Oocyte zona pellucida and meiotic spindle birefringence as a biomarker of pregnancy rate outcome in IVF-ICSI treatment.

OBJECTIVES: IVF-ICSI procedures are accompanied by a continuous search for predictors of ART outcome. The properties of zona pellucida (ZP) have been believed to reflect the history of oocyte cytoplasmic maturation. The meiotic spindle (MS) is crucial for chromosomal alignment and proper separation of the maternal chromosomes. There is data suggesting that birefringent ZP and MS can clinically predict the oocyte quality and developmental potential of an embryo. The aim of the study was to examine the possible effect of ZP birefringent properties and MS visualization and localization as valuable predictors of IVF-ICSI effectiveness. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The prospective study was performed during a 16-month period. A total of 51 patients undergoing in vitro fertilization--embryo transfer (IVF-ET) treatment procedure with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) were included. Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) was done using either a long n = 32 (62.75%) or an antagonist protocol n = 19. In the group of the 48 examined patients (aged 25-40), 46 ET were performed, resulting in 24 positive pregnancy tests and 19 (39.59%) clinical pregnancies. Oocytes were examined as follows: ZP birefringence autoscoring (OCTAX PolarAIDE), numeral autoscoring, thickness and clinical evaluation; MS visualization, if MS was visualized, localization of MS in relation to the polar body (PB). RESULTS: On day 3, 64.3% of the embryos were of good and 40.3% were of top quality. Visible differences, not statistically significant, were observed in the numeral score of ZP between oocytes selected and non-selected for ET. In cases when embryos were not of good or top quality, ZP score was higher (p = 0.005 p = 0.001). ZP manual evaluation indicated significantly stronger birefringence when pregnancy was not achieved (p = 0.022). The rate of MS positive oocytes was the highest in the group with pregnancy but it did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.471). The MS localization in relation to the PB was in most oocytes very close (< 45 degrees) in 70.9% and not different in the studied groups. CONCLUSIONS: Unexpected polarization microscopy imaging and rating of ZP and MS cannot be a direct predictor of the IVF outcome.

Uterine contraction signals--application of the linear synchronization measures.

OBJECTIVE: In physiological research, there are not too many studies on multivariate data sets, containing two or more simultaneously recorded time series. It is important to examine synchronization in these kinds of signals. The aim of this study is to present the linear measures: the cross-correlation function, the coherence function, the wavelet cross-correlation and the wavelet coherence to assess synchronization between contractions in different topographic regions of the uterus. STUDY DESIGN: Spontaneous uterine activity was recorded directly by a dual micro-tip catheter (Millar Instruments, Inc., USA). The device consisted of two ultra-miniature pressure sensors. One sensor was placed in the fundus, the other one in the cervix. For this analysis, a healthy patient with normal contractions, a patient with dysmenorrhea, a patient with fibromyomas in the follicular phase, and the patient with endometriosis were selected. RESULTS: For each method the values of synchronization parameters for normal contractions were higher than the values of these parameters for other pairs of signals. The differences between these four groups of the uterine contraction signals were clear. The lowest values of the synchronization measures were in the case of dysmenorrheic patient. CONCLUSION: The analysis of synchronization of the uterine contractions signals may have a diagnostic value. For intrauterine pressure signals results obtained by means of different synchronization methods are different, but consistent.

Estrogen receptor beta participate in the regulation of metabolizm of extracellular matrix in estrogen alpha negative breast cancer.

The biology of breast cancer is closely releted to sex steroid hormones. Estrogen receptor beta is overexpressed in around 70% breast cancer cases, referrd to as "ER positive". Estrogens bind to estrogen receptor and stimulate the transcription of genes involved in control of cell proliferation. Moreover, estrogens may induce growth factors and components of extracellular matrix and interact with them in a complex manner. Extracellular matrix and integrins play an important role in cell functions and their aberrant expressions are implicated in breast cancer development, invasion and metastasis. ER beta is certainly associated with more differentiated tumors, while evidence of role of ER beta is controversial. The highly invasive breast cancer ER beta negative cell line MDA-MB 231 can be the model of exam the role of ER beta in breast cancer. The aim of this study was to examine the role of activation of ER beta on the metabolism of the extracellular matrix and the expression of beta-1 integrin in the breast cancer cell line MDA-MB 231. The cells were exposed on the estradiol, tamoxifen, raloxifen and genisteina in dose dependent concentrations. To determine the relative rate of collagen syntesis we measured the time-dependent reduction of collagen-bound radioactivity after pulse-chase labeling with [3 H] prolina by Peterkofsky methods. The expression of beta-1 integrin was determine by Western blot analysis. The activity of MMP2 and 9 were measured using gelatin zymography with an image analysis system. Our data suggest on the role of estrogen receptor beta on the metabolism of extracellular matrix in the breast cancer line MDA - MB 231. Estradiol and SERMs regulate the expression of ECM proteins: collagen, integrins and enhance activity of metaloproteinases 2 and 9.

Uterine contractility: visualization of synchronization measures in two simultaneously recorded signals.

The analysis of the uterine contraction signals in nonpregnant states gives information about physiological changes during the menstrual cycle. Spontaneous uterine activity was recorded directly by a dual microtip catheter. The device consisted of two ultra-miniature pressure sensors. One sensor was placed in the fundus, the other in the cervix. It was important to identify time delays between contractions in two topographic locations, which may be of potential diagnostic significance in various pathologies: dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, and fecundity disorders. In this study the following synchronization measures-the cross-correlation, the semblance, the mutual information-were used to visualize the time delay changes over time. These measures were computed in a moving window with a width corresponding to approximately two or three contractions. As a result, the running synchronization functions were obtained. The running synchronization functions visualize changes in the propagation of the two simultaneously recorded signals. The propagation% parameter assessed from these functions allows for quantitative description of synchronization. Finally, we illustrate the use of running synchronization functions to investigate the effect of treatment with tamoxifen on primary dysmenorrhea.

Effect of short-term, low-dose treatment with tamoxifen in patients with primary dysmenorrhea.

Current treatment of painful periods and other symptoms related to primary dysmenorrhea (PD) is usually commenced with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or oral contraceptives, which fails in about 10% of affected patients. Tamoxifen, a selective estrogen-receptor modulator (SERM), has been demonstrated to directly inhibit uterine contractions, causing improvement in uterine blood flow. It could be considered for application in selected groups of dysmenorrheic patients, for instance carriers of breast cancer-associated antigen (BRCA) genes, breast cancer survivors or women with advanced endometriosis. Thus the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of short-term treatment with tamoxifen on PD and PD-related symptoms, as well as its direct effect on parameters of intrauterine pressure during the painful menstruation, in a group of dysmenorrheic patients. After two cycles of administration of tamoxifen we noted a significant decrease in bleeding together with reductions in the severity of menstrual cramps, diarrhea, headache, fatigue and anxiety. In intrauterine pressure assessments, tamoxifen significantly decreased propagation of uterine contractions. In conclusion, SERMs such as tamoxifen may constitute a therapeutic option in selected groups of patients, improving dysmenorrheic symptoms. Additionally to its receptor-mediated effects, tamoxifen was shown to exert a direct influence on uterine contractile activity that may explain the decrease of menstrual pain and cramps noted in the studied group.

Visualization of synchronization of the uterine contraction signals: running cross-correlation and wavelet running cross-correlation methods.

In physiological research, we often study multivariate data sets, containing two or more simultaneously recorded time series. The aim of this paper is to present the cross-correlation and the wavelet cross-correlation methods to assess synchronization between contractions in different topographic regions of the uterus. From a medical point of view, it is important to identify time delays between contractions, which may be of potential diagnostic significance in various pathologies. The cross-correlation was computed in a moving window with a width corresponding to approximately two or three contractions. As a result, the running cross-correlation function was obtained. The propagation% parameter assessed from this function allows quantitative description of synchronization in bivariate time series. In general, the uterine contraction signals are very complicated. Wavelet transforms provide insight into the structure of the time series at various frequencies (scales). To show the changes of the propagation% parameter along scales, a wavelet running cross-correlation was used. At first, the continuous wavelet transforms as the uterine contraction signals were received and afterwards, a running cross-correlation analysis was conducted for each pair of transformed time series. The findings show that running functions are very useful in the analysis of uterine contractions.

Fractal analysis of the uterine contractions.

The fractal dimension D may be calculated in many ways, since its strict definition, the Hausdorff definition is too complicated for practical estimation. In this paper we perform a comparative study often methods of fractal analysis of time series. In Benoit, a commercial program for fractal analysis, five methods of computing fractal dimension of time series (rescaled range analysis, power spectral analysis, roughness-length, variogram methods and wavelet method) are available. We have implemented some other algorithms for calculating D: Higuchi's fractal dimension, relative dispersion analysis, running fractal dimension, method based on mathematical morphology and method based on intensity differences. For biomedical signals results obtained by means of different algorithms are different, but consistent.

Expression of GLUT1 gene in breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231.

OBJECTIVES: Overexpression of membrane glucose transporters belonging to GLUT family, is a common feature of different malignancies. It has been found that the level of expression of some members of this large family correlates with invasiveness of some malignant tumors. GLUT1 is an example of the most often studied and best known members of GLUT receptors. We attempted to compare the expression level of GLUT1 gene in two breast cancer cell lines: hormone-positive MCF-7 and hormone-resistant, less differentiated and more aggressive MDA-MB-231. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multiplex PCR (after RT) was performed in order to semiquantiatively compare differences in the expression of GLUT1 in both cell lines. RESULTS: We found a difference in mRNA expression of GLUT1 in two cell lines. Densitometric optical analysis of bands resulted in the following results: in MCF-7 for GLUT1: 0.624; and in MDA-MB-231 0.875. CONCLUSIONS: In our studies we showed differences in GLUT1 receptor mRNA expression in two breast cancer cell lines with higher expression in MDA-MB-231. The results show that invasiveness of cancer cells may be to some extent associated with the expression of glucose transporters, including GLUT1.

Incorporation of 14C-palmitic acid into phospholipids in the isolated rat uterus. Effect of exogenous ovarian steroids and gonadotrophin-induced ovulation.

Effect of different hormonal stage on incorporation of (1-14C)palmitic acid (PA) into the uterine phospholipids (PL) has been studied. Virgin female Wistar rats were divided into the following groups: ovariectomized 7 and 28 days, untreated; ovariectomized received a single injection of estradiol, ovarietomized received a single injection of progesterone (after estradiol-priming), intact cycling females received pregnant mares serum gonadotrophin, intact cycling females injected human chorionic gonadotrophin after PMSG-priming. Uteri horns were incubated a buffer containing 14C-PA. Lipids were extracted and fractionated using thin-layer chromatography. Estradiol increased PL-content, incorporation of (1-14C)-PA into the PL, while progesterone inhibited E-dependent effect, Gonadotrophin-induced ovulation provoked increase in uterine PL-content and remained a stimulatory signal for incorporation of (1-14C)-PA.

[Two treatment methods of infertility associated with polycystic ovarian syndrome]. / Porównanie skutecznosci dwóch metod leczenia nieplodnosci zwiazanej z zespolem policystycznych jajników.

OBJECTIVES: 30 patients treated for infertility associated with PCO were analyzed. Anovulatory cycles and US scans of ovaries were taken as criteria for PCO. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients were treated either by the laparoscopic electrocauterization (n = 16) of ovaries or by the ultrasonographic punction of follicles (n = 14). Number of ovulatory cycles, cumulative pregnancy rate and hormonal changes were analyzed. RESULTS: We observed the same efficacy of both methods in terms of ovulatory cycles and pregnancy rates. The cumulative pregnancy rate was 37.5% in laparoscopic and 35.7% in ultrasonographic groups during the 3 months' observation. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasonographic punction has appeared to be easier to do and safer for the patient and have the same pregnancy rate. It also gives opportunity for in vitro culture and maturation of obtained oocytes.