International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine
Volume:15 Issue: 12, Dec 2017

Infertility is described as not receiving pregnancy despite unprotected and regular sexual intercourse in a 1 yr period. It is detected by 15% of the couples. Male and female factor in the etiology may be detected in similar rates. The present study aims to investigate ion channel gene expression in semen samples of infertile male compared with fertile men.
A total of 150 men who applied to the urology clinic due to infertility were divided into five equal groups: asthenozoospermia, oligozoospermia, oligoasthenoteratozoospermia, teratozoospermia, and normozoospermia (control). All paticipants were evaluated with Cation Channel Spermia (CatSper) 1, 2, 3, 4, Proton Voltage Gated Ion Channel1 (Hv1), Potassium Channel Subfamily U1 (KCNU1), and transmembrane protein (TMEM16A) gene expression in semen samples.
“CatSper1, 4, HV1, KCNU1, and TMEM16A gene expression were detected higher in the oligozoospermia group compared to the controls. CatSper1, 2, 3, 4, KCNU1, and TMEM16A gene expression in the asthenozoospermia group and CatSper1, 2, 3, 4, KCNU1, and TMEM16A gene expression in the teratozoospermia group were detected lower compared to the controls. CatSper1, 4, HV1, and TMEM16A gen expression were higher in the oligoasthenoteratozoospermia men than the controls while CatSper3 gen expression was detected as lower.”
It was detected that these ion channels have an effect on sperm progressive motility and morphology. It may be considered that mutations in these ion channels may result in infertility .

The effect of elevated progesterone level on human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) day in in vitro fertilization cycles is controversial. Some suppose that rise in progesterone level seems to have a negative impact on implantation and pregnancy by desynchronizing the endometrium, while others disagree.
To evaluate the superiority of the frozen cycle over fresh cycle on live birth in patients with elevated progesterone level on HCG day.
In this double-blind, randomized clinical trial, 72 women undergoing assisted reproductive technology with elevated progesterone level (≥1.8 ng/dl) on HCG day were included. The participants were grouped by fresh versus frozen embryo transfer, randomly. Finally, the clinical pregnancy and live birth rate were compared.
The implantation rate was 21.51%. The clinical pregnancy rate was 47.22% in fresh embryo transfer group (17/36) and 41.66% in frozen group (15/36) (p=0. 40). The live birth rate was not significantly difference between two groups (p=0.56).
None of the fresh and frozen cycles are superior to the other and we recommend individualizing the decision for each patient. The frozen cycle may impose more emotional stress on patients .

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) with damaging effects on sperm quality parameters can often cause infertility in men.
The main objective of this study was to determine the diagnostic value of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) for screening and detecting CT in semen samples of infertile men.
In this cross-sectional study, 465 men referring to the clinical laboratory of Royan Institute were chosen for primary screening and detection of the presence of CT. 93 samples were normozoospermia with normal sperm parameters i.e. sperm number, motility and morphology (Asymptomatic) and 372 had abnormal sperm parameters (Symptomatic) in semen analysis. ELISA test was performed as the screening test. Samples with optical density (OD) >0.200 were selected as the case and asymptomatic samples with OD In the case groups (n=62), 4 out of 32 symptomatic samples (12.5%), and 1 out of 30 asymptomatic samples (3.3%) revealed positive results in PCR. No PCR positive sample was observed in the control group (n=34). The final results revealed that considering OD >0.400 as the ELISA positive, the diagnostic value of CT-ELISA positive in symptomatic and asymptomatic infertile patients were 0.019 (7 of 372) and 0.021 (2 of 93), respectively. There was no relationship between the presence of CT infection and different sperm abnormalities.
The anti-CT IgA ELISA test may be introduced as an appropriate tool for screening purpose in the seminal plasma to select suspicious samples for PCR confirmatory tests.

Islamic doctrine and related teachings play a seminal role in constructing the sexual performance of followers, women in particular. The aim was to explore women’s understandings of Islamic Shiite principles related to their sexuality.
In a qualitative content analysis approach, four individual interviews and seven focus groups conducted in Rafsanjan, a big city in Kerman province in Iran. Content analysis was used to extract meanings and themes.
Three major themes were emerged describing the sexual concepts and religious-related teachings concerning women's sexual understandings and performances: “unconditional sexual submission” (Tamkin), “paradox between virtue and unconditional sexual submission” and “misconceptions”.
Religious teachings have a basic and comprehensive role in sexuality construction and sexual health of women. However, occasional inconsistency between beliefs, learning and sexual expectations, practices, and situations would lead to jeopardize the psychological and somatic health of women. Religious-related misconceptions have essential role in creating sexual problems.

Oocyte developmental competence is one of the key factors for determining the success rate of assisted reproductive technique.
The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of L-carnitine (LC) supplementation during in vitro maturation (IVM), on preimplantation embryo development and expression of genes involved in embryo competence derived from oocytes selected with brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) test.
Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were obtained from NMRI mice ovaries. COCs were stained with BCB and then BCB (colored cytoplasm) oocytes cultured in IVM medium supplemented with 0.3 or 0.6 mg/ml LC. COCs untreated with LC were used as control. Fertilization rate and blastocyst development rate were determined after in vitro fertilization. In addition, quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used to measure relative genes expression related with development (Ccnb1, Mos, Ces5, and Dppa2) and apoptosis (Bax and Bcl-xL) in oocytes and embryos.
Oocytes treated with both LC concentrations showed higher blastocyst development rate compared with untreated oocytes (p The results of the present study show that adding of LC to the IVM medium of BCB oocytes can ameliorate reproductive success following in vitro fertilization.

More than 3 decades after the introduction of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and despite the improved success rates of assisted reproductive technologies, the argument for performing laparoscopy as a part of the infertility workup still stands. To evaluate the role of laparoscopy±hysteroscopy in diagnosis and management of infertility in our setting in view of modern fertility practice.
This case control study was carried out on 600 infertile women subjected to laparoscopy or combined laparoscopy and hysteroscopy at endoscopy unit in Minia University Hospital, Egypt during the period from January 2012 to December 2014.
The causes of infertility as identified by laparoscopy±hysteroscopy were polycystic ovary syndrome (25.1%), tubal factor (30%), uterine cause (4%), and endometriosis (2.7%). No cause was identified in 38.2% of cases. Based on operative findings, women were treated with different options. Expectant management was used in 92 cases (15.3%). Ovulation induction with anti-estrogens or gonadotropins was used in 372 cases (62%). Sixty cases (10%) had intrauterine insemination and sixty four cases (10.7%) underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) / intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment. Within 1 yr after laparoscopy, 180 cases achieved pregnancy (30%). The most favorable outcome was recorded in women with unexplained infertility (36.7% of cases got pregnant) followed by women with polycystic ovary syndrome (27.8%). Participants with uterine and tubal infertility factor achieved pregnancy in 25% and 22.8% of cases, respectively. The worst outcome was recorded in women with endometriosis.
Laparoscopy still has an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of infertility.

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are undifferentiated cells which are highly reproducible and expandable. Several studies have been conducted to reproduce these cells in culture. They used growth factors, hormones and different feeder cells to improve survival and proliferation of SSCs.
This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) on gene expression of fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) and glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in Sertoli cells.
Sertoli cells and SSCs were isolated from 3-5 month-old calves. Bovine testicular cells were cultured for 15 days with or without FSH. Identification of these cells was confirmed by immunocytochemistry analysis. Colony formation of SSCs was evaluated using an inverted microscope. The gene expression of FGF2 and GDNF and the gene markers bcl6b, thy-1, and C-kit were evaluated using the quantitative RT-PCR technique.
The results indicated that FSH increased colonization of SSCs. the expression of GDNF, FGF2, and markers of undifferentiated spermatogonia was increased following culture in control and FSH groups (p The results showed that FSH can increase the self-renewal of SSCs in vitro via upregulation of GDNF and FGF2 expression in Sertoli cells.

Platelets contain a significant amount of growth factors that have positive effects on local tissue repair and endometrial receptivity.
Case: Here we present a 45-yr-old woman with primary infertility and two failed in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles who was candidate to receive donor eggs. Five consecutive frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles with good quality embryos were performed within 2 yr. With the diagnosis of recurrent implantation failure (RIF), the patient was treated for improving endometrial receptivity with intrauterine administration of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP), 24 hr before embryo transfer. The patient gave birth to a healthy baby boy weighing 2350 gr in the cesarean section.
Extensive literature search suggests that this is the first successful pregnancy after administration of PRP in a woman with RIF. Local administration of PRP before embryo transfer may play a vital role in successful implantation .