Evaluation of polyglycolic acid as an animal-free biomaterial for three-dimensional culture of human endometrial cells / 대한생식의학회지

Objective@#Animal-free scaffolds have emerged as a potential foundation for consistent, chemically defined, and low-cost materials. Because of its good potential for high biocompatibility with reproductive tissues and well-characterized scaffold design, we investigated whether polyglycolic acid (PGA) could be used as an animal-free scaffold instead of natural fibrin-agarose, which has been used successfully for three-dimensional human endometrial cell culture. @*Methods@#Isolated primary endometrial cells was cultured on fibrin-agarose and PGA polymers and evaluated various design parameters, such as scaffold porosity and mean fiber diameter. Cytotoxicity, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and immunostaining experiments were conducted to examine cell activity on fabricated scaffolds. @*Results@#The MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay and SEM results showed that endometrial cells grew and proliferated on both scaffolds. Immunostaining showed cytokeratin and vimentin expression in seeded cells after 7 days of culture. On both scaffolds, an epithelial arrangement of cultured cells was found on the top layer and stromal arrangement matrix on the bottom layer of the scaffolds. Therefore, fibrin-agarose and PGA scaffolds successfully mimicked the human endometrium in a way suitable for in vitro analysis. @*Conclusion@#Both fibrin-agarose and PGA scaffolds could be used to simulate endometrial structures. However, because of environmental and ethical concerns and the low cost of synthetic polymers, we recommend using PGA as a synthetic polymer for scaffolding in research instead of natural biomaterials.

Treatment results of high dose cabergoline as an adjuvant therapy in six patients with established severe ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome

The beneficial role of cabergoline as a prophylactic agent to prevent ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome [OHSS] among high-risk patients has been demonstrated in previous studies. But data for its role as a treatment for established severe OHSS is still limited. We represent the treatment results of high dose oral cabergoline in management of six patients after the syndrome is established. High-dose oral cabergoline [1 mg daily for eight days] was prescribed as an adjuvant to symptomatic treatment for six hospitalized patients with established severe OHSS following infertility treatment cycles. In two cases OHSS resolved rapidly despite the occurrence of ongoing pregnancy. Considering the treatment outcomes of our patients, high dose cabergoline did not eliminate the need for traditional treatments, but it was a relatively effective and safe therapy in management of established severe OHSS, and prevented the increase in its severity following the occurrence of pregnancy

Super infection of an ovarian dermoid cyst with actinomyces in an infertile woman

We present super infection of an ovarian dermoid cyst with actinomyces in an infertile patient. This is a case-report study for evaluation a couple with male factor infertility, who was a good candidate for intracytoplasmic sperm injection [ICSI], while a 10 cm dermoid cyst was found in the woman's right ovary. Patient complained of pelvic pain, intermittent fever, dysmenorrhea, and dyspareunia. The cyst was extracted using laparoscopy, whilst in histopathological examination, an actinomycosis super infection was reported. Actinomyc super infection of an ovarian dermoid cyst is a very rare incident which can also occur in women with no history of intrauterine device [IUD] usage or previous fertility

pathogenic microorganisms in papanicolaou vaginal smears and correlation with inflammation

Non-specific cervicitis or inflammatory changes in a smear report are common which are usually unclear for clinical approaches. To investigate the frequency of inflammation and pathogenic vaginal microorganisms in cervical smears among an Iranian population sample. This cross-sectional study was carried out on Pap smear samples of women referred to gynecological clinic of Taleghani Hospital in Tehran, Iran, between October 2008 and March 2009. This study was conducted on 528 conventional Papanicolaou cervical smears. The frequency and severity of inflammation and prevalence of bacterial vaginosis [BV], Trichomonas vaginalis [TV], and vaginal candidiasis [VC] was determined in the samples. Also co-infection of the microorganisms in Pap samples was evaluated. percentage, mean +/- standard deviation of the outcome parameters were calculated. The comparison between data was performed with the Pearson's chi square or Fisher's exact test. The prevalence of BV, VC, and TV in Pap samples was 17%, 11%, and 0.4% respectively. Overall, the prevalence of these microorganisms in women of reproductive age was higher than menopausal women. There was a significant association between VC and the presence of inflammation in our samples. Based on our results, inflammation in the Pap smears can suggest an infection of VC and the patients should be considered for proper VC treatment

correlation between serum and peritoneal fluid CA125 level in women with pelvic endometriosis

Despite a high prevalence of endometriosis, there still exist many challenges in diagnosing the disease. This study aims to evaluate non-invasive and practical diagnostic methods by measuring serum and peritoneal fluid CA 125 levels in patients with endometriosis. A secondary aim is to determine the correlation between these markers with the stage of disease as well as the relationship of the two markers with each other. This is a cross-sectional study of 60 women who underwent laparoscopy for benign conditions. Based on laparoscopic findings and biopsy results, patients were divided to two groups; one group included patients with pelvic endometriosis [35 patients] and the second enrolled patients free from endometriosis [25 patients]. Serum and peritoneal fluid specimens were provided at the time of laparoscopy and CA125 levels were then assessed by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Mean serum and peritoneal fluid CA125 levels were significantly higher in women with endometriosis as compared to the control group [26.42 +/- 24.34 IU/ml versus 12.64 +/- 6.87 IU/ml in serum and 2203.54 + 993.19 IU/ml versus 1583.42 +/- 912.51 IU/ml in peritoneal fluid, p<0.05]. CA 125 levels also varied proportionally with the stage of endometriosis; but showed a significant difference only in higher stages of the disease, both in serum and peritoneal fluid. We calculated the cut-off value suggesting a diagnosis of pelvic endometriosis as 14.70 IU/ml for serum and 1286.5 IU/ml for peritoneal fluid CA125. A linear correlation between CA 125 levels in serum and peritoneal fluid in patients with pelvic endometriosis has also been observed. Serum and peritoneal fluid CA 125 levels are simple and non-surgical tools for diagnosing and staging pelvic endometriosis. These markers are of greater diagnostic value in higher stages of the disease