MiR-145 is upregulated in the retarded preimplantation embryos and modulates cholesterol levels in mice preimplantation embryos through targeting Abca1.

BACKGROUND: Preimplantation embryonic lethality is a driver of female infertility. Certain microRNAs (miRNAs) have previously been demonstrated to play important roles in the regulation of embryogenesis. METHODS: Normally developing blastocysts and arrested embryos were collected from patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and the expression of specific miRNAs therein was evaluated by qPCR. The overexpression of target molecule miR-145 in early mice embryos was achieved via oocyte microinjection, enabling the subsequent monitoring of how such overexpression impacted embryonic development. Bioinformatics approaches were utilized to identify putative miR-145 target mRNAs, and luciferase reporter assessments were implemented to confirm the ability of miR-145 to regulate Abca1 in HEK293T cells. The functional relationship between miR-145 and Abca1 in the mice's embryonic development was then confirmed through rescue assays. RESULTS: Abnormally increased miR-145 expression was observed in patients' arrested embryos, and the exogenous overexpression of this miRNA significantly suppressed mural blastocyst formation. Mechanistically, miR-145 was found to bind to the 3'-untranslated area of the Abca1 mRNA in HK293T cells, thus suppressing its expression and increasing embryonic cholesterol levels. In line with the importance of these cholesterol levels to embryogenesis, the upregulation of Abca1 was sufficient to rescue the observed change in cholesterol levels and the associated retardation of mice embryonic development that occurred in response to the overexpression of miR-145. CONCLUSION: The regulatory dynamics of the miR-145/Abca1 axis play an important role in shaping normal embryonic development.

Sleep quality is associated with the weight of newborns after in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

BACKGROUND: Sleep disorders are thought to be common in women with in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) conception. Although a few studies have investigated the association between maternal sleep quality and infant birth weight, it is unclear to what extent birth weight is associated with sleep quality during pregnancy among these women. Therefore, we conducted a cohort study to assess sleep quality among women receiving IVF-ET during the subsequent pregnancy and investigated the association of self-report sleep quality on infant birth weight. METHODS: This study was a prospective cohort study recruiting women who were to receive assisted reproductive technology (ART). Sleep quality was measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) before oocyte retrieval and in the first trimester, second trimester, and third trimester during pregnancy. A generalized estimating equation (GEE) model was applied to evaluate the associations between sleep quality at specific times and infant birth weight. A general linear model was conducted to explore which component of the PSQI questionnaire was most associated with infant birth weight. RESULTS: Between August 2016 and August 2020, a total of 1344 women who had singleton births with IVF conception were included in the analysis. PSQI scores in the first trimester were highest (4.59 ± 2.47) but had no significant relationship with birth weight. After accounting for potential influencing factors, we found that poor maternal sleep quality in the second trimester was significantly associated with small for gestational age (SGA) among female infants (OR = 3.03, 95% CI = 1.04 to 9.71, P = 0.044), while no association was observed between sleep quality and birth weight in male infants (OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 0.68 to 3.99, P = 0.271). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the sleep quality of women with IVF pregnancies may influence fetal weight in a trimester- and sex-specific manner.

Influence of blastocysts morphological score on pregnancy outcomes and neonate′s condition in vitrified-warmed transfer cycles / 实用医学杂志

Objective To estimate the effect of blastocysts morphological score on pregnancy outcomes and neonate′s condition in vitrified-warmed single-blastocyst transfer cycles. Methods A retrospective analysis of 586 cycles of vitrified-warmed single-blastocyst transfer from Mar. 2010 to Feb.2016 was performed and the influ-ence of day of vitrification,inner cell mass(ICM)and trophectoderm(TE)scores on pregnancy outcomes and neo-nate′s condition were observed. Results There were no significant differences in clinical pregnancy rate,birth weight and sex ration of newborn between different vitrification day,ICM score and TE score.The day of vitrifica-tion and ICM score can significantly influence pregnancy loss rate,and were the two primary predictors of pregnan-cy loss rate. Vitrification day,ICM score and TE score exerted significant influence on live birth rate(P < 0.05) and TE score was the primary factor of live birth rate. Conclusions Day 5 vitrified blastocysts with higher quality of ICM and TE can provide high live birth rate and low pregnancy loss rate,but it could not predict the weight and gender of the newborn.

Rapid identification of cortex dictamni pieces and its counterfeit alangium Chinense by spectral imaging method / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The spectral imaging method was used to quickly identify the Cortex Dictamni pieces and its counterfeit alangium Chinese, which is a potential method would be applied to control the quality of the Cortex Dictamni pieces.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Standard sample, 5 cortex dictamni samples and its counterfeit alangium Chinese of different sources were tested by the liquid crystal imaging instrument. The spectrum resolution was 5 nm, the spectral range was from 405 nm to 680 nm, and the spatial resolution was 50 lp x mm(-1). The characteristic spectrum curves were picked up from spectral cube and principal analysis method was used to analyze the results.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The identification results by the spectral imaging method accorded well with the results by the traditional biology and chemistry analysis method.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The spectral imaging analysis method can be used to identify the cortex dictamni pieces and its counterfeit alangium Chinense. The testing course is convenient, quick and noninvasive.</p>

CONTROLLED OVARIAN HYPERRSTIMULATION SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED THE EXPRESSION OF AQUAPORIN-3 IN MOUSE OOCYTES USING SEMI-QUANTITATIVE REAL-TIME PCR ANALYSIS / 解剖学报

Objective To study the effect of controlled ovarian Hyperstimulation(COH)on expression of AQP3 mRNA in mouse oocytes at metaphase Ⅱ. Methods Twenty female mice(6-7 weeks) were randomly allocated into 2 groups, mice in COH group were superovulated by intraperitoneal injection of 7.5 IU pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin(PMSG) followed by 5 IU human chorionic gonadotropin(HCG) after 46-48?h. Nothing was given to mice in control group and the estrus cycle was observed at 9?am everyday. 12-16?h following hCG injection (COH group) or at 8?am next day after the estrus (control group), mice were killed by cervical dislocation. The oviducts were excised.Cumulus masses were recovered from the dilated ampullae under a dissecting microscope,digested granulosa cells using hyaluronidase. Semi-quantitative real-time PCR of AQP3 mRNA in mouse MⅡoocytes was investigated with ?-actin as the internal control. Results Oocytes swelling assay showed that AQP3 mRNA expressed in mouse MⅡ oocytes. Using semi-quantitative real-time PCR, the expression of AQP3 mRNA was significantly decreased(P