Monochorionic-triamniotic triplet pregnancy following artificial reproductive technology: Report of a rare case in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: Monochorionic-triamniotic (MCTA) triplet pregnancies following artificial reproductive technologies are uncommon. We report a case in which one of two transferred embryos differentiated into an MCTA triplet. This study aimed to investigate the potential factors contributing to MCTA triplet pregnancy. CASE REPORT: A 39-year-old woman underwent her second frozen embryo transfer with hatching blastocysts, which resulted in the detection of an MCTA triplet on ultrasonography. She delivered by cesarean section at 32 weeks of gestation, resulting in the birth of three live male infants. Her medical history and in vitro fertilization treatment were reviewed to identify potential causes. CONCLUSION: The etiology of MCTA triplet pregnancy remains multifactorial. In the presented case, prolonged in vitro culture to the blastocyst stage and inner cell mass splitting were potential contributing factors. Further research is needed to fully understand the complexity of MCTA triplet pregnancy.

Elevated serum autoantibody against high mobility group box 1 as a potent surrogate biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a complicate and progressive onset devastating neurodegenerative disease. Its pathogenic mechanisms remain unclear and there is no specific test for diagnosis. For years, researchers have been vigorously searching for biomarkers associated with ALS to assist clinical diagnosis and monitor disease progression. Some specific inflammatory processes in the central nervous system have been reported to participate in the pathogenesis of ALS. As high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is elevated in spinal cord tissues of patients with ALS, we hypothesized, therefore, that serum autoantibody against HMGB1 (HMGB1 autoAb) might represent an effective biomarker for ALS. Patients with ALS, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and healthy age-matched control subjects were recruited for this study. ALS group consisted of 61 subjects, the other groups each consisted of forty subjects. We generated a polyclonal antibody against HMGB1 and developed an ELISA-based methodology for screening serum samples of these subjects. All samples were coded for masked comparison. For statistic analyses, two-tailed Student's t-test, ANOVA, Bonferroni multiple comparison test, Spearman correlation, and receiver operating characteristic curve were applied. We discovered that the level of HMGB1 autoAb significantly increased in patients with ALS as compared with that of patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and healthy control subjects. The differences between all groups were robust even at the early stages of ALS progression. More importantly, higher HMGB1 autoAb level was found in more severe disease status with significant correlation. Our study demonstrates that serum HMGB1 autoAb may serve as a biomarker for the diagnosis of ALS and can be used to monitor disease progression.