Conception probabilities at different days of menstrual cycle in Chinese women.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the conception probability among Chinese women. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Clinics in hospitals and family planning institutes in 10 provinces and cities. PATIENT(S): A total of 851 healthy married women aged 18-35 years with normal menstrual cycles who wish to have babies and with no contraception. INTERVENTION(S): Urinary LH was measured around days of expected ovulation for 7 days. The Barrett and Marshall model was used for calculation of conception probabilities on each cycle day from day -5 to day +1 in women with multiple episodes of intercourse. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Pregnancies in 1, 3, and >or=6 months. RESULT(S): A total of 851 women with 2,055 cycles were analyzed. In 489 cycles there was only one episode of intercourse. A total of 601 pregnancies occurred. The conception probabilities from days in relation to ovulation -5 to +1 for a single episode of intercourse were 0.216, 0.102, 0.236, 0.233, 0.388, 0.293, and 0.386, respectively, and for multiple episodes they were 0.254, 0.271, 0.293, 0.365, 0.315, and 0.284, respectively, with the peak value at day -1. Recalculation of the efficacy of emergency contraception with low-dose mifepristone with the present conception probabilities showed higher efficacy. CONCLUSION(S): Conception probabilities among Chinese women are different from those in the literature. Further comparative studies are needed to confirm an ethnic difference.

Hormonal contraception in Chinese men: variations in suppression of spermatogenesis with injectable testosterone undecanoate and levonorgestrel implants / 亚洲男科学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>AIM</b>To explore the causes of the difference in spermatogenic suppression between responders and non-responders in Chinese men treated with levonorgestrel (LNG) implants plus testosterone undecanoate (TU) injectable.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The 16 Chinese volunteers treated were divided into two groups in regard to the sperm count during the treatment period, 7 men in the responder group (Group R), including 6 azoospermia and one severe oligozoospermia, and the remaining 9 in the non-responder group (Group N), including 4 oligozoospermia and 5 with sperm counts greater than 20 x 10(6)/mL. The differences in serum profiles of FSH, LH, T, LNG and T/LH ratio were compared between the two groups and the correlation between the seminal fluid parameters and serum reproductive hormones was analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The serum FSH level was lower in Group R than that in Group N (P<0.05), while the serum LH and LNG levels were higher in Group R than those in Group N (P<0.05). The sperm density (P<0.01, r=0.235), motility(P<0.01, r=0.326) and vitality (P<0.01, r=0.219) showed significantly positive correlation with the serum FSH level.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The blood LNG and T levels, the degree of FSH inhibition and/or the sensitivity of the pituitary-testis axis to exogenous steroids, as well as the individual spermatogenetic potential and the functional status of the Leydig cells may be factors bringing about individual differences in spermatogenic suppression in Chinese men treated with LNG and TU.</p>