This study was designed to determine the effects of a vaginal micronized progesterone preparation on bleeding patterns and pregnancy outcomes after in-vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF-ICSI). The study population consisted of 149 consecutive women who had undergone IVF-ICSI using 'long-protocol' stimulation with buserelin-human menopausal gonadotrophin (HMG). A retro...

STUDY QUESTION Does the type of luteal support affect pregnancy outcomes in recipients of vitrified blastocysts? SUMMARY ANSWER Luteal support with vaginal progesterone gel or i.m. progesterone (IMP) results in comparable implantation and pregnancy rates in IVF patients receiving vitrified blastocysts. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY In fresh IVF cycles, both IMP and vaginal progesterone have become ...

Deletion of exon 10 of the human LH receptor impairs LH but not hCG action. Other splice variants of the LH receptor impair both LH and hCG action in other species. We hypothesized that alternatively spliced LH receptors are involved in luteolysis and luteal rescue with hCG in women. mRNA was extracted from human luteinized granulosa cells and from corpora lutea from across the luteal phase and...

Gender differences in the incidence of many cardiovascular diseases may be due to the effects of sex hormones. Both alpha(1)- and alpha(2)-adrenergic receptors produce vasoconstriction in peripheral blood vessels and have demonstrated gender effects in previous studies. In addition, race has been shown to influence the effects of some alpha-adrenergic stimuli. We therefore sought to determine t...

CONTEXT Over the years, different hypotheses involving the ovarian steroid hormones have been proposed to explain the luteal phase occurrence of severe premenstrual syndrome symptoms. Although it had been strongly suspected that differences in the concentrations of the ovarian steroids may underlie the mood and psychological imbalance of this disorder, the evidence for this hypothesis has been ...

BACKGROUND In IVF, Luteal phase support is usually performed using vaginal progesterone. A part of patients using this route reports being uncomfortable with this route. We tried to study whether the rectal route could be an effective alternative and associated with less discomfort. PATIENTS AND METHODS A prospective randomized controlled study. All patient were eligible for IVF treatment for...

BACKGROUND The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the changes in olfactory sensitivity of oral contraceptive (pill) users. METHODS Sixty women underwent rhinomanometric and olfactometric determinations during the follicular, periovular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle, and at day 7, 14 and 21 of contraceptive intake. Thirty-one women used 30 microg ethinyl oestradiol plus 7...