Patient and clinician experiences with cross-border reproductive care: A systematic review

ObjectivesThis review analyzes the experiences of patients and clinicians with regards to international cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) for the purpose of conception.MethodsElectronic databases PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched using ‘medical tourism’ AND ‘assisted reproductive technology’ from 1978 to 2020.ResultsPredominant patient motivators for CBRC were cost and legality of assisted reproduction technology (ART) in one's home country, followed by cultural factors like shared language, religion, and cultural familiarity. Clinicians suggested global laws for CBRC would reduce the potential for exploitation of vulnerable populations but believed the enactment of international regulations unlikely and, even if enacted, difficult to enforce.ConclusionsWhile patient and clinician experiences with CBRC varied, patients frequently cited financial and legal reasons for pursuing CBRC, while many providers had concern for the patient’s safety.Clinical practice implicationsThis review recommends clinicians involved in family planning counsel patients seeking treatment abroad by: (i) informing patients of the risks and benefits of treatment abroad, (ii) establishing guidelines and standards for clinicians on resuming patient care post-CBRC, and (iii) creating a directory of reputable CBRC clinicians and experts.     

淫羊藿（苷）对男性生殖系统的作用和机制

淫羊藿是一种常用的中药材,淫羊藿苷是从淫羊藿中提取的一种黄酮类化合物,也是淫羊藿中最主要的活性物质。研究发现,淫羊藿苷具有促进成骨细胞的生成和活化、调节免疫、抗衰老和抗炎等多种功能。临床上淫羊藿（苷）用于治疗生殖系统、骨关节系统、呼吸系统、神经系统、心血管系统和免疫系统等多种疾病。淫羊藿（苷）对男性生殖系统的作用及机制主要包括具有雄性激素样作用,促进睾内睾酮的合成和分泌。淫羊藿（苷）通过改善精子发生的微环境、增强睾丸抗氧化作用促进精子生成,增加精子密度,改善精子活力,减缓生殖衰退。此外,淫羊藿（苷）可促进阴茎勃起,治疗勃起功能障碍及早泄。     

国内外不孕不育患者健康相关生命质量量表的系统综述与评价研究

背景 健康相关生命质量（HRQoL）是用于评价临床疗效的重要指标。目前，不孕不育患者HRQoL量表得到了广泛应用，但尚不确定这些量表应用于临床时是否具有良好的测量性能，缺乏对量表的质量评价。 目的 系统综述与评价不孕不育患者HRQoL量表，为合理选择健康结果测量工具提供参考。 方法 于2020年10月，计算机检索PubMed、Web of Science、the Cochrane Library、EmBase、中国知网、万方数据知识服务平台、维普中文科技期刊全文数据库和中国生物医学文献数据库，获取国内外公开发表的有关不孕不育患者HRQoL的研究，检索时限均为建库至2020-10-05。由两名研究者独立筛选文献和提取资料后，采用健康测量工具遴选标准（COSMIN）对不孕不育患者HRQoL特异性量表开发研究的方法学质量，以及量表的测量性能进行评价，采用描述分析法对评价结果进行汇总、分析。 结果 共纳入229篇文献，涉及19个不孕不育患者HRQoL量表，其中4个为不孕不育患者HRQoL特异性量表〔TLMK、生育生活质量量表（FertiQoL）、QOLICQ及中医肝郁型不孕症生命质量量表〕，4个为用于测评癌症及其他疾病患者HRQoL的特异性量表，11个为普适性HRQoL量表，FertiQoL量表在现有不孕不育患者HRQoL相关研究中被使用的频次最高〔39.1%（91/233）〕。PROMs开发方面，除FertiQoL量表开发的总体质量为"有问题的"外，其余3个量表开发的总体质量均为"不合格"。内容效度方面，FertiQoL、QOLICQ量表开发研究的方法学质量分别为"非常好""有问题的"，TLMK、中医肝郁型不孕症生命质量量表开发研究的方法学质量均为"合格"。结构效度方面，除QOLICQ量表开发研究方法学质量为"有问题的"外，其余3个量表开发研究的方法学质量为"合格"；4个量表的结构效度均为"不确定"。内部一致性方面，4个量表开发研究的方法学质量均为"非常好"，4个量表的内部一致性均为"足够"。重测信度方面，QOLICQ量表开发研究的方法学质量为"有问题的"，量表的重测信度为"不确定"。效标效度方面，中医肝郁型不孕症生命质量量表开发研究的方法学质量为"非常好"，量表的效标效度为"足够"。建构效度方面，TLMK量表开发研究的方法学质量为"非常好"，量表的建构效度为"足够"。反应度/灵敏度方面，FertiQoL量表开发研究的方法学质量为"非常好"，量表的反应度/灵敏度为"足够"。 结论 现存的不孕不育患者HRQoL特异性量表中，FertiQoL量表开发研究的方法学质量及量表的测量性能相对较高。中国不孕不育患者HRQoL特异性量表研究数量相对不足，未来应开展更多的研究。     

Turner Syndrome and Fertility

Turner syndrome (TS) is tightly associated with hypergonadotropic hypogonadism and ovarian dysgenesis, typically resulting in infertility in the great majority of patients. Therefore females with TS are usually treated with female sex steroids from 11–12 years of age until the normal age of natural menopause of around 53–54 years of age. Infertility is rated among females with TS as a distressing concern and a detractor from a good quality of life. Options for motherhood for females with TS has expanded during recent years. Originally, only adoption was an option, unless of course for the small minority of TS females that still has ovarian function and are capable of achieving pregnancy through normal means. Oocyte donation has become the mainstream option in many countries and seems to work well, especially if patients have been treated with optimal estrogen and gestagen for a prolonged time before the intervention. It comes with an increased risk of cardiovascular complications and TS oocyte donation pregnancies are viewed as high risk pregnancies necessitating increased vigilance. Oocyte cryopreservation of own oocytes is also becoming an option in a select group of TS and has special challenges. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation is a promising new techniques that has been applied successfully in children with cancer. Currently, several trials are running around the world evaluating this techniques in TS. The genetics and genomics behind the ovarian dysgenesis seen in TS is not understood, but new studies have elucidated global changes in DNA methylation and RNA expression in blood from persons with TS and it is likely that similar changes are present in the ovaries. We still, however, need more thorough research to fully uncover the genetic background of ovarian failure in TS. Gene expression studies and methylation analysis from ovarian TS tissues still needs to be performed.     

Controversial conclusions from two randomized controlled trials for acupuncture’s effects on polycystic ovary syndrome or in vitro fertilization support

Two reports of trials investigating the potential effect of acupuncture in increasing live birth rate (LBR) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or those undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) were published by Journal of American Medical Association in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The trial investigators did not recommend acupuncture for the women with PCOS or IVF based on their findings. This paper raises the concern that the findings that acupuncture did not increase LBR for women with PCOS or undergoing IVF may be the result of methodological flaws in the studies and unintended bias such as use of an invalid control intervention and underestimation of the true acupuncture effect. Therefore, their findings may not be a valid reflection of acupuncture’s effect in improving LBR in women with these clinical conditions.     

染色体多态性在生殖异常方面的临床效应

染色体多态性是染色体异染色质区域一种微小而恒定的变异,包括结构、带纹宽窄、着色强度等方面的变异,常发生于1、9、16号染色体,D、G组染色体,以及Y染色体。近年来,染色体多态性与生殖方面的关系日益受到人们的关注,本文将近期国内外相关研究综述如下。     

多囊卵巢综合征中西医研究进展

多囊卵巢综合征是一种生殖功能障碍与糖代谢异常并存的内分泌紊乱综合征。是目前青中年妇女发病率较高的内分泌系统疾病，此病可由多方面因素诱发引起下丘脑-垂体-卵巢功能轴紊乱。是育龄期妇女月经不调，不孕等疾病的主要诱因。     

多囊卵巢综合征患者血清外泌体中miR-184的表达水平及其对卵巢颗粒细胞增殖的影响

目的研究多囊卵巢综合征(PCOS)患者血清外泌体中miR-184的表达水平及其对卵巢细胞颗粒增殖的影响。方法回顾性选取2018年2月至2020年4月期间盘锦辽油宝石花医院收治的60例PCOS患者作为PCOS组,另纳入同期30名健康成年女性作为对照组,提取2组受试者血清外泌体。应用实时荧光定量聚合酶链式反应(qRT-PCR)法检测2组受试者血清外泌体中及人卵巢颗粒细胞KGN和人正常卵巢上皮细胞IOSE80中的miR-184的相对表达。转染miR-184抑制剂的KGN细胞设为miR-184抑制剂组,转染抑制剂对照物的KGN细胞设为对照组,不做任何处理的KGN细胞设为空白组。应用MTT法检测各组KGN细胞的增殖情况,应用平板克隆实验检测各组KGN细胞的克隆形成率。结果PCOS患者血清外泌体中和KGN细胞中的miR-184的相对表达量为4.23±0.49、5.81±0.73,显著高于对照组(1.32±0.21)和IOSE80组细胞(1.19±0.15),差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。miR-184抑制剂组KGN细胞在24、48、72、96 h的吸光度值分别为0.20±0.05、0.22±0.07、0.26±0.08、0.29±0.07,均显著低于阴性对照组(0.31±0.09、0.52±0.11、0.78±0.12、0.96±0.18)和空白对照组(0.31±0.08、0.53±0.10、0.77±0.14、0.94±0.18),克隆形成率(26.78±5.98)%显著低于阴性对照组[(45.98±4.12)%]和空白对照组[(43.56±4.34)%],差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论PCOS患者血清外泌体和人卵巢颗粒细胞KGN中miR-184呈现高表达,PCOS的发病可能与miR-184促进卵巢颗粒细胞增殖有关。     

肥胖型PCOS患者的生物学特征和临床特征

多囊卵巢综合征（polycystic ovary syndrome,PCOS）是一种内分泌代谢紊乱综合征,临床表现高度异质性。肥胖是PCOS异质性临床表现之一,超过50%的PCOS患者超重或肥胖。肥胖型PCOS主要表现为高雄激素血症、中心型肥胖和糖脂代谢紊乱,非肥胖型PCOS主要表现为黄体生成激素（luteinizing hormone,LH）水平异常升高。尽管肥胖型和非肥胖型PCOS均存在内分泌代谢异常,然而肥胖可加重PCOS糖脂代谢紊乱;肥胖型PCOS还表现脂肪代谢的异常。综述肥胖型PCOS患者的临床特征、性激素水平、糖脂代谢特征,旨在为肥胖型和非肥胖型PCOS患者新的分型诊治提供参考。