Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is typically characterized by a polycystic ovarian morphology, hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction, and infertility. Furthermore, PCOS patients undergoing stimulation have more oocytes; however, the poor quality of oocytes leads to lower fertilization implantation rates, decreased pregnancy increased miscarriage rates. The complex molecular mechanisms underl...

objective: phthalates, which are commonly used to render plastics into soft and flexible materials, have also been determined as developmental and reproductive toxicants in human and animals. the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of mono-(2- ethylhexyl) phthalate (mehp) and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (dehp) oral administrations on maturation of mouse oocytes, apoptosis and gene ...

STUDY QUESTION What is the subcellular localization in human oocytes and preimplantation embryos, of the two maternal-effect proteins, NLRP7 and KHDC3L, responsible for recurrent hydatidiform moles (RHMs)? SUMMARY ANSWER NLRP7 and KHDC3L localize to the oocyte cytoskeleton and are polar and absent from the cell-to-cell contact region in early preimplantation embryos. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY N...

BACKGROUND The female meiotic process seems to be crucial for aneuploidy in humans. The first stages of mammalian female meiosis take place during the fetal period. Therefore, only little is known about female meiosis. The goal of this study was to develop a culture technique that permits human oocytes to progress through meiotic prophase, to provide a system to study human female meiosis. ME...