International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine
Volume:7 Issue: 1, Jan 2009

Endometriosis is one of the most challenging diseases that constitute 20% - 40% of women searching for their infertility diagnosis.

This study was undertaken in order to compare the outcome of in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) in women with endometriosis, and tubal factor infertility as controls.

From 2005 to 2006 a retrospective study was carried out in patients with endometriosis (n=80) and tubal infertility (n=57) after treatment with IVF/ICSI. The main outcome measures were ovarian responsiveness, quality of oocytes, implantation, pregnancy and ongoing pregnancy rates. Appropriate statistical analysis was performed using χ2 and student t-tests.

No differences were found in mean number of ampoules of hMG, duration of hMG injection, number of MΙΙ oocytes, number of embryo transferred, and rates of implantation, pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy and twin birth between women with endometriosis and tubal infertility and also between women with stages I/II or those with stages III/IV disease with women with tubal factor infertility.

Our results suggest that endometriosis does not seem to have adverse effect on outcome of IVF/ ICSI as compared with tubal infertility.

Ginger rhizome (Zingiber officinale R., family: Zingiberaceae) is used medicinally and as a culinary spice.

Medicinal use of ginger dates back to ancient China and India. Ginger and its constituents are stated to have antiemetic, antithrombotic, antihepatotoxic, anti-inflammatory, stimulant, cholagogue and antioxidant. It has been used since ancient time as medicinal and food origins it contain antioxidative and androgenic activities and have well effect in diseases treatment in more countries world-wide. As an antioxidant’s ginger has a useful effect on spermatogenesis and sperm parameters.

Wistar male rat (n=30) were allocated into three groups, control (n=10) and test groups (n=20), that subdivided into groups of 2 that received ginger rhizome powder (50 and 100mg/kg/day) for 20 consequence day. Animals were kept in standard conditions. In twentieth day the testes tissue of Rats in whole groups were removed and sperm was collected from epididymis and prepared for analysis.

Serum total testosterones significantly increased in experimental group that has received 100 mg/kg/day Ginger (p<0.05) in comparison to control group. Besides, the percentage of sperm viability and motility in both test groups significantly increased (p<0.05) in comparison to control group, Whereas, LH, FSH hormones, sperm concentration, morphology and testes weights in both experimental and control group were similar.

Results revealed that administration of 100 mg/kg/day of ginger significantly increased sperm percentage, viability, motility and serum total testosterones. This suggested that ginger may be promising in enhancing sperm healthy parameters.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders which cause anovulatory infertility and hyperandrogenism in young women. The common feature in PCOS women is increased ovarian androgen secretion which can effect on the prevalence of miscarriage rate.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of PCOS patient''s serum on in vitro developmental stages of mouse embryo from two cells to hatching blastocyst.

After superovulating and fertilizing Balb/c mice, 219 two cells embryos were retrieved, 109 embryos were cultured in 10% PCOS patient''s serum and 90% medium and 110 embryos were cultured in 10% normal serum and 90% medium to hatching blastocyst stage. The PCOS patient''s serum which added to medium had higher hormonal concentrations than normal serum. The early developmental stages of embryos were studied in 2, 4, 8 cells, morula, early, late and hatching blastocyst stages.

The statistical analysis confirmed the decreasing rate in the number of embryos in all developmental stages from 2 cells to hatching blastocyst in PCOS group in comparison with the normal group (p<0.05).

The PCOS patient''s serum causes the decreasing rate of in vitro development of the early stage in mouse embryos.

Female age and basal FSH level are independently associated with IVF outcome. They are both related to the same phenomenon, namely ovarian reserve.

To evaluate the effective role of serum FSH concentration at the start of treatment cycle on ART outcome.

A total of 207 women undergoing IVF and ICSI cycles were included in this study. Basal FSH concentrations were measured and the women''s ages were calculated before they were undergoing pituitary desensitization and its correlation with ART outcome was evaluated.

Increasing FSH was associated significantly with reduced number of follicles > 15mm, oocytes retrieved, and embryos obtained.

Age is the most important prognostic factor but basal serum FSH can be used to identify women who are very likely to perform poorly in ART, probably because of diminished ovarian reserve.

To ascertain the effects of tropical leaf meals on semen production and semen quality.

This study was conducted with the main objective of investigating the effect of neem leaf meal on physiological responses of rabbit bucks fed graded levels of neem leaf (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) meal.

The varying levels of neem leaf meal (NLM) in the different experimental diets were 0, 5, 10 and 15% respectively. Four groups of nine crossbred New Zealand type rabbit bucks each, aged 7-8 months were randomly assigned to four diets containing neem leaf meal (NLM) at 0% (control) (CD0), 5% (CD1), 10% (CD2) and 15% (CD3) respectively for 16 weeks.

The sperm concentration values obtained were 20.15 ×106 /ml, 18.04×106 /ml, 13.65×106 /ml, 6.46 ×106 /ml for the CD0, CD1, CD2 and CD3 groups respectively. The results obtained indicate that sperm motility were lowest (p<0.05) in the treatment groups than the control group. Total sperm per ejaculate was similar (p>0.05) between the control and those on 5–10 %NLM dietary groups however, the value for the 15%NLM group was significantly (p<0.05) lower than that of the control. Abnormal sperm percentage of the bucks fed 15% NLM was significantly (p<0.05) higher than those bucks on CD1, CD2 and CD3 groups. The seminiferous tubule diameters were significantly smaller in the 15% NLM (203µm) than the other 3 dietary groups. All the other variables measured including semen volume, weight of testis and reaction time did not differ (p>0.05) among the experimental group.

The results of the study indicate that the inclusion of neem leaf meal up to 15% in the ration of matured rabbit bucks could cause mild depressive effect on the spermatogenesis, semen quality and seminiferous tubule diameter.

Excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the semen is believed to affect fertility in men. Morphologically abnormal sperms and their relation to seminal oxidative stress in infertile and subfertile men are not clear.

To correlate various sperm morphological defects with seminal oxidative stress in infertile and subfertile men.

The study included 25 primary, 21 secondary infertile men of idiopathic infertility and 15 fertile controls. Standard semen analysis was performed according to WHO (1999) guidelines. Sperm inter-morphological defects were evaluated in 100 sperms per sample by Giemsa staining. ROS in spermatozoa was measured by the chemiluminescence assay.

Significant difference in percent sperm amorphous head was found between secondary infertile group and control men. The study showed a significantly higher percent spermatozoa with residual cytoplasm between primary [11.61 (6.6, 3.9)], secondary [7.49 (0.8, 13)] and fertile controls [2.44 (0.8, 3.7)] similar to sperm count, percent sperm progressive motility, and ROS levels. A non significant but strong positive correlation (r=0.3479, p=0.0884) between percent cytoplasmic retained spermatozoa and ROS levels was observed in the primary infertile group. However, no correlation between other sperm morphological defects and oxidative stress was observed.

Sperm morphology was not found to be associated with oxidative stress in the present study. However, retained cytoplasmic residues in the sperm may be an important source of ROS in both primary and secondary infertile men. These immature spermatozoa are believed to be associated with impaired fertility.

High content of phospholipids in testes and epididymis is involved in regulation of spermatogenesis. On the other side, it makes testes susceptible to oxidative stress due to lipid peroxidation, which alters the normal mechanism of spermatogenesis.

In the present investigation, antioxidant effects of ethanolic extracts of parsley, lettuce and brahmi were tested against D-galactose induced oxidative stress in mouse testes and epididymis.

Oxidative stress was induced in six months old mice by injecting a low dose of D-galactose. Antioxidant effect of plant extracts was studied in testes and epididymis of oxidatively stressed mice in conjunction with thin layer chromatographic separation of phospholipids and quantitative estimation of phospholipid phosphorus.

The results showed decrease in total phospholipids content and level of phospholipid phosphorus in the testes and epididymis of D-galactose stressed mice. The administration of plant extracts along with D-galactose showed no significant alterations in the phospholipids content in testes and epididymis.

Decreased phospholipids and phospholipids phosphorus in testes and epididymis of D-galactose stressed mice indicates peroxidation of lipids due to injection of D-galactose. The plant extracts helped to maintain the level of peroxidation in these organs even under stressed condition. It is postulated that ethanolic extracts of parsley, brahmi and lettuce are protective against D-galactose induced oxidative stress in testes and epididymis.

Pelvic inflammatory disease is one of the most serious infection and one of the important and life threatening complications of it is tubo-ovarian abscess. This infection with intrauterine insemination (IUI) is rare. We report a case of ruptured tubo- ovarian abscess after (IUI).

Case:

 A 27 years old woman was referred to our center with acute abdominal pain and fever one week after IUI. The diagnosis was PID and after treatment with intravenous antibiotics she was still febrile after 3days and had generalized tenderness in abdominal exam. Therefore, laparatomy was performed and left fallopian tube ruptured abscess was detected. Left salpingectomy was done. The patient developed dyspnea and tachypnea in second day post operation and echocardiography with spiral CT scan was normal. So a mild ARDS was considered. The patient was discharged from hospital 5 days after operation in good condition.

This is a case of PID, tubal abscess and ARDS after IUI and it is necessary to keep in mind this diagnosis after IUI.