Some of the major serum proteins that are also found in follicular fluid, including transferrin, alpha-macroglobulin and albumin, are thought to play a role in oocyte maturation. This study set out to identify proteins in human follicular fluid by capillary zone electrophoresis and to investigate their relationship to follicular/oocyte maturity and fertility outcome. 176 individual follicular f...

OBJECTIVE The objective of the present study was to evaluate the correlation between anti-müllerian hormone (AMH), inhibin B, and activin A in follicular fluid from patients receiving treatment with in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), to identify a parameter to assess the maturation and developmental potential of oocytes. - MATERIALS AND METHODS AMH, inhi...

During the early follicular phase in the menstrual cycle, antral follicle sizes are often markedly heterogeneous. These follicular size discrepancies may, at least in part, result from the early exposure of FSH-sensitive follicles to gradient FSH concentrations during the preceding luteal phase. In addition, they potentially affect the results of ovarian stimulation. Indeed, pre-existing follic...

Our previous study reported microorganisms in human follicular fluid. The objective of this study was to test human follicular fluid for the presence of microorganisms and to correlate these findings with the in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes. In this study, 263 paired follicular fluids and vaginal swabs were collected from women undergoing IVF cycles, with various causes for infertility, a...

This study reports 21 IVF cases with excessive ovarian response, who received gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) triggering for final oocyte maturation, followed by a human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG)-based, progesterone-free, luteal support, individually timed ('luteal coasting') according to endogenous luteal progesterone concentrations. One patient developed a brief early-onse...

BACKGROUND Ovarian stimulation for IVF profoundly alters the early luteal phase endometrial development. It has been hypothesized that this process has already started in the late follicular phase, as the endometrium has already been exposed to high steroid concentrations since that phase. The aim of the present study was to prospectively investigate the effect of multi-follicular ovarian stimu...

Although the 3 isoforms of Akt regulate cell growth, proliferation, and survival in a wide variety of cell types, their role in B-cell development is unknown. We assessed B-cell maturation in the bone marrow (BM) and periphery in chimeras established with fetal liver progenitors lacking Akt1 and/or Akt2. We found that the generation of marginal zone (MZ) and B1 B cells, 2 key sources of antibac...

Experimental immune ovarian failure induced in CBA mice by either administration of xenogenic anti-ovarian antibodies or immunization with allogenic ovarian extracts impaired the meiotic maturation of oocytes and increased apoptosis of follicular cells. Immunization was accompanied with the inflammation and active immune reaction, as shown by the enlargement of regional lymph nodes, the increas...

Pregnancy success results from the interaction of multiple factors, among them are folliculogenesis and early embryonic development. Failure during these different processes can lead to difficulties in conception. Alternatives to overcome these problems are based on assisted reproductive techniques. Extracellular vesicles are cell-secreted vesicles present in different body fluids and contain b...

Follicular fluid obtained from medium or large bovine ovarian follicles inhibited ovarian luteinizing hormone/human chorionic gonadotropin sensitive adenylate cyclase in a dose-dependent manner (150'3 mg follicular fluid protein/ml). The inhibitory activity was excluded by Sephadex G-10 and was fully retained following treatment with charcoal. Fluoride-stimulated enzyme activity was not inhibit...