Urinary bisphenol A concentrations and in vitro fertilization outcomes among women from a fertility clinic

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a widespread environmental endocrine disrupting chemical. Although many animals and in vitro studies reported that BPA may affect female fertility through the effect on maturing oocytes and meiotic cell division, but the data from human studies are limited and inconclusive. The study was conducted to examine the association between urinary BPA concentration and in vitro reproductive outcomes (metaphase II (MII) oocyte yield, top quality embryo, fertilization rate, implantation rate and clinical pregnancy) among women from an infertility clinic.The study participants were enrolled in the Infertility Center in Poland. 450 women aged 24-44 (n = 674 IVF cycles) provided urine samples. The urinary concentrations of BPA were evaluated using validated gas chromatography ion-tap mass spectrometry method. Clinical outcomes of IVF treatment were abstracted from patients electronic chart records. To assess the relationship between urinary BPA concentrations early examined reproductive outcomes generalized linear mixed models were used.The detection rate of BPA in urine samples was 98% and the geometric mean 1.59 ± 2.15 ng/ml. A significant decrease was observed between urinary concentration of BPA and implantation (p = 0.04) and decreased MII oocyte count (p = 0.03). There was no association between other examined IVF outcomes: embryo quality, fertilization rate and clinical pregnancy and BPA exposure.Exposure to BPA may have a negative effect during the early stages of human development. The studies among the larger and more diverse population are needed to confirm the results.     

中国国家出生队列研究的理念与实践

出生队列研究在探讨生命早期暴露对子代远期健康的影响中发挥重要作用。随着育龄人口生殖健康问题的凸显, 辅助生殖技术被广泛应用于临床。而关于辅助生殖技术对母婴健康的远期影响尚未得到充分研究。2016年, 以家庭为单位, 同步招募辅助受孕家庭和自然受孕家庭的多中心前瞻性的中国国家出生队列(CNBC)研究正式启动。截至2021年6月30日, 已累计在全国招募7.2万个家庭, 包括辅助生殖家庭3.9万个和自然妊娠家庭3.3万个, 本队列以面对面随访的形式在辅助生殖治疗前、胚胎移植、孕早期、孕中期、孕晚期及分娩时以及婴儿出生后42 d、6个月、1岁、3岁时采集数据信息和生物样本。其主要目标为评估使用辅助生殖技术后诞生子代的发育和健康状况, 发现与不良出生结局和儿童期疾病相关的危险因素, 为提升出生人口质量的策略制定提供科学依据。本文将对国家出生队列的建设概况和研究进展做简要介绍。     

Determining the need for rescue intracytoplasmic sperm injection in partial fertilisation failure during a conventional IVF cycle

To explore the need for rescue intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in cases of partial fertilisation failure during a conventional in vitro fertilisation cycle, rescue ICSI was performed for cycles with a fertilisation rate of <50%. The data were divided into three groups based on the fertilisation rate: group 1 (0%), group 2 (<25%) and group 3 (>25%). The impact of rescue ICSI on each group was then analysed in terms of ovum fertilisation, embryo development, embryo utilisation and selection of embryos for transfer. Rescue ICSI was performed on 1831 unfertilised oocytes from 313 cycles. The fertilisation rates for group 1, group 2 and group 3 were 74.66, 68.35 and 65.46%, and the rate of polyploidy in the three groups was 8.55, 11.33, and 14.47%. The percentage of embryos that can be transferred from rescue ICSI for group 2 was 38.33%, and this value was higher than those of the other two groups. It is concluded that rescue ICSI is not recommended for patients with an IVF rate of >25% as the procedure is associated with a greater risk and low returns. However, it is feasible to perform rescue ICSI for patients with IVF rates of <25%.     

Increased expression of fatty acid binding protein 4 in preeclamptic Placenta and its relevance to preeclampsia

The aim of this investigation was to determine the expression of fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) in the placenta from women with preeclampsia and normal pregnancy, and to delineate the regulatory effects on thophoblast cell by FABP4. We determined the expression of FABP4 by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) or enzyme-linked immunesorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting for protein. Small interference of ribonucleic acid (siRNA) and specific FABP4 inhibitor were used to inhibit FABP4. The proliferation, migration and invasion of trophoblastic cells (Swan-71 and Jar) were evaluated with cell counting kit-8, wound-healing test and transwell analysis respectively. We found the expression of FABP4 was significantly higher in the placenta of preeclamptic women than that of women with normal pregnancy (t = 4.244, P < 0.001 for mRNA; t = 4.536, P < 0.001 for protein). FABP4 siRNA significantly reduced the proliferation of trophoblasts (P < 0.001). The specific inhibition of FABP4 inhibited the proliferation of trophoblasts in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.001) and the inhibitory effect increased as the concentration of inhibitor increased. FABP4 siRNA and specific inhibitor significantly decreased the migration (P < 0.001) and invasion (P < 0.001) of trophoblasts. We concluded the increase in placental FABP4 expression in preeclampsia may affect the function of trophoblast, and this increase may have a role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.     

Estrogen receptors are involved in polychlorinated biphenyl-induced apoptosis on mouse spermatocyte GC-2 cell line

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are widespread persistent environmental contaminants which have been shown to have reproductive toxicity and to disturb spermatogenesis. But the precise mechanism is not clear. A mouse pachytene spermatocyte-derived cell line, GC-2 cells were used in the present study to investigate the toxic effect of PCBs (Aroclor 1254) and explore the underlying molecular mechanism. Results showed that Aroclor 1254 inhibited cell proliferation, caused the arrest of cells in G0/G1 phase and induced apoptosis which might be partly explained by the decreased expression of Bcl-2 and cell cycle regulator cyclin D1 together with the activation of caspase-3. Besides, the treatment of Aroclor 1254 decreased the protein expression of estrogen receptor (ER)-α while increasing that of ERβ. Then the administration of selective ERα agonist PPT partly reversed Aroclor 1254-induced alteration in Bcl-2, caspase-3 and cyclin D1 protein expression while selective ERβ agonist DPN accelerated it. These results suggest that Aroclor 1254, working through ERα and ERβ, interferes with the expression of proteins involved in the balance between cellular apoptosis and proliferation.     

测序技术在无创产前筛查中的应用及进展

测序技术是现代分子生物学研究中的重要技术,1977年桑格测序技术（一代测序技术）出现。30年后,二代测序技术也应用于科研及临床;近年国外出现了以单分子测序为特点的第三代测序技术。测序技术促进了无创产前筛查技术的进步。相对于传统的羊膜腔穿刺术和绒毛活检,高通量测序技术通过对妊娠妇女血浆中胎儿游离DNA进行测序而获得胎儿的染色体信息,避免直接接触和伤害生长中的胎儿。研究人员利用大规模并行测序技术发现无创产前筛查技术相对于标准筛查技术拥有较高敏感度和特异度。多国卫生机构相继公布了产前检测的指导意见。2013年,单细胞测序开始应用于产前辅助生殖技术的临床试验。国内外通过对单个卵细胞的测序有望大幅度提高辅助生殖的活产率。高通量测序技术在产前诊断领域具有广阔的应用前景。