The influence of the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraceptives on cardiorespiratory fitness in physically active women: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To systematically review and summarize the existing evidence related to the influence of the menstrual cycle (MC) and hormonal contraceptive (HC) use on V˙O2max in physically active women. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis conforms to the PRISMA statement guidelines. Four (sub-)meta-analyses were performed. Two focused on longitudinal studies examining the same women several times to compare the V˙O2max during the different menstrual phases or oral contraceptive (OC) use and withdrawal. Two meta-analyses examined if there is a difference in V˙O2max between OC users and normally menstruating women by analyzing cross-sectional studies assigning physically active women to one of these two groups as well as intervention-based studies (cross-over studies, randomized controlled trials considering only the data of the intervention group) comparing women intra-individually with and without OCs. Results: Nine of the included studies (107 women) evaluated the influence of the MC, five studies (69 women) the impact of OCs on V˙O2max, and six studies investigated both topics (88 women). A mean difference of V˙O2max -0.03 ml/kg/min (95%CI -1.06 to 1.01) between the early follicular and luteal menstrual phase was observed. Between the active and inactive phases of OCs, a mean difference of -0.11 ml/kg/min (95%CI -2.32 to 2.10) was found. The inter-individual comparison of naturally menstruating women and OC users showed a mean difference in V˙O2max of 0.23 ml/kg/min (95% CI -2.33 to 2.79) in favor of OC use. The intra-individual comparison of the same women showed a mean decrease in V˙O2max of -0.84 ml/kg/min (95% CI -2.38 to 0.70) after a new start with OCs. Conclusions: Our meta-analyses showed no effects of the MC or the OCs on V˙O2max. More high-quality studies are needed determining the MC phases more precisely, including OCs with the current standard formulations and comparing the influence of different progestins.

Human Male Genital Tract Microbiota.

The human body is vastly colonised by microorganisms, whose impact on health is increasingly recognised. The human genital tract hosts a diverse microbiota, and an increasing number of studies on the male genital tract microbiota suggest that bacteria have a role in male infertility and pathological conditions, such as prostate cancer. Nevertheless, this research field remains understudied. The study of bacterial colonisation of the male genital tract is highly impacted by the invasive nature of sampling and the low abundance of the microbiota. Therefore, most studies relied on the analysis of semen microbiota to describe the colonisation of the male genital tract (MGT), which was thought to be sterile. The aim of this narrative review is to present the results of studies that used next-generation sequencing (NGS) to profile the bacterial colonisation patterns of different male genital tract anatomical compartments and critically highlight their findings and their weaknesses. Moreover, we identified potential research axes that may be crucial for our understanding of the male genital tract microbiota and its impact on male infertility and pathophysiology.

Bacterial Colonization of the Female Upper Genital Tract.

Bacteria colonize most of the human body, and the female genital tract is not an exception. While the existence of a vaginal microbiota has been well established, the upper genital tract has been considered a sterile environment, with a general assumption that bacterial presence is associated with adverse clinical manifestation. However, recent metagenomic studies identified specific patterns of microbiota colonizing the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, and placenta. These results need confirmation and further investigations since the data are only scarce. Bacterial colonization of these sites appears different from the vaginal one, despite evidence that vaginal bacteria could ascend to the upper genital tract through the cervix. Are these bacteria only commensal or do they play a role in the physiology of the female upper genital tract? Which are the genera that may have a negative and a positive impact on the female reproductive function? The aim of this review is to critically present all available data on upper genital tract microbiota and discuss its role in human reproduction, ranging from the technical aspects of these types of analyses to the description of specific bacterial genera. Although still very limited, research focusing on genital colonization of bacteria other than the vaginal milieu might bring novel insights into physiopathology of human reproduction.

Extracorporeal photopheresis promotes IL-1ß production.

Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) is a widely used clinical cell-based therapy exhibiting efficacy in heterogenous immune-mediated diseases such as cutaneous T cell lymphoma, graft-versus-host disease, and organ allograft rejection. Despite its documented efficacy in cancer immunotherapy, little is known regarding the induction of immunostimulatory mediators by ECP. In this article, we show that ECP promotes marked release of the prototypic immunostimulatory cytokine IL-1ß. ECP primes IL-1ß production and activates IL-1ß maturation and release in the context of caspase-1 activation in monocytes and myeloid dendritic cells. Of interest, IL-1ß maturation by ECP was fully intact in murine cells deficient in caspase-1, suggesting the predominance of an inflammasome-independent pathway for ECP-dependent IL-1ß maturation. Clinically, patient analysis revealed significantly increased IL-1ß production in stimulated leukapheresis concentrates and peripheral blood samples after ECP. Collectively, these results provide evidence for promotion of IL-1ß production by ECP and offer new insight into the immunostimulatory capacity of ECP.