Preparation of oligodeoxynucleotide encapsulated cationic liposomes and release study with models of cellular membranes

Cationic liposomes are used for cellular delivery of antisense oligodeoxynucleotide [AsODN], where release of encapsulated AsODN is mainly controlled by endocytosis and fusion mechanisms. In this investigation, it was tried to model such a release process that is difficult to evaluate in cell culture. For this purpose, an AsODN model [against protein kinase C-alpha] was encapsulated in a DODAP-containing cationic liposome and evaluated for size, zeta-potential, encapsulation and ODN stability. Vesicular models of outer layer and total plasma membranes and early and late endosomal membranes were developed, based on lipid content and pH, using ether injection method. ODN release was determined by the fluorescence dequenching of encapsulated FITC-ODN. Zeta potential, size and ODN encapsulation efficiency of the prepared liposomes were -2.49 +/- 7.15 mV, 108.4 nm and 73% respectively. ODN protection was 3-4 times more than that of conventional liposome/ODN complexation method. There was a correlation between model concentration and percent of ODN release. At 7.5 Mu M, the percent of released ODN was 76% for the cholesterol-free model of the late endosome and 16% for the early endosomal membrane; while the release was less than 11% for the models of plasma membrane. ODN release increased with temperature in the range of 4-37°C for the late endosomal model, but not for others, possibly due to their high cholesterol contents or acidic pH. The interaction was fast and completed within 5 minutes and didn't change in the range of 5-60 minutes. Our data are in agreement with published cell culture studies and reveal that cell-liposomes interaction can be modeled by lamellar membranes

Relation between third day LH level and ovarian response in IVF cycles

Infertility treatment has reached to prominent improvements in recent years and new methods of ART have important role in these improvements. Several factors are considered for patient's evaluation in these methods. For this purpose, we decided to evaluate the relation between third day LH with ovarian response in IVF cycles. This is a prospective study and 78 IVF candidates were chosen base on study requirements and were divided into two groups according to third day LH level. First group was consisted of 14 women with LH<3 mIU/ml, and second group was consisted of 64 women with LH>3. Patients had gone under treatment cycle base on long treatment plan with agonist gonadotropins and human gonadotropins. Then two groups were compared for number of follicle, number of retrieved oocyte, duration of ovarian stimulation, number of used gonadotropin ampules, number of resulted embryos, cancellation rate of cycles and finally pregnancy rate. Base on results and considering P value < 0.05, significant differences were not observed between the two groups in third day LH, patient age, kind of infertility, cause of infertility and duration of infertility. In other hand, two groups did not show any significance difference in ovarian response, number of follicle and retrieved oocyte, stimulation duration, number of used ampules, cancellation rate of cycles and pregnancy rate. This reveals third day LH level is not associated with success rate in IVF cycles