An enhanced clot growth rate before in vitro fertilization decreases the probability of pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: The shift towards hypercoagulation during in vitro fertilization (IVF) can lead to the impairment of embryo implantation and placental blood circulation, which is believed to be a factor in an unsuccessful IVF cycle. OBJECTIVES: To assess coagulation in women with infertility before the start of an IVF cycle and during treatment to reveal the association between coagulation imbalance and IVF outcome. PATIENTS/METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort observational study including 125 participants who underwent fresh IVF cycles. Blood samples were collected at five time points: before IVF, one week after the start of controlled ovarian stimulation (COS), on the day of follicular puncture, on the day of embryo transfer (ET) and one week after ET. Coagulation tests (clotting times: activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin; fibrinogen and D-dimer concentrations; thrombodynamics) were performed. RESULTS: Women with an elevated clot growth velocity (>32.3 µm/min, detected by thrombodynamics) before IVF demonstrated a higher risk of negative IVF outcomes (adjusted RR = 1.38; 95% CI 1.28-1.49; P<0.001). During the procedure, we observed increases in prothrombin, fibrinogen and D-dimer concentrations, a slight shortening of APTT and a hypercoagulation shift in the thrombodynamics parameters. The hemostasis assay values during COS and after ET had no associations with IVF outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Hypercoagulation in the thrombodynamics before the start of IVF treatment was associated with negative IVF outcomes. After the start of COS, all tests demonstrated a hypercoagulation trend, but the hypercoagulation did not influence IVF outcome. This research is potentially beneficial for the application of thrombodynamics assay for monitoring hemostasis in infertile women prior to an IVF procedure with the goal of selecting a group requiring hemostasis correction to increase the chances of pregnancy.

[Influence of Storage Temperature and Cryopreservation Conditions on the Extent of Human Sperm DNA Fragmentation].

With the direct labeling procedure for detecting DNA fragmentation we explored the influence of the different storage temperature conditions as well as different methods of cryopreservation on the structure of DNA organization in the human sperm. 19 sperm samples obtained from healthy men with normozoospermia (according to the criteria of the World Health Organization) were used for investigation. A significant increase of human sperm DNA-fragmentation was observed after 8 hours of incubation at +39 degrees C (by 76.7%) and at +37 degrees C (by 68.9%). It was found that sperm cooling with the use of a cryoprotectant immediately after thawing did not produce significant differences in the extent of DNA fragmentation, although samples, containing cryoprotectants, showed a sharp increase of DNA fragmentation after 24 hours of incubation, that could suggest cryoprotectant cytotoxicity.

Interaction of copper ions with stearic acid Langmuir monolayers and formation of cluster structures in monolayers and Langmuir-Blodgett films.

The interaction of copper ions with a stearic acid Langmuir monolayer resulting in an extremely high level of copper binding to the monolayer in amounts much larger than the number of stearic acid molecules in the monolayer was studied. The shape of the pressure-area isotherm changed drastically upon pH changes from 4 to 6 in the presence of copper ions in the aqueous phase (at concentrations of 10(-5) to 10(-3)(M) or upon addition of copper ions to the aqueous phase under different monolayer compressions. The copper ion concentration changes in the bulk phase, caused by binding to the monolayer, were studied by EPR at the equilibrium after intensive mixing of the bulk phase and were found to depend on pH of the aqueous phase and the extent of monolayer compression. The highest level of binding (up to 100 copper ions per stearic acid molecule, pH 5.6, initial copper concentration 5.10(-4) M) was observed at a surface pressure of about 20 mN/m; further compression of the monolayer and the respective increase in surface pressure caused the reverse growth of aqueous phase copper ion concentration. At the collapse and destruction of the monolayer, the copper ion concentration in the bulk phase was similar to that in the absence of the monolayer. The EPR spectra and SAXS diffractograms of copper-containing stearic acid monolayers confirmed the high copper content in LB films obtained. An STM study of pure stearic acid and the copper-containing monolayer LB films, transferred to graphite wafers from the water subphase surface (pH 5.4) at various copper concentrations, discovered nanosized (about 5 nM) cluster formations on the monolayer surface. The data obtained indicate that the interaction of a charged Langmuir monolayer with copper ions and formation of copper-containing nanostructures depends on monolayer compression and is determined by the arrangement, order, mobility of the monolayer stearic acid molecules and by electrostatics at the interface.