1,721,054 research outputs found
G-CSF pharmacologic supplementation in the ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies) treatment cycles of low responder women
No full textGranulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) is a
cytokine discovered as a growth factor for granulocytes
but it has been shown to have a lot of other physiologic
actions. Recently, its role in the reproductive systems
has been pointed out and particularly in ovarian follicles
where the G-CSF concentration was found to be
directly correlated to the oocyte quality and this was in
relationship to the patient age.In order to improve the response of
the ovary to the pharmacologic stimulatory treatment
we administered a supplementation of G-CSF to low
responder women in ART cycles.Our data show that G-CSF
supplementation is effective to improve the results in the
ART treatment of low responder women. This cytokine
seems to have a local paracrine effect on oocytes stimulating
their ability to develop under pharmacological
stimulation and maybe even to be fertilized
Immunohistochemical Study on the Expression of G-CSF, G-CSFR, VEGF, VEGFR-1, Foxp3 in First Trimester Trophoblast of Recurrent Pregnancy Loss in Pregnancies Treated with G-CSF and Controls.
Full text linkBACKGROUND: Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (RPL) is a syndrome recognizing several causes, and in some cases the treatment with Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) may be successful, especially when karyotype of the previous miscarriage showed no embryo chromosomal abnormalities. In order to evaluate the effects of G-CSF treatment on the decidual and trophoblast expression of G-CSF and its receptor, VEGF and its receptor and Foxp3, specific marker of putative Tregs we conducted an immunohistochemical study. METHODS: This study was conducted on three groups of patients for a total of 38 women: in 8 cases decidual and trophoblast tissue were obtained from 8 women with unexplained RPL treated with G-CSF that miscarried despite treatment; in 15 cases the tissue were obtained from 15 women with unexplained RPL no treated; 15 cases of women who underwent voluntary pregnancy termination were used as controls. Tissue collected from these patients were used for immunohistochemistry studies testing the expression of G-CSF, G-CSFR, VEGF, VEGFR-1 and Foxp3. RESULTS: G-CSF treatment increased the concentration of cells expressing Foxp3, specific marker for Tregs, in the decidua, whereas in no treated RPL a reduction of these cells was found when compared to controls. Furthermore, G-CSF treatment increased the expression of G-CSF and VEGF in the trophoblast. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that G-CSF treatment increased the number of decidual Treg cells in RPL patients as well as the expression of G-CSF and VEGF in villus trophoblast. These finding may explain the effectiveness of this treatment in RPL, probably regulating the maternal immune response through Tregs recruitment in the decidua, as well as stimulating trophoblast growth
Directed laparoscopic cryomyolysis for symptomatic leiomyomata: One-year follow up
No full textSTUDY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term effectiveness of laparoscopic cryomyolysis as a minimally invasive technique for the treatment of symptomatic uterine myomas in menstruating women. DESIGN: Open, one-arm pilot study (Canadian Task Force classification II). SETTING: University-affiliated public hospital. PATIENTS: Twenty patients with symptomatic uterine myomas were treated with directed cryomyolysis. All had reported abnormal bleeding and/or pelvic pain/pressure and/or urinary frequency. Myoma diameters varied from 4 to 10 cm. INTERVENTION: One-year follow-up after laparoscopic-directed cryomyolysis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Laparoscopic cryomyolysis was performed using the Her Option Cryoablation Unit (American Medical Systems, Minneapolis, MN). Patients were evaluated 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after surgery. Power color Doppler ultrasound was per-formed preoperatively and postoperatively to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique in reducing or eliminating the primary blood supply to the myomas, as well documenting regression of the myomas. All patients reported a high rate of satisfaction with the treatment including absence of symptoms 12 months after surgery, with no bleeding and no myoma-related symptoms, comparable with patients who underwent hysterectomy. Mean shrinkage of myoma volume increased until 9 months after surgery (59.5% +/- 13.2%), reaching a steady mean-volume reduction of approximately 60% (61.9% +/- 11.9%) 12 months after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Directed laparoscopic cryomyolysis appears to be an effective and safe technique for providing rapid symptom relief and at least 12 months' effectiveness in the treatment of symptomatic uterine leiomyomas. (c) 2005 AAGL. All rights reserved
Is local anesthesia an affordable alternative to general anesthesia for minilaparoscopy?
No full textGoing Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Intracytoplasmic injection of spermatozoa does not appear to alter the mode of mitochondrial DNA inheritance
No full textIntracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) consists of the direct injection of a single entire spermatozoon into the oocyte. Even though this technique has been first applied to humans only in 1992, it is now routinely used worldwide and has resulted in thousands of pregnancies. To determine whether ICSI causes an alteration of the pattern of inheritance of mtDNA, we analysed the mtDNAs from three Italian families and their five children (one each for families A and B, and triplets for family C) who were born as a result of ICSI using mature spermatozoa, because of severe oligoasthenozoospermia in the three males. The results of our study are in agreement with those obtained recently by Houshmand et al. (1997), and indicate that the pattern of inheritance of mtDNA is not altered in ICSI-aided pregnancies, thus ameliorating at least one of the many genetic worries caused by the use of this technique. However, these results should also be taken with some caution. We have analysed four different tissues from only five children. In addition, we have analysed children generated from mature spermatozoa. ICSI is now also performed by injection of spermatids or even less mature germ line cells and very little is known about the features of mitochondria in these cell types. Overall, we suggest that these additional applications of the ICSI technique are closely scrutinized for alteration in the pattern of mtDNA inheritance before further extending their use
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