ABSTRACT
Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of Glycyrrhiza glabra [Licorice], a cyclooxyge- nase-2 inhibitor [Celecoxib] and a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog [Diphereline], with a control group on endometrial implants in rats
Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, endometriosis was induced in rats by auto transplantation and after confirmation, the rats were divided into 4 groups that were treated for 6 weeks with normal saline [0.5 ml/day, orally], licorice extract [3000 mg/kg/day, orally], celecoxib [50 mg/kg, twice a day, orally] or diphereline [3 mg/kg, intramuscularly]. At the end of treatments, the mean area, volume, histopathology and hemosiderin-laden macrophage [HLM] counts of the endometrial implants were evaluated and compared among the four groups
Results: The mean area, volume and HLM counts of the implants in the licorice group were significantly lower than those of the control group [P<0.001]. The histopathologic grades of endometrial implants were significantly decreased by licorice compared to the control group [P<0.001]. There was no significant change in the mentioned parameters in rats treated with celecoxib compared to the control group. Diphereline was the most potent agent for suppressing the growth of endometrial implants in terms of all of the above-mentioned parameters
Conclusion: Licorice decreased the growth and histopathologic grades of auto-transplanted endometrial implants. However, while celcoxib had no significant effect, diphereline showed the highest potency for decreasing the endome- trial growth. Licorice may have the potential to be used as an alternative medication for the treatment of endometriosis
ABSTRACT
Objectives: We sought to determine the effects of the delayed start protocol with gonadotropin-releasing hormone [GnRH] antagonists in poor responders undergoing in vitro fertilization [IVF]
Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted during a 15-month period from April 2014 to July 2015 in clinics in Shiraz, Iran. total of 42 poor responders with primary infertility were randomly assigned to the controlled ovarian stimulation group utilizing the delayed start protocol [n = 21] or the traditional group [n = 21] using GnRH antagonist, Cetrotide. The primary endpoint was the number of patients undergoing oocyte pick-up, implantation, and the rate of pregnancy
Results: The baseline characteristics of the two study groups were comparable including age, infertility duration, and body mass index. The number of follicles measuring > 13 mm in diameter [p = 0.057], retrieved oocytes [p = 0.564], mature metaphase II oocytes [p = 0.366], embryos [p = 0.709], and transferred embryos [p = 0.060] were comparable between the two groups. The number of patients undergoing oocyte pick-up [p = 0.311], the rates of implantation [p = 0.407], and pregnancy [p = 0.596] were also comparable between the two groups
Conclusions: The delayed start protocol was not associated with better conception results or cycle outcomes in poor responders with primary infertility undergoing IVF cycles
ABSTRACT
Background: Infertility adversely affects quality of life [QoL]. The present study aims to evaluate QoL and its associated factors among infertile couples
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the Fertility QoL [Ferti QoL] instrument was used to measure QoL among 501 volunteer couples who attended the Infertility Clinic at the Mother and Child Hospital, Shiraz, Iran. We used an additional questionnaire to assess participants' demographic and clinical characteristics. The relationship between the scores of QoL to the sociodemographic and treatment data was analysed
Results: The subjects with lower income levels had lower relational, mind/body, emotional, and total core scores. Fe- male participants without academic education had lower scores in the emotional subscale, while the male participants showed lower scores in emotional, mind/body, relational, social, and total QoL domains. Subjects who had undergone any type of treatment, including pharmacological treatment, intrauterine insemination [IUI], intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection [ICSI], and in vitro fertilization [IVF] showed significantly lower scores in the environmental domain. Participants with lower infertility duration obtained significantly greater QoL scores. Finally, tolerability, emotional, and environmental domains were significantly more desirable when the infertility problem was related to a male factor
Conclusion: Infertile couples with shorter duration of infertility and male etiology have higher QoL. Lower academic education, lower income levels, or prior unsuccessful treatments are associated with lower QoL
ABSTRACT
Background: Y chromosome deletions [YCDs] in azoospermia factor [AZF] region are associated with abnormal spermatogenesis and may lead to azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia. Assisted reproductive tech- nologies [ART] by intracytoplasmic sperm injection [ICSI] and testicular sperm extraction [TESE] are commonly required for infertility management of patients carrying YCDs. The aim of this study was to estimate the frequency of YCDs, to find the most frequent variant in infertile men candidate for ART and to compare YCD distribution with a control fertile group. The semen parameters, hormonal profiles and ART outcomes of the infertile group were studied
Materials and Methods: This case-control study consisted of 97 oligozoospermic or non-obstructive azoospermic [NOA] infertile men, who had undergone ART, as the case group and 100 fertile men as the control group. DNA samples were extracted from blood samples taken from all 197 participants and YCDs were identified by multiplex polymerase chain reaction [PCR] of eight known sequence-tagged sites. The chi-square test was used to compare the mean values of hormone and sperm parameters between the two groups. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant
Results: No YCD was detected in the control group. However, 20 out of 97 [20.6%] infertile men had a YCD. AZFc, AZFbc and AZFabc deletions were detected in 15 [75%], four [20%] and one [5%] YCD-positive patients. No fertilization or clinical pregnancy was seen following ICSI in this sub-group with YCD. The mean level of FSH was significantly higher in the group with YCD [28.45 +/- 22.2 vs. 4.8 +/- 3.17 and 10.83 +/- 7.23 in YCD-negative patients with and without clinical pregnancy respectively]
Conclusion: YCD is frequent among NOA men and YCD screening before ART and patient counseling is thus strongly recommended
ABSTRACT
Background: In vitro fertilization [IVF] and intracytoplasmic sperm injection [ICSI] are two important subsets of the assisted reproductive techniques, used for the treatment of infertility. Predicting implantation outcome of IVF/ICSI or the chance of pregnancy is essential for infertile couples, since these treatments are complex and expensive with a low probability of conception
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the data of 486 patients were collected using census method. The IVF/ICSI dataset contains 29 variables along with an identifier for each patient that is either negative or positive. Mean accuracy and mean area under the receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curve are calculated for the classifiers. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and likelihood ratios of classifiers are employed as indicators of performance. The state-of-art classifiers which are candidates for this study include support vector machines, recursive partitioning [RPART], random forest [RF], adaptive boosting, and one-nearest neighbor
Results: RF and RPART outperform the other comparable methods. The results revealed the areas under the ROC curve [AUC] as 84.23 and 82.05%, respectively
The importance of IVF/ICSI features was extracted from the output of RPART. Our findings demonstrate that the probability of pregnancy is low for women aged above 38
Conclusion: Classifiers RF and RPART are better at predicting IVF/ICSI cases compared to other decision makers that were tested in our study. Elicited decision rules of RPART determine useful predictive features of IVF/ICSI. Out of 20 factors, the age of woman, number of developed embryos, and serum estradiol level on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin administration are the three best features for such prediction
ABSTRACT
Objectives: The current study aimed at evaluating testis parameters and spermatogenesis changes in male rats administrated by different busulfan doses and time to construct a subfertile animal model by stereological methods
Materials and Methods: In the present study, 150 male Wistar rats randomly divided into 5 groups. All experimental groups were treated by different concentrations of busulfan [0.0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 15 mg/kg]. Rats were sacrificed 1, 15, and 30 days after busulfan treatment. The tissue processing was done for stereological study and the results were analyzed by the one-way ANOVA followed by the Duncan test
Results: The most stereological parameters such as testes weight and volume, tubules volume density, interstitial tissue [P<0.05], and germinal epithelium [P<0.01] were significantly reduced by busulfan treatment. Also, at different busulfan doses, the number of spermatogenic cells including spermatogonia [P<0.05], spermatocyte, round and elongated spermatid, and the Sertoli and Leydig cells [P<0.01] significantly decreased, compared with those of the control group. The decline was more obvious in higher busulfan doses and time [from the day 15 to 30] [P<0.05]
Conclusion: Most of testicular stereological parameters reduced during 15 days onwards after busulfan treatment in a dose-dependent manner
ABSTRACT
Background: Infertility is a complex phenomenon, which threatens everyone and every family. Females are threatened more due to various social differences
Objectives: The goal of this study was to explore the experiences of infertile females, who had referred to a public center of infertility in Shiraz, Iran
Methods: This was a qualitative study based on four focus groups and four in-depth interviews with 25 infertile females. Transcribed data were analyzed using conventional content analysis
Results: Four themes were extracted from the data, which were life without excitement, social pressures, low self-esteem and treatment problems. Although it seems that these themes are variable, they present a total reality, which leads to a bitter life
Conclusions: Infertile females are under multidimensional pressures involving psychological, social and economic aspects of their life and interpersonal relationships. This condition leads to a bitter situation for these people