. Of the fetuses with chromosome aberrations, 680 (50.41%) had trisomy 13, trisomy 18, or trisomy 21, and 138 (10.23%) had sex chromosome disorder. The other 531 abnormal samples included translocation, mosaicism, inversion, deletion, addition, and marker chromosome. Conclusions: Cytogenetic analysis, therefore, remained an effective approach to decrease the birth defects of fetuses with indications for amniocentesis. These results could provide meaningful suggestions for clinical genetic consulting and prenatal diagnosis.

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Increasing evidences indicate that chronic diseases in offspring may be the result of ancestral environmental exposures. Exposures to environmental compounds in windows of epigenetic susceptibility have been shown to promote epigenetic alterations that can be inherited between generations. DNA methylation, histone modifications, and noncoding RNAs are sound mechanistic candidates for the delivery of environmental information from gametes to zygotes. This review focuses mainly on paternal exposures and assesses the risk of epigenetic alterations in the development of diseases, providing insights into relationships between aberrant sperm epigenetic patterns and offspring health. Elucidation of the mechanisms underlying environmental epigenetic information that survive from epigenetic reprogramming and its transmission to future generations may hold a great promise for providing therapeutic targets for epigenetic diseases associated with environmental exposures.

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Background: This study evaluated the expression of cellular FLICE-like inhibitory protein (cFLIP) in granulosa cells (GCs) obtained from in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer patients with advanced endometriosis. Methods: A total of 267 patients with advanced endometriosis were enrolled in this study. They were divided into clinical pregnancy group (n = 114) and nonpregnancy group (n = 153). The expressions of cFLIP in mRNA and protein level were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting. The related factors on the clinical pregnancy were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. Coefficients of correlation were calculated using the nonparametric rho-Spearman test. Results: The number of oocytes retrieved, fertilization rate, and cleavage rate were significantly and independently related with clinical pregnancy (P < 0.05). RT-PCR and Western blotting analysis showed that the expressions of cFLP in mRNA and protein level were significantly higher in the clinical pregnancy group than in nonpregnancy group (P < 0.05). cFLIP had a significantly positive correlation with the number of oocytes retrieved (P < 0.05) and no correlation with fertilization rate and cleavage rate (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Higher expression of cFLIP increased the pregnancy rate in women with advanced endometriosis.

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Background: To explore the impact of progesterone on inhibins during controlled ovarian stimulation in women with normal ovarian reserve and to compare cycle characteristics and pregnancy outcomes in subsequently frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles. Methods: A total of 93 patients were randomly divided into two groups, study group (human menopausal gonadotropin [hMG] + medroxyprogesterone acetate [MPA]) and control group (short protocol). Serum hormones were detected on day 3 before ovarian and day 10-12, the trigger day, and the day after trigger (approximately 10 h after trigger). Viable embryos were cryopreserved for later transfer in both protocols. Results: In the study group, inhibins signifcantly increased during ovarian stimulation, and the average inhibins level on the trigger day was signifcantly higher than the basal levels. Inhibin A level increased significantly to 2046.7 ± 1280.5 ng/L after trigger 10 h. Serum inhibin B level slightly decreased at the time of trigger 10 h later compared with the trigger time but did not reach a significant difference. The number of oocytes retrieved in study group was similar to that in control (10.5 ± 4.5 vs. 9.0 ± 5.2, P > 0.05). No statistically significant differences were found in the clinical pregnancy rate (47.4% vs. 52.2%, P > 0.05), implantation rate (36.5% vs. 36%), and live birth rate (43.4% vs. 39.1%, P > 0.05) between the two groups. Conclusions: The high level of progesterone did not affect the secretion in granulosa cells during the controlled ovarian stimulation. Therefore, sufficient oocytes/embryos can be obtained by hMG and MPA co-treatment in women undergoing in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatments, with optimal pregnancy outcomes in FET cycles.

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Background: Vitamin D has been found to have more biological effects beyond the traditional research range, which involve in immunoregulation, occurrence, and development of tumor, reproduction, cell differentiation, and so forth. Herein, the influence of Vitamin D level in the second trimester of pregnancy on the Chinese pregnant women and fetal weight was investigated. Methods: Totally 1,612 pregnant women were followed up during the study, the 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) level was measured with ELISA at the 16^th gestational week, and the fasting blood glucose was measured with hexokinase method using an automatic biochemistry analyzer at the same time. At week 24, oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed to test the blood glucose level (fasting blood glucose, 1 h and 2 h after oral administration of glucose). Besides, other indices (e.g., fetal birth weight) were recorded and analyzed by SPSS version 19.0 software. Results: Pearson's correlation analysis indicated that the serum 25(OH)D had a negative correlation with blood glucose at 1 h after oral glucose administration at week 24 in OGTT (correlation coefficient: −0.03, P = 0.01). However, it did not have correlations with the fasting blood glucose at weeks 16 and 24 as well as the blood glucose at 2 h after oral glucose administration at week 24. The Pearson's correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between Vitamin D level in the pregnant women and fetal birth weight, and there was no correlation between them. Conclusion: The Vitamin D level in the second trimester of pregnancy had a negative correlation with blood glucose and had no correlation with fetal birth weight.

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Sperm respond to multiple chemical factors derived from the eggs and reorient their migratory direction – a process called chemotaxis. The chemotaxis of sperm in marine invertebrates has been established well. A couple of ion channels and enzymes are involved in the signal transduction pathway of sperm chemotaxis. In contrast, the mechanism of sperm chemotaxis in mammals is still rudimentary. Although much less is known about the chemotaxis of mammalian sperm, the feature of chemotaxis has been utilized to recruit sperm at the optimum functional state, which may improve the efficiency of assisted reproductive technology. In this review, we summarize potent chemoattractants and molecular regulatory mechanism in marine invertebrates and mammals and discuss the application of chemotaxis in clinical treatment.

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The molecular mechanisms of hair initiation and growth is one of the long-standing research programs in developmental biology. It has been suggested that for decades the existence of an inducing factor in the dermis that is required for the initiation of hair development. Furthermore, various signaling families are involved in the reciprocal interactions between epidermis and dermis during hair follicle initiation and morphogenesis. Among them, the wingless-type MMTV integration site family (Wnt) is probably the earliest and most critical regulator. This review primarily focuses on the role of Wnt signaling in hair follicle induction and its relationship with the first dermal signal that initiates embryonic hair development.

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