Gingiva is a common region of inflammatory and reactive lesions. Systemic conditions, including hormonal imbalance in pregnant women, may cause exaggerated response to irritations such as calculus or infection. Therefore, more accurate assessment is necessary to achieve the best decision making in the differential diagnosis and treatment of these patients. In this paper, we present a rea...

The obesity epidemic is a problem of global importance with a profound impact on maternal-fetal health. Maternal overweight and obesity causes pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes, hypertension and preeclampsia and affects fetal growth. Maternal obesity offers an altered genetic, hormonal and biochemical environment for the developing fetus/embryo and influences fetal growth and...

In this issue of Human Reproduction, Eisenberg et al. (2014) provide empirical evidence in support of the evolving literature suggesting that human fecundity influences health and disease across the lifespan. Human fecundity is defined as the biologic capacity of men and women for reproduction irrespective of pregnancy intentions (Buck Louis, 2011), and is typicallymeasured by end-points such a...

Understanding of the atherosclerosis process has evolved from simple plaque build-up causing blockage to inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. The underlying etiology for endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation is autonomic imbalance. Autonomic imbalance also causes hormonal dysregulation and cellular receptor sensitivity. Therefore, dysautonomia is the underlying etiology behind ...

Male infertility is a complex, multifactorial and polygenic disease that contributes to ~50% cases of infertility. Previous studies have demonstrated that excess weight and obesity factors serve an important role in the development of male infertility. An increasing number of studies have reported that resveratrol may regulate the response of cells to specific stimuli that induce cell injury, a...

In captivity, male Asian elephants often yield poor quality semen after transrectal manually assisted semen collection; however, the reasons for the disappointing semen quality are not clear. Here we test the hypothesis that accumulation of senescent spermatozoa is a contributory factor, and that semen quality can therefore be improved by more frequent ejaculation. To this end we investigated t...

The levels of several hormones fluctuate according to the light and dark cycle and are also affected by sleep, feeding, and general behavior. The regulation and metabolism of several hormones are influenced by interactions between the effects of sleep and the intrinsic circadian system; growth hormone, melatonin, cortisol, leptin, and ghrelin levels are highly correlated with sleep and circadia...