PROBLEM To analyse the peripheral blood NK cells in women with repeated IVF failure (RIF) and a fertile control group to determine which parameters best differentiate the two populations. METHODS Peripheral blood from the luteal phase of 171 women with RIF and 33 fertile controls was analysed by four-colour flow cytometry for NK cell concentration, subset differentiation and the activation ma...

Background: The process of implantation involves the interaction of the human embryo and the uterine epithelium. Failure of implantation is a major reason for infertility in women and the inability to achieve endometrial receptivity is responsible for much of the failure of reproductive technologies. Management of repeated implantation failure despite transfer of good-quality embryos still rema...

In vitro maturation of oocytes (IVM) has been developed as a treatment option for subjects with good prognosis in assisted reproduction. We present successful IVM treatment in connection with a woman from whom low numbers of embryos were obtained after repeated failed conventional IVF cycles. A 35 year old woman, after 5 years infertility and two intrauterine insemination and three conventional...

The ICSI has become method of choice to achieve fertilization. Fertilization is possible in cases in which the sperm motility and ability to penetrate the zona pellucida are impaired. Injection is possible with sperm obtained from ejaculation, microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA), percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA), or testicular sperm extraction (TESE). In addition, in...

BACKGROUND Endometrial function is essential for embryo implantation. The aim of this study was to analyze gene expression profiles from individual endometrial samples obtained from women with repeated implantation failure after IVF in oocyte donation programs. METHODS Seventeen volunteers were recruited: women who had previously participated as recipients in oocyte donation cycles and repeat...

BACKGROUND Despite ongoing progresses of IVF techniques, biomarkers predicting their outcome prior to IVF initiation are lacking. We investigated whether serum levels of the stress-inducible soluble major histocompatibility complex Class I chain-related molecule, MICA, (sMIC), a regulator of cellular immunity, can be predictive of implantation or pregnancy failure after IVF. METHODS sMIC seru...

BACKGROUND Atosiban is administered to women undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) to improve pregnancy outcomes. However, the results of this treatment were controversial. We conducted this meta-analysis to investigate whether atosiban improves pregnancy outcomes in the women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). METHODS Databases of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Ch...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the predictive value of the progesterone level at the beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) check day for ongoing pregnancy maintenance in in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles in women with previous unexplained repeated miscarriages. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred and forty-eight women, with visible gestational sac after IVF, were recruited in this observational st...

BACKGROUND To gain more insight in whether failure of intrauterine insemination (IUI) treatment in patients with idiopathic subfertility could be related to diminished fertilization, the aim of this study is to compare the fertilization of an initial IVF procedure after six cycles of IUI and the fertilization of an initial IVF procedure without preceding IUI cycles in couples with idiopathic su...

BACKGROUND Bisphenol A (BPA) is a synthetic chemical widely used in the production of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins found in numerous consumer products. In experimental animals, BPA increases embryo implantation failure and reduces litter size. OBJECTIVE We evaluated the association of urinary BPA concentrations with implantation failure among women undergoing in vitro fertilization ...