Extracellular vesicles in blood, milk and body fluids of the female and male urogenital tract and with special regard to reproduction.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released from almost all cells and tissues. They are able to transport substances (e.g. proteins, RNA or DNA) at higher concentrations than in their environment and may adhere in a receptor-controlled manner to specific cells or tissues in order to release their content into the respective target structure. Blood contains high concentrations of EVs mainly derived from platelets, and, at a smaller amount, from erythrocytes. The female and male reproductive tracts produce EVs which may be associated with fertility or infertility and are released into body fluids and mucosas of the urogenital organs. In this review, the currently relevant detection methods are presented and critically compared. During pregnancy, placenta-derived EVs are dynamically detectable in peripheral blood with changing profiles depending upon progress of pregnancy and different pregnancy-associated pathologies, such as preeclampsia. EVs offer novel non-invasive diagnostic tools which may reflect the situation of the placenta and the foetus. EVs in urine have the potential of reflecting urogenital diseases including cancers of the neighbouring organs. Several methods for detection, quantification and phenotyping of EVs have been established, which include electron microscopy, flow cytometry, ELISA-like methods, Western blotting and analyses based on Brownian motion. This review article summarises the current knowledge about EVs in blood and cord blood, in the different compartments of the male and female reproductive tracts, in trophoblast cells from normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancies, in placenta ex vivo perfusate, in the amniotic fluid, and in breast milk, as well as their potential effects on natural killer cells as possible targets.

[Vision Screening in Zurich]. / Sehscreening in der Stadt Zürich.

BACKGROUND: In the city of Zurich, vision screening is performed by school medical services as part of the legally compulsory preventive medical examinations. We retrospectively evaluated the results of the 2011-2012 school year. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Preventive medical examinations by the school medical services were performed in all kindergartens. The examinations were mandatory for first, second and eighth grade children, whilst those for the fourth grade were voluntary. The basic diagnostic testing consisted of monocular visual acuity (Snellen E chart) for all age groups and the stereopsis test (TNO test) in kindergartens. RESULTS: Vision screening was performed on 7499 children. 1471 first graders (55 %), 201 fourth graders (11 %) and 211 eighth graders (12.3 %) did not pass the examinations. In 33.7 % of the children who underwent the follow-up examination from an ophthalmologist, amblyogenic potential was found. CONCLUSIONS: Vision screening by the school medical services enrols most of the children from a single age group. The Snellen E charts used for the monocular distance acuity, together with the TNO stereo test, appear to constitute an effective testing combination. Ophthalmological follow-up examinations of the affected children revealed that one third were afflicted by amblyogenic factors.

[Three horizontal muscle surgery for infantile esotropia and decompensated microtropia]. / Horizontale Dreimuskelchirurgie bei frühkindlichem Innenschielen und dekompensiertem Mikrostrabismus.

BACKGROUND: Surgical management of large-angle infantile esotropia and decompensated microtropia has been controversially debated. There seems to be a relative bias against surgery on more than two horizontal muscles to avoid overcorrections. In our study we report on the sensory and motor outcomes after three horizontal muscle surgery. Furthermore we aim to suggest a table to guide surgery amounts. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was a retrospective interventional cohort of 27 patients (16 female, 11 male; mean age 7.9 [years], ranging from 1 to 27 [years]) with infantile esotropia and decompensated microtropia who underwent three horizontal muscle surgery (bilateral medial rectus muscle recession and lateral rectus muscle plication) between 2005 and 2013. RESULTS: Preoperative deviation in primary position measured 30.2 [°] (mean; range 21.9 to 48.0). Postoperatively esotropia was significantly reduced to 2.6 [°] (mean; range -16.7 to 16.7). After six months deviation measured 5.5 [°] (mean, range -14.1 to 21.9). An effect of 1.63°/mm was calculated for the combined three muscle surgery. CONCLUSIONS: For the correction of large-angle infantile esotropia and decompensated microtropia three horizontal muscle surgery is associated with a high success rate. Only a very low rate of consecutive exotropia does occur.

Early activation of sperm by HCO(3) (-) is regulated hormonally in the murine uterus.

Sperm deposited in the female genital tract receive signals for capacitation. Past work indicates that HCO(3) (-) is the initiating signal that the female reproductive tract contains the HCO(3) (-) -permeant anion channel cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and that mutations in CFTR cause subfertility in both sexes. In this study, we examined whether CFTR controls uterine HCO(3) (-) content and sperm responses to it. Both CFTR protein and mRNA were absent in prepubertal murine uterus, but appeared in pubertal and adult tissues. Thus, CFTR is upregulated during development. Uterine CFTR mRNA additionally increased upon induced oestrus, most abundantly in uterus body and distal horns. Uterine fluid of oestrous females contained two-, and nearly fourfold more HCO(3) (-) than that of dioestrous and prepubertal animals, correlating with increased CFTR expression. For sperm incubated in and recovered from prepubertal uteri, flagellar beat frequency was no different from that before incubation. However, for sperm recovered from dioestrous and oestrous uteri, beat frequency was two- and fourfold higher, respectively. Thus, uterine HCO(3) (-) content may have physiological consequences for sperm motility. The male reproductive tract showed no regional distributions or developmental dependence of CFTR expression. Although the sperm flagellum showed CFTR immunoreactivity, CFTR blockers GlyH-101 or CFTR(inh) -172 did neither diminish HCO(3) (-) -evoked increases in sperm motility nor protein tyrosine phosphorylation. Our results indicate that in the uterus, both CFTR expression and the supply of HCO(3) (-) are upregulated hormonally. We propose that these changes coordinate ovulation with increases in sperm motility and promote other components of capacitation by pathways that do not require CFTR in sperm.