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From Embryology

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--Z3418698 (talk) 14:26, 12 August 2014 (EST)


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Article 1


<pubmed>25100710</pubmed>


Vascular dysfunctions including high blood pressure and vascular remodeling seem to have a higher appearance in children who have been conceived by in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Numerous tests have shown that IVF children between the ages of 3-13 have higher blood pressures of considerable statistical significance. The research paper aims to investigate any particular trends in the expression of a number of protein compounds in trying to deduce or narrow down a causative agent.

The study focused on children aged 3-13 years with a sample of 704 IVF and an equal number of natural birth as well as ‘control’ children from a similar area in china. Umbilical vessels and cord blood was collected post-caesarean delivery and protein digestion samples were prepared in the lab for analysis. iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation) was used as the primary method to tag a number of proteins which were then identified using the MASCOT search engine and Proteomics tools. Western Blotting Analysis was used to calculate relative ratios of the identified peptides in IVF, natural-birth and control samples and concentrations were compared.


Results showed the expression of forty-seven proteins in the IVF veins that are typically not present in children conceived by natural birth . Further analysis using the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis was then conducted to examine signaling pathways of the differentially expressed proteins revealing that these proteins played an important role in vascular development and carbon metabolism. A reduction in rate of carbon metabolism is linked to a subsequent decrease in energy supply hence also possibly directly influencing the vascular development. Results also showed a significantly higher concentration of serum estradiol (E2) in cord blood of IVF newborns compared to newborns. Previous studies have shown that a higher concentration of E2 induces alteration of lumican and vimentin mRNA expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells which are involved in the process of vascular modification. The results of the investigation suggest that the abnormal expression of these proteins in umbilical veins may have a potentially causative relationship or at least, be a factor involved in cardiovascular dysfunction and increased blood pressure in IVF children.


Article 2

<pubmed>25100106</pubmed>

The luteal phase during the menstrual cycle has been suggested in a number of studies to significantly improve pregnancy rates in women undergoing IVF. As the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome is higher associated with the use of hCG itself, progesterone was used as the treatment choice for the experiment. This study focuses on comparing the efficacy and safety of two different forms administration of progesterone; aqueous subcutaneous progesterone and vaginal progesterone for luteal phase support of in vitro fertilization.


A randomized controlled trial was performed at eight different fertility centres with 800 female participants aged between 18-42 years undergoing IVF treatment. A serum pregnancy test was performed at 15 ± 2 days after oocyte retrieval and, if positive, was repeated 2–3 days later. For patients with a rising β-hCG level, an ultrasound was performed at 6–7 weeks of gestation. After retrieval of at least three oocytes to an aqueous preparation of progesterone administered subcutaneously or vaginal progesterone, if a viable pregnancy occurred, progesterone treatment was continued up to 12 weeks of gestation.


Using a per-protocol analysis, which included all patients who received an embryo transfer the result obtained from the experiment was 41.6% for subcutaneous progesterone versus 44.4% for vaginal progesterone whereas live births were 41.1% and 43.1% respectively. Both formulations were well-tolerated however the differences in ratios were not statistically significant to provide any solid evidence for the efficacy of one method of administration of progesterone over another in IVF treatment.