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Hi there Just giving the editor a good old test run. Test student 2015

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--Z3416054 (talk) 13:45, 7 August 2015 (AEST) --Mark Hill (talk) 10:47, 6 August 2015 (AEST) Thanks for setting up your page. We will be talking more about this in the Practical on Friday.

Lab 1 Assessment

Article 1

This research article aimed to determine the clinical outcomes following IVF (in vitro fertilisation) and embryo transfer treatments in subjects suffering from the sexually transmitted disease syphilis. The clinical outcomes mentioned are the rates of pregnancy and health of newborns following treatment via IVF. Couples engaged in sexual intercourse over 12 months without the use of contraception and who failed to conceive were deemed as being infertile.

The subjects were divided into two groups based on serology results, a syphilis infected group and a control group, each with 160 individuals, giving a total of 320 subjects. The Syphilis infected group was further divided into three subcategories, a male infected group, a female infected group and a couple (male and female) infected group. Penicillin G20 (an anti-syphilis treatment) was given to the individuals in the syphilis group. IVF treatment commenced one month proceeding the disappearance of clinical syphilis symptoms or if test results gave a negative result for syphilis infection.

The results of this experiment revealed no significant differences in regards to the basal FSH and LH of both the control and syphilis groups. However, the thickness of the endometrium differed greatly, with the syphilis group demonstrating a thicker endometrial wall (16.9±5.4mm) compared to the control group (13.0±4.7mm). Further differences were noted in blastocyst implantation rates, with the syphilis group having less successful implantations compared to the control (24.2% vs. 34.4% respectively).Normal oocyte cleavage differed between the two groups with the syphilis group demonstrating less normal oocyte cleavage compared to the control group (6.3±4.7 vs. 8.1±4.6). Furthermore, the clinical pregnancy rates of the syphilis group stood at 43.8% compared to 55.6% of the control group.

Syphilis infection appeared to have a significant impact on the success and clinical outcomes of IVF. Syphilis associated pelvic inflammatory disease can lead to an increase in the thickness of the endometrium, which can adversely affect blastocyte implantation and endometrial receptivity. Successful pregnancy rates typically correlate with an endometrial thickness of 7-14mm, with any thickness beyond 14mm often corresponding with decreased clinical pregnancies. Rates of clinical pregnancy and miscarriage rates did not differ between the three syphilis subgroups. Conception involving a male infected partner was associated with a shorter gestational period and decreased offspring birth weight, when compared to the female infected and couple infected subgroups. No explanation for this phenomenon was provided.

PMID 26208116

Article 1 Reference: <pubmed>PMC4514756</pubmed>

Article 2

The effects of oxygen levels on factors such as cleavage, implantation and pregnancy rates in IVF cultured embryos was the primary focus of this article. Women between the ages of 20-48 who were seeking treatment for infertility were utilised in this experiment.

Gametes were allocated to be incubated in one of three environments, each with a different oxygen concentration. The first group was placed in an atmosphere with an oxygen concentration of 20%. The second group rested in a 20% oxygen environment for a day before being moved to a 5% oxygen, 5% carbon dioxide and 90% nitrogen atmosphere. The third group consisted of a 5% carbon dioxide, 5% oxygen and 90% nitrogen atmosphere. The gametes (spermatozoa and oocytes) were incubated together in their respective environmental conditions for 4-6 hours after which fertilisation is presumed to have occurred.

Successful embryos were transferred at Day 3 cleavage. A biochemical analysis of HCG validated pregnancy, whilst ultrasound was used to confirm the presence of a heartbeat 28 days following the transfer. IVF fertilisation rates were calculated as being the number of fertilised oocytes over the number of oocytes inseminated. Cleavage rates were characterised by the number of blastomeres over the number of fertilised and abortion rate by the amount of miscarriages divided by the number of transfers.

The research article concluded that the embryos from the 5% oxygen group had the highest rates of fertilisation and implantation. The 20% oxygen group had the second highest rates of fertilisation and maintained excellent embryo quality, whilst the 20% to 5% group had the lowest rates overall. Abortion and miscarriage rates did not differ at all between the three groups. The group incubated at 5% oxygen demonstrated higher quality embryos and increased rates of pregnancy when compared to the 20% oxygen group. The article concludes that implantation, pregnancy and embryo quality can be somewhat affected by a set oxygen concentration, but are affected adversely by a shift from one concentration to another. Shifting from one oxygen concentration to another appeared to have an adverse effect on the cleavage of the embryo and would likely impact future development and the overall success of the IVF treatment.

PMID 26131222

Article 2 Reference: <pubmed>PMC4483955</pubmed>

References

PMID 26244658

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