International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine
Volume:16 Issue: 12, Dec 2018

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is an important pathogen in newborns and pregnant women.

The present study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of GBS colonization in pregnant women in Iran.

This systematic review and meta-analysis was based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guideline using the national databases including Society for Information Display, Magiran, Irandoc,Iran Medex, and international databases including MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus,PubMed, Science-Direct, Cochrane, Embase, Elton Bryson Stephens Company, Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Google Scholar, published by 01/30/2017. The I2 index was used to measure
heterogeneity between the studies.

In a total of 667 documents, 30 (4.49%) were selected. In this study, the prevalence of GBS colonization in 10090 Iranian pregnant women was calculated as 13.65% [confidence interval (CI): 95%: 10.56–17.45]. Based on geographic region,24.63% [CI: 95%: 11.52–45.06] in the West and 8.75% [CI: 95%: 6.43–11.8] in the East were the highest and lowest areas in Iran, respectively, and were statistically significant (p = 0.001). Also, with regards to swapping sampling area, Vaginal with 11.96%, Vaginal and Rectal with 13.62%, and Anal and Vaginal with 25.63% were the least to the greatest, respectively, and were statistically significant (p = 0.001).

Therefore, based on the recommendation of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as reported by the Ministry of Health and Medical education, early diagnosis, and screening of high-risk women should be done at 35–37 weeks of pregnancy.

Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) as an environmental pollutant is ubiquitous in the environment and it has destructive effects on human health. So far, various studies have demonstrated that BaP can cause adverse effects on the female reproductive system, but the existing information is limited about the effects of BaP on the endometrial receptivity and embryo implantation.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of BaP on the endometrial receptivity and implantation in mice.

In this experimental study, 40 pregnant BALB/c mice were divided into 5 groups (n = 8/each) as follows: experimental groups received the doses of 100 μg/kg, 200 μg/kg, and 500 μg/kg BaP dissolved in corn oil, the control group received normal saline and sham group received corn oil. Pregnant mice administered these solutions from Day 1 to Day 5 of gestation by gavage. On Day 6, the mice were sacrificed. Then their embryos were counted and the hormonal, histomorphological and molecular analyses were performed on themocusa of uterine tube.

The data revealed that BaP reduces estrogen and progesterone levels, decreases the number of implantation site, endometrium thickness, uterine lumen diameter, stromal cells and endometrial glands, and blood vessels in the endometrium.
However, the expression of Activin receptor-like kinase 5 and E cadherin genes was not changed by BaP with different doses.

The finding of this study showed that BaP can change estrogen and progesterone levels, and endometrial morphology leads to impairing the endometrial receptivity and decreasing the number of implantation site.

The sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of men have received little attention in Iran’s healthcare system. Developing appropriate strategies to meet men’s needs requires careful assessment and recognition of their health needs.

The objective of this study is to assess men’s SRH needs and satisfaction with received services.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 1068 adult men aged between 20 and 60 years in Ahvaz in 2014. For obtaining the SRH services needs of men, in addition to the self-reported felt needs, expressed needs and unmet needs, a need assessment was also done using a questionnaire that was developed for the research; its validity and reliability were assessed.

The men’s perceived, expressed and unmet needs for SRH services were, priority-wise, screening and diagnosis of male genital cancers (63.3%), receiving contraceptive methods (36%), diagnosis, and treatment of male sexual dysfunction (86.9%), respectively. Preventing sexually transmitted disease/AIDS (72.1%), using contraceptives correctly (39.5%), and resisting peer pressure (86.6%) were, respectively, the first felt, expressed, and unmet skills men needed. The results of multivariate logistical regression showed that there was a significant statistical correlation between men’s SRH needs and their socio-demographic factors (age, marital/educational status, income) (𝑝 < 0.05).

Iranian men have many unmet SRH needs. Felt and expressed SRH needs were different. Educational and counseling services are as important as clinical services.

During the reproductive age, the human brain becomes a target for gonadal steroid hormones. Estrogens influence neural function through effects on neurons and affects indirectly the oxidative stress, inflammation, the cerebral vascular and the immune system.

To evaluate the effect of the traditional hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on the cognitive function in postmenopausal women.

In this randomized clinical trial, 140 postmenopausal women, from November 2014 to February 2015, were included. Women were randomly divided into two groups. Each woman in the case group took traditional HRT (0.625mg conjugated equine estrogens+2.5mg medroxyprogesterone acetate daily) plus one Cal+D tablet (500 mg calcium+200 IU vitamin D) daily for four months. Women in the control group received only one Cal+D tablet (500 mg calcium+200 IU vitamin D) daily for four months period. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Green
Climacteric Scale (GCS) questionnaires filled out after the intervention and compared between the two groups.

The mean points of the MoCA after the intervention indicate that all MoCA domains except for the orientation improved in the case group. There was a significant difference in the memory domain after the treatment between the two groups. MoCA domains and GCS were negatively correlated after the intervention (𝑟 = −0.235, 𝑝 =0.006).

The HRT has affected some of the MoCA factors. The effects of HRT on cognitive function should be studied in a large prospective study in a group of women in their early and late menopausal ages with periodic assessment of their cognitive function during these follow-up years.

Peritoneal fluid (PF) from infertile women with endometriosis contains inflammatory mediators that may interfere with folliculogenesis.

The aim was to evaluate the effects of curcumin on growth factors expression by evaluating Growth Differentiation Factor-9 (GDF-9), Kit Ligand (KitL), and Tumor Necrosis Factor 𝛼 (TNF𝛼) expressions in bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC)s cultured with PF from infertile women with endometriosis.

In this experimental study, 21 infertile women (aged between 20 and 40 years) who refered to Dr Sutomo Hospital from January to July 2015 were enrolled. COCs were aspirated from antral follicles of bovine ovaries. PF was collected from infertile women with endometriosis undergoing laparoscopy for infertility evaluation. Curcumin, a strong anti-inflammatory turmeric, was added in Tissue Culture Medium 199 (TCM199) and PF for culture medium. Bovine COCs were cultured into three groups of the medium: 1. TCM199, 2. TCM199 + PF, and 3. TCM199 + PF + curcumin. GDF-9, KitL, and TNF𝛼 expressions were examined using immunohistochemistry technique.

GDF-9 expression of bovine COCs cultured in PF with curcumin addition (2.67 ±  0.98) was found to increase compared to those cultured without curcumin (0.50 ± 0.67) (p ≤ 0.001). It was similar to KitL expression of bovine COCs cultured with curcumin (2.67 ± 1.23), which increased compared to those without curcumin (0.33 ± 0.49) (p ≤ 0.001). A significant difference in TNF𝛼 expression was noted between groups with or without curcumin (p ≤ 0.001).

In the culture of PF from infertile women with endometriosis, curcumin addition improves the growth factors expression of bovine COCs. The increase of GDF- 9 and KitL expressions will improve folliculogenesis.

Endometriosis is a common, chronic inflammatory disease which is defined as an overgrowth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. The etiology of this disease is complex and multifactorial but there is a strong evidence that supports the presence of endometrial stem cells and their possible involvement in endometriosis.

In this study, we analyzed the mRNA expression of REX-1 stemness gene and reconsidered three other stemness genes SOX-2, NANOG, OCT-4 in women with endometriosis compared to normal endometrium.

Ten ectopic and ten eutopic tissue samples along with 23 normal endometrium specimens were recruited in this study. The expression levels of OCT-4, NANOG, SOX-2, and REX-1 genes were evaluated by the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

The transcription levels of OCT-4, NANOG, and SOX-2 mRNA were significantly increased in ectopic lesions compared with eutopic and control group (p = 0.041, p = 0.035, p = 0.048), although the REX-1 mRNA increase was not significant between endometriosis and control groups. Also, there were differences in the expression level of these genes in normal endometrium during the menstrual cycles (p = 0.031, p = 0.047, p = 0.031).

Based on our data, we confirm the dynamic role of stemness genes in proliferation and growth of normal endometrium during the menstrual cycle and conclude that differential expression

Phenylhydrazine (PHZ) induced anemia and was shown to have harmful effects on the male reproductive system.

To investigate the protective effect of vitamin C (Vit C) on sperm parameters quality, in vitro fertilization potential and embryonic development in a mouse model of hemolytic anemia induced by PHZ.

Thirty-two NMRI adult male mice (n = 8/each) were randomly classified into four groups. Group I (control) received normal saline, Group II (PHZ) received 8 mg/100 gr body weight PHZ as initial dose, continued by 6 mg/100 gr intraperitoneally every 48 hr, Group III (Vit C) received Vit C (10 mg/kg, daily, intraperitoneally), and group IV (PHZ + Vit C) received PHZ and Vit C. After 35 days, sperm quality parameters, the percentage of sperm with DNA damage and in vitro fertilization outcomes up to blastocyst stage were evaluated.

A significant (p < 0.001) reduction in all of the sperm parameters (count, motility, viability and normal morphology) were observed in group II (PHZ) compared with group I (control). In group IV (PHZ ± Vit C), these parameters and sperm DNA damage (p < 0.001) improved significantly when compared with PHZ-treated mice. Furthermore, PHZ caused a significant (p < 0.001) decrease in the fertilization rate and the percentage of pre-implantation embryos’ (two cell embryo and blastocyst) formation in comparison to group I (control), and Vit C supplementation in mice of group IV improved significantly the fertilization rate (p = 0.002), but it could not improve the percentage of two cell embryos and blastocyst production.

The data from this study indicated that Vit C decreased the adverse effects of PHZ on the quality of sperm parameters and in vitro fertilization rate, but it is insufficient to restore the in-vitro embryonic development and fertility potential.

The failure to retrieve oocytes from mature ovarian follicles is referred to as empty follicle syndrome. There is no exact explanation to this problem and it cannot be predicted using ultrasound or serum hormonal levels. The underlying mechanism of Empty follicle syndrome remains obscure.

In this study, the authors have investigated the relationship between the Beta-Human chorionic gonadotropin (𝛽HCG) levels in the follicular fluid with or without the oocyte in the follicles of patients undergoing Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection.

Seventy-three infertile couples underwent standard long protocol induction ovulation for Intracytoplasmic sperm injection. On the day of oocyte retrieval, each patient had two samples; follicular fluid including 2–3 follicles with oocyte and follicular fluid including of 2–3 follicles without oocyte were collected in separate tubes. These follicles had similar shape and size. The Samples were transferred to a laboratory for measuring the 𝛽HCG level, after which the 𝛽HCG levels were compared to the follicles with and without the oocyte in each patient.

In this study, the 𝛽HCG level of follicular fluid in the follicles containing oocyte was 18.20 (8.35–42.92) IU/L and in the follicles without the oocyte was 13.50 (5.45– 25.81) IU/L. Levels of 𝛽HCG in the follicular fluids containing the oocyte were higher than without oocytes, This difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.16).

It seems that the follicular fluid 𝛽HCG isn’t caused by empty follicle syndrome, and that dysfunctional folliculogenesis may be the cause of this syndrome.