A meta-analysis of associations of IL-10 gene polymorphisms with acute leukemia susceptibility.

BACKGROUND: Recently, increasing evidence has demonstrated that IL-10 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with the risk of acute leukemia (AL), but the findings of different articles remain controversial. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis to further investigate the exact roles of IL-10 SNPs in AL susceptibility. METHODS: Six common Chinese and English databases were utilized to retrieve eligible studies. The strength of the association was assessed by calculating odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals. All analyses were carried out using Review Manager (version 5.3) and STATA (version 15.1). The registered number of this research is CRD42022373362. RESULTS: A total of 6391 participants were enrolled in this research. The results showed that the AG genotype of rs1800896 increased AL risk in the heterozygous codominant model (AG vs. AA, OR = 1.41, 95 % CI = 1.04-1.92, P = 0.03) and overdominant model (AG vs. AA + GG, OR = 1.32, 95 % CI = 1.04-1.70, P = 0.03). In the subgroup analysis, associations between the G allele, GG genotype, AG genotype, AG + GG genotype of rs1800896 and increased AL risk were also observed in the mixed population based on allelic, homozygote codominant, heterozygous codominant, dominant, and overdominant models. Furthermore, an association between the AC genotype of rs1800872 and increased AL risk was observed in the Caucasian population in the overdominant model. However, the rs1800871, rs3024489 and rs3024493 polymorphisms did not affect AL risk. CONCLUSION: IL-10 rs1800896 and rs1800872 affected the susceptibility of AL and therefore may be biomarkers for early screening and risk prediction of AL.

Time interval between hCG administration and oocyte retrieval and ART outcomes: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

RESEARCH QUESTION: To explore whether prolonged hCG-ovum pickup interval improves assisted reproductive technology outcomes. DESIGN: CENTRAL, CNKI, Cochrane Systematic Reviews, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PUBMED, and Web of Science up to May 13 2023 were searched for studies reporting associations between hCG-ovum pickup intervals and assisted reproductive technology outcomes. Intervention types included short (≤ 36 h) and long (> 36 h) hCG-ovum pickup intervals in assisted reproductive technology cycles. All outcomes were based upon only fresh embryo transfers. Primary outcome is defined as the clinical pregnancy rate. Data were pooled using random-effects models. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I 2 statistics. RESULTS: Twelve studies were included in the meta-analysis, including five retrospective cohort studies, one prospective cohort study, and six randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials. The short and long interval groups had similar oocyte maturation rates, fertilization rate and high-quality embryo rate (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.45-1.06; I 2 = 91.1%, OR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.77-1.0; I 2 = 44.4% and OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.95-1.17; I 2 = 8.6%, respectively). The clinical pregnancy rates in the long retrieval group were significantly higher than in the short retrieval group (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.45-0.95; I 2 = 35.4%). The groups had similar miscarriage and live birth rates (OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 0.66-5.60; I 2 = 0.0% and OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.24-1.04; I 2 = 0.0%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The clinical pregnancy rates can be increased by prolonging the hCG-ovum pickup interval, which would help us develop more reasonable time schedules for fertility centers and patients. META-ANALYSIS REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42022310006 (28 Apr 2022).

Intra-Cytosplamic sperm injection outcomes with fresh and cryopreserved human epidydimal sperm from patients with obstructive azoospermia.

Techniques for the cryopreservation of epididymal sperm was are widely used in clinical practice. However, given the unique characteristics of sperm from patients with obstructive azoospermia, epididymal sperm cryopreservation is more difficult because of low count and weak motility; therefore, conventional methods of sperm cryopreservation may not result in the best outcomes. We used the micro-straw method to store small quantities of sperm obtained from patients with severe oligozoospermia or azoospermia and achieved successful deliveries in the previous study. This retrospective study of ICSI cycles included the first ICSI cycles of fresh or frozen/thawed epididymal sperm that were performed in patients suffering from obstructive azoospermia who were admitted to the CITIC-Xiangya Hospital of Reproduction and Genetics of China from June 1, 2015 to June 31, 2019. A total of 2441 patients with obstructive azoospermia were divided according to the use of fresh (n = 2342) or frozen/thawed (n = 99) epididymal sperm. The results showed that the fertilisation rate was higher with fresh epididymal sperm than that with frozen/thawed epididymal sperm (85.14% vs. 79.26%, respectively; p = 0.000). However, the rates of embryo cleavage, high-quality embryos, clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, singletons and birth defect were similar between fresh and frozen/thawed epididymal sperm (98.28% vs. 99.13%, 60.34% vs. 57.29%, 67.90% vs. 70.51%, 8.12% vs. 10.91%, 57.76% vs. 49.09%, 1.59% vs. 1.45%respectively; p = 0.088, 0.109, 0.628, 0.462,0.203 and 0.686). In addition, the short-term cryostorage of small quantities of epididymal sperm did not affect clinical outcomes. The results indicated that in cases of obstructive azoospermia, cryostorage of small quantities epididymal sperm is a reliable option.

Clinical value of histologic endometrial dating for personalized frozen-thawed embryo transfer in patients with repeated implantation failure in natural cycles.

BACKGROUND: Displacement of the window of implantation (WOI) has been proposed as an important factor contributing to repeated implantation failure (RIF). However, the use of histologic endometrial dating as a diagnostic tool of endometrial receptivity has been questioned. METHODS: This study is a prospective intervention trial that enrolled 205 infertile patients from July 2017 to December 2017. Endometrial biopsies from 50 patients with good prognoses were conducted on day 3 (n = 6), 5 (n = 6), 7 (n = 26), 9 (n = 6), or 11 (n = 6) post-ovulation (PO + 3/5/7/9/11) of the previous natural cycle before their conventional frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycle. We conducted endometrial biopsies for 155 RIF patients on day PO + 7. RESULTS: The verification of the Noyes criteria for endometrial dating was conducted at different times (PO + 3/+ 5/+ 7/+ 9/+ 11) on 41 patients with good prognoses who achieved an ongoing pregnancy in their first conventional FET cycle after endometrial biopsy. The agreement between two pathologists determining endometrial biopsy dating results in infertile patients was determined to be acceptable (weighted kappa = 0.672, P < 0.001). The rate of out-of-phase dating on day PO + 7 was significantly higher in RIF patients than in good- prognosis patients (31.6% vs. 3.8%, P = 0.003). pFET was performed in 47 RIF patients diagnosed to be out of phase, and the cumulative live-birth rate was 61.7%. CONCLUSIONS: Histologic endometrial dating of RIF patients in natural cycles may be a biomarker for a receptive endometrium in diagnosing WOI displacement. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT03312309 Registered 17 October 2017. NCT03222830 Registered 19 July 2017.

Clinical benefit for cryopreservation of single human spermatozoa for ICSI: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews have focused on sperm recovery and post-thaw parameters after cryopreservation, but there is no information on the associated clinical outcomes. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have reported cryopreservation of a single sperm due to the importance of fertility preservation. OBJECTIVES: To assess whether the cryopreservation of single human spermatozoa improves clinical outcomes in patients with azoospermia or severe oligospermia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted an extensive literature search using the following databases: CENTRAL, CNKI, Cochrane Systematic Reviews, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PUBMED, and Web of Science for relevant studies published through December 31, 2019. We calculated the pooled proportions of cryopreservation of a single human spermatozoon to assess the recovery, survival, fertilization, pregnancy, miscarriage, and delivery rates. Subgroup analyses were performed for the following covariates, (a) different carriers, (b) year of publication, and (c) source of sperm. RESULTS: We included 25 studies, which included 13 carriers. The pooled proportion of recovery rate of spermatozoa cryopreserved was 92% (95% CI, 87%-96%), and the survival, fertilization, pregnancy, miscarriage, and delivery rates were 76% (95% CI, 69%-83%), 63% (95% CI, 58%-67%), 57% (95% CI, 39%-74%), 12% (95% CI, 0%-33%), and 40% (95% CI, 12%-71%), respectively. Based on the subgroup analysis, the recovery and survival rates of frozen spermatozoa in a subgroup of different carriers were statistically significant. In the past decade, frozen single human spermatozoon technology has improved the recovery rates of frozen-thawed spermatozoa. However, the differences in clinical outcomes of frozen spermatozoa in subgroups of different sources of sperm were not statistically significant. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The techniques for single human spermatozoa are feasible and efficient and may benefit patients with severe oligospermia or azoospermia.

Novel micro-straw for freezing small quantities of human spermatozoa.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a novel micro-straw as an efficient, simple method for freezing a small number of human spermatozoa for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Sperm bank. PATIENT(S): Men with severe oligozoospermia or azoospermia undergoing a total of 143 ICSI cycles at the CITIC-Xiangya Hospital of Reproduction and Genetics from June 1, 2015, to June 31, 2019, and 20 donors at the Hunan Province Human Sperm Bank from 2001 to 2016. INTERVENTION(S): Analysis of sperm samples and clinical outcomes after sperm use. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Clinical information, including number of motile sperm before and after freezing, freeze-thaw survival rates, two-pronuclear fertilization rates, clinical pregnancy, and early pregnancy loss rates after sperm use. RESULT(S): In the feasibility experiment using the micro-straw, we found a freeze-thaw survival rate of 73% ± 8.3% and no difference in normal sperm morphology, normal acrosome integrity, or DNA fragmentation index between the micro-straw and 1.8-mL cryotubes. The prospective cohort included 1,325 cases, and we collected sperm from testicular, epididymis, and ejaculation sources. We observed motile sperm in 1,294 (97.6%) of 1,325 frozen-thawed samples. Postthaw sperm were available for ICSI in 140 (97.9%) of 143 of cycles. The fertilization, cleavage, and high-quality embryo rates were 1,007 (81.7%) of 1,233; 995 (98.8%) of 1,007; and 537 (53.9%) of 995, respectively. Sixty-nine (49%) clinical pregnancies were achieved, and the miscarriage rate was 6 (8.6%) of 69. CONCLUSION(S): The micro-straw is suitable and clinically useful for the cryopreservation of small numbers of spermatozoa.

Long-term cryostorage of semen in a human sperm bank does not affect clinical outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the affect of the duration of donor sperm storage on pregnancy success among women undergoing assisted reproduction. DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional study. SETTING: Sperm bank. PATIENT(S): A total of 119,558 specimens retrieved using a clinical information database of young adult men who were qualified sperm donors at the Hunan Province Human Sperm Bank of China from 2001 to 2016. INTERVENTION(S): Analysis of semen samples and clinical outcomes after semen use. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Clinical information included semen parameters before and after freezing, clinical pregnancy, abortion and live birth rates after semen use. RESULT(S): The sperm's frozen-thaw survival rate decreased from 85.72% to 73.98% after 15 years of cryopreservation (P<.01). The clinical pregnancy rate of women undergoing artificial insemination with donor sperm was 23.09%, 22.36% and 22.32%, the clinical abortion rate was 10.06%, 10.02% and 12.00% and the live birth rate was 82.17%, 80.21% and 80.00% in the groups with 0.5-5, 6-10 and 11-15 storage years, respectively. The clinical pregnancy rate of women undergoing in vitro fertilization was 64.29%, 64.94% and 53.48%, the clinical abortion rate was 12.26%, 11.38% and 17.39% and the live birth rate was 81.63%, 79.11% and 73.91%, in the groups with 0.5-5, 6-10 and 11-15 years, respectively. CONCLUSION(S): The long-term cryostorage of semen in a human sperm bank does not affect clinical outcomes. However, cryopreservation longer than 5 years negatively influenced the quality of frozen-thawed donor sperm samples.