Clinical outcomes of assisted reproductive technology treatment by using a self-injection of recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin as the final maturation trigger.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of self-injections of the prefilled recombinant human chorionic gonadotropin (r-hCG) in a syringe in assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment for the maturation trigger (MT), as compared to self-injections of conventional hCG and intranasal administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a). METHODS: Between January and April, 2017, 396 patients who underwent oocyte retrieval were recruited. Of these, 396 patients were classified into three groups, according to the types of MT: (1) the urinary human chorionic gonadotropin (u-hCG) group that consisted of patients who had a self-injection of u-hCG (n = 127); (2) the GnRH-a group that received nasal administration of GnRH-a (n = 159); and (3) the r-hCG group that had a self-injection of r-hCG (n = 110). Several ART outcomes were evaluated. RESULTS: The mature oocyte retrieval rate was not different between the u-hCG, r-hCG, and GnRH-a groups and the fertilization and cleavage rates were similar between the three groups. The clinical pregnancy rates did not significantly differ between the GnRH-a group and the u-hCG group; however, it was significantly lower in the GnRH-a group, compared to the r-hCG group. No difference was observed in the incidence of moderate or more severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome among the three groups. CONCLUSION: The self-injection of the prefilled r-hCG is a favorable MT for ART patients.

Time-course microarrays reveal early activation of the immune transcriptome in a choline-deficient mouse model of liver injury.

AIMS: Choline-deficient diet is extensively used as a model of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In this study, we explored genes in the liver for which the expression changed in response to the choline-deficient (CD) diet. MAIN METHODS: Male CD-1 mice were divided into two groups and fed a CD diet with or without 0.2% choline bitartrate for one or three weeks. Hepatic levels of choline metabolites were analyzed by using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry and hepatic gene expression profiles were examined by DNA microarray analysis. KEY FINDINGS: The CD diet lowered liver choline metabolites after one week and exacerbated fatty liver between one and three weeks. We identified >300 genes whose expression was significantly altered in the livers of mice after consumption of this CD diet for one week and showed that liver gene expression profiles could be classified into six distinct groups. This study showed that STAT1 and interferon-regulated genes was up-regulated after the CD diet consumption and that the Stat1 mRNA level was negatively correlated with liver phosphatidylcholine level. Stat1 mRNA expression was actually up-regulated in isolated hepatocytes from the mouse liver with the CD diet. SIGNIFICANCE: This study provides insight into the genomic effects of the CD diet through the Stat1 expression, which might be involved in NAFLD development.