Prevalence of genital Mycoplasma in pregnancies with shortened cervix.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether colonisation with genital Mycoplasma species (spp.) in patients presenting with a shortened cervix before 34th week of pregnancy is associated with preterm birth. METHODS: The collection of this retrospective study consisted of 100 pregnant women who presented to a German Tertiary Perinatal Center between 2017 and 2020 due to a shortened cervix defined as a cervical length of 25 mm or shorter measured by transvaginal ultrasound before 34 weeks of gestation. At the time of admission, gestational age ranged from 18 + 4 to 33 + 3 weeks (+ days) of pregnancy. All patients underwent urine polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for genital Mycoplasma [Ureaplasma (U.) urealyticum, U. parvum, M. hominis or M. genitalium]. Patients who were tested positive underwent a therapy with macrolides (azithromycin or clarithromycin). RESULTS: 37% of the patients were positive for Ureaplasma spp., whereas 5% (5 patients) were Mycoplasma spp.-positive. All the latter were simultaneously colonised with Ureaplasma spp. Ureaplasma-positive patients were significantly younger than those who were tested negative. Median maternal age at examination was 30 years (a) versus 31a (p = 0.04). There was no difference between Ureaplasma-positive and -negative patients regarding median maternal body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2) (23.4 versus 22.3, p = 0.41), cervical length at admission (mm) (15 versus 17, p = 0.17), gestational age at examination (days, d) (198 versus 197, p = 0.97) or gestational age at birth (d) (250 versus 257, p = 0.33), respectively. Comparing U. parvum-positive and U. urealyticum-positive patients, there was some weak indication that U. parvum-positive patients may get a shortening of the cervix earlier in pregnancy, as the median gestational age at examination was 196d versus 215d (p = 0.06). Regarding Mycoplasma-positive and -negative patients, there was no difference in all examined parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, one-third of all women in our study with a shortened cervix before 34th week of pregnancy were colonised with genital Mycoplasma spp. We were able to show that pregnant women, who were treated with antibiotics when tested positive for genital Mycoplasma, gave birth at the same gestational age as patients with a shortened cervix without detected Mycoplasma. This raises the question of whether routine testing and early antibiotic treatment should be established in prenatal care.

[Management of intra-abdominal dysgerminoma During pregnancy - A Case Report and Literature Review]. / Management Unterbauchraumforderungen in der Schwangerschaft ­ Fallbeschreibung eines extraovariell-intraabdominalen Dysgerminoms mit Überblick über die Literatur.

INTRODUCTION: Dysgerminomas are rare malignant germ cell tumors. They usually arise from the ovary, but case reports describing extraovarian dysgerminomas do exist. When treated adequately the disease has a good prognosis. Dysgerminomas diagnosed during pregnancy are very rare. METHODOLOGY: Report of extraovarian intra-abdominal dysgerminoma during pregnancy. Systematic literature review. CASE REPORT: A 35-year-old second gravida was diagnosed with a suspected intra-abdominal mass at 20 gestational weeks. During an exploratory laparotomy, a tumor infiltrating the transverse colon and histologically identified as a dysgerminoma was resected. Ovaries were clinically unremarkable. The induction of chemotherapy was postponed until after delivery. At 34 gestational weeks the patient underwent cesarean section and tumor debulking. Four cycles of bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin were administered. After 12 months, cystic ovaries were found. Hysterectomy with bilateral adnexectomy was performed but no malignancy found. After 16 months, the patient was still in complete remission. CONCLUSION: We describe the first-ever published dysgerminoma in gravida primarily evolving intraabdominally and not affecting the ovaries. The decision for cytoreductive surgery, prolongation of pregnancy and postponing chemotherapy until after delivery combined the best benefit for the baby with a good maternal prognosis. Due to limited data regarding dysgerminomas in pregnancy, individual interdisciplinary concepts are mandatory.

Chronic CCl4 intoxication causes liver and bone damage similar to the human pathology of hepatic osteodystrophy: a mouse model to analyse the liver-bone axis.

Patients with chronic liver diseases frequently exhibit decreased bone mineral densities (BMD), which is defined as hepatic osteodystrophy (HOD). HOD is a multifactorial disease whose regulatory mechanisms are barely understood. Thus, an early diagnosis and therapy is hardly possible. Therefore, the aim of our study consisted in characterizing a mouse model reflecting the human pathomechanism. Serum samples were collected from patients with chronic liver diseases and 12-week old C57Bl6/N mice after 6-week treatment with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). Repetitive injections of CCl4 induced liver damage in mice, resembling liver fibrosis in patients, as assessed by serum analysis and histological staining. Although CCl4 did not affect primary osteoblast cultures, µCT analysis revealed significantly decreased BMD, bone volume, trabecular number and thickness in CCl4-treated mice. In both HOD patients and CCl4-treated mice, an altered vitamin D metabolism with decreased CYP27A1, CYP2R1, vitamin D-binding protein GC and increased 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase hepatic gene expression, results in decreased 25-OH vitamin D serum levels. Moreover, both groups exhibit excessively high active transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-ß) serum levels, inhibiting osteoblast function in vitro. Summarizing, our mouse model presents possible mediators of HOD, e.g. altered vitamin D metabolism and increased active TGF-ß. Liver damage and significant changes in bone structure and mineralization are already visible by µCT analysis after 6 weeks of CCl4 treatment. This fast response and easy transferability makes it an ideal model to investigate specific gene functions in HOD.