Effect of intra-ovarian platelet rich plasma in women with poor ovarian response.

Background: Poor ovarian responder (POR) women, whose ovarian response to gonadotropin stimulation has decreased, are at higher risk of unsuccessful in-vitro fertilization (IVF). Therefore, this study designed to evaluate the effect of intra-ovarian platelet rich plasma (PRP) on POR women. Methods: This single-arm trial research was done on 20 POR women referred to the IVF Unit, university-based hospital, Tehran, Iran between October 2020 and September 2021. For all participants, autologous PRP was injected into each ovary by transvaginal ultrasound guidance under spinal anesthesia between days 12 and 14 of the menstrual cycle. After 12 weeks of PRP injection, embryo transfers were carried out following our routine IVF department protocol. The study outcomes were the number of mature oocytes, and pregnancy rates. Results: The average age of the participants was 41.80±1.82 yr. The average infertility duration was 9.70±1.89 yrs., with 80% primary infertility type. After PRP injection, follicle-stimulating hormone levels dropped about 1% (P=0.499), anti-Mullerian hormone levels were on average 4.5% higher (P=0.356), and estradiol levels raised by 1.2% (P=0.681). The average number of oocytes and their quality increased after PRP injection, while these changes were not significant (p-value>0.05). Chemical pregnancy was detected in 3 (15%) women and clinical pregnancy was detected only in one person. Conclusion: This study revealed that PRP injection into ovaries of POR women is safe and had a tendency to improve ovarian reserve markers and serum levels of AMH, estradiol, number and quality of oocytes.

Effect of different alcoholic-alkaline treatments on physical and mucoadhesive properties of tapioca starch.

Alcoholic-alkaline treatment (AAT) is a physical modification method for the production of granular cold water swelling starch and should be optimized for each starch source. The main objective of this research was to investigate physical and mucoadhesive properties of tapioca starch (TS) modified by different AATs. Improvement of cold-water absorption, solubility, rheological properties at low temperatures, clarity, freeze-thaw stability, and mucoadhesion was positively correlated with the alkali amount and reaction temperature and negatively correlated with ethanol content. Morphological studies demonstrated different degrees of swelling, birefringence loss, and surface wrinkling of granules depending on modification degree. Starch pastes, modified in a higher degree, showed a change from rheopexy to thixotropy and from translucency to turbidity over time. The highest quality along with maintaining granular integrity was obtained by treating starch (10 g) with 30 g alkaline solution (2.5 M) and 110 g aqueous ethanol (40%) at 25 °C. The characteristics of this sample were higher than those of corn counterpart except for viscosity, consistency, and freeze-thaw stability and were almost similar to those of thermally gelatinized TS (TGTS). Therefore, this AA-modified TS can be an alternative for TGTS in instant and heat-sensitive foods and delivery of bioactives as a mucoadhesive polymer.

Effect of acetic acid on physical properties of pregelatinized wheat and corn starch gels.

Pregelatinized starches are physically modified starches with ability to absorb water and increase viscosity at ambient temperature. The main purpose of this study was to determine how different concentrations of acetic acid (0, 500, 1000, 10,000 mg/kg) can affect functional properties of pregelatinized wheat and corn starches (PGWS and PGCS, respectively) produced by a twin drum drier. With increasing acetic acid following changes occurred for both samples; cold water solubility (at 25 °C) increased, water absorption and apparent cold water viscosity (at 25 °C) reduced, the smooth surface of the starch particles converted to an uneven surface as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, cohesiveness, consistency and turbidity of the starch gels reduced while their syneresis increased. It was found that in presence of acetic acid, PGWS resulted in higher water absorption and apparent cold water viscosity and produced more cohesive and turbid gels with less syneresis compared to PGCS.