relationship between perceived stress and marital satisfaction in couples with infertility: actor-partner interdependence model

Background: Infertility, one of life's great stressors, may adversely affect marital satisfaction. No studies have in- vestigated the relationship between perceived stress and marital satisfaction at the dyadic level. The current study assessed the actor and partner effects of perceived stress on marital satisfaction in husband-wife dyads using an innovative dyadic analysis approach, the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model [APIM]

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we recruited a total of 141 infertile couples. Marital satisfaction and stress were assessed using the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale [EMS Scale] and Perceived Stress Scale-4 Item [PSS-4], respectively. Dyadic data have been analysed by the APIM approach, with distinguishable dyads. In this approach, actor effect is the impact of a person?s perceived stress on his/her own marital satisfaction. Partner effect is the impact of a person's perceived stress on the partner?s marital satisfaction

Results: Both men and women's perceived stress exhibited an actor effect on their marital satisfaction [beta=-0.312, P<0.001, beta=-0.405, P<0.001, respectively]. Women's perceived stress had a negative relationship to the marital satis- faction of their partner [beta=-0.174, P=0.040]. Although the partner effect of men's perceived stress on woman's marital satisfaction was not significant [beta=-0.138, P=0.096], women whose husbands had higher levels of stress were more likely to have poorer marital satisfaction. Both actor and partner effects of perceived stress on marital satisfaction were similar among men and their wives

Conclusion: The findings of this study have highlighted that marital satisfaction in patients with infertility was in- fluenced by not only their own perceived stress, but also their spouses' perceived stresses. Therefore, psychological interventions that target a reduction in perceived stress and enhancement of marital satisfaction in the context of infer- tility should treat the couple as a unit

Factors Associated with Cesarean Section in Tehran, Iran using Multilevel Logistic Regression Model

OBJECTIVES: Over the past few decades, the prevalence of cesarean sections (CS) have risen dramatically worldwide, particularly in Iran. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of CS in Tehran, and to examine the associated risk factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 4,308 pregnant women with singleton live-births in Tehran, Iran, between July 6–21, 2015 was performed. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was performed using demographic and obstetrical variables at the first level, and hospitals as a variable at the second level. RESULTS: The incidence of CS was 72.0%. Multivariate analysis showed a significant relationship between CS and the mother's age, socioeconomic status, body mass index, parity, type of pregnancy, preeclampsia, infant height, and baby's head circumference. The intra-class correlation using the second level variable, the hospital was 0.292, indicating approximately 29.2% of the total variation in the response variable accounted for by the hospital. CONCLUSION: The incidence of CS was substantially higher than other countries. Therefore, educational and psychological interventions are necessary to reduce CS rates amongst pregnant Iranian women.

Attitude of a sample of Iranian researchers toward the future of stem cell research

Objective: Stem cells that have unlimited proliferation potential as well as differentiation potency are considered to be a promising future treatment method for incurable diseases. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the future trend of stem cell researches from researchers' viewpoints

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study on researchers involved in stem cell research at Royan Institute. We designed a questionnaire using a qualitative study based on expert opinion and a literature review. Content validity was performed using three rounds of the Delphi method with experts. Face validity was undertaken by a Persian literature expert and a graphics designer. The questionnaire was distributed among 150 researchers involved in stem cell studies in Royan Institute biology laboratories

Results: We collected 138 completed questionnaires. The mean age of participants was 31.13 +/- 5.8 years; most [60.9%] were females. Participants [76.1%] considered the budget to be the most important issue in stem cell research, 79.7% needed financial support from the government, and 77.5% felt that charities could contribute substantially to stem cell research. A total of 90.6% of participants stated that stem cells should lead to commercial usage which could support future researches [86.2%]. The aim of stem cell research was stipulated as increasing health status of the society according to 92.8% of the participants. At present, among cell types, importance was attached to cord blood and adult stem cells. Researchers emphasized the importance of mesenchymal stem cells [MSCs] rather than hematopoietic stem cells [HSCs, 57.73%]. The prime priorities were given to cancer so that stem cell research could be directed to sphere stem cell research whereas the least preference was given to skin research

Conclusion: Regenerative medicine is considered the future of stem cell research with emphasis on application of these cells, especially in cancer treatment

Evaluating the impact of risk factors on birth weight and gestational age: a multilevel joint modeling approach

Background: Abnormalities in birth weight and gestational age cause several adverse maternal and infant out- comes. Our study aims to determine the potential factors that affect birth weight and gestational age, and their association

Materials and Methods: We conducted this cross-sectional study of 4415 pregnant women in Tehran, Iran, from July 6-21, 2015. Joint multilevel multiple logistic regression was used in the analysis with demographic and obstetrical variables at the first level, and the hospitals at the second level

Results: We observed the following prevalence rates: preterm [5.5%], term [94%], and postterm [0.5%]. Low birth weight [LBW] had a prevalence rate of 4.8%, whereas the prevalence rate for normal weight was 92.4, and 2.8% for macrosomia. Compared to term, older mother's age [odds ratio [OR]=1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02-1.07], preeclampsia [OR=4.14, 95% CI: 2.71-6.31], multiple pregnancy [OR=18.04, 95% CI: 9.75- 33.38], and use of assisted reproductive technology [ART] [OR=2.47, 95% CI: 1.64-33.73] were associated with preterm birth. Better socioeconomic status [SES] was responsible for decreased odds for postterm birth com- pared to term birth [OR=0.53, 95% CI: 0.37-0.74]. Cases with higher maternal body mass index [BMI] were 1.02 times more likely for macrosomia [95% CI: 1.01-1.04], and male infant sex [OR=1.78, 95% CI: 1.21-2.60]. LBW was related to multiparity [OR=0.59, 95% CI: 0.42-0.82], multiple pregnancy [OR=17.35, 95% CI: 9.73-30.94], and preeclampsia [OR=3.36, 95% CI: 2.15-5.24]

Conclusion: Maternal age, SES, preeclampsia, multiple pregnancy, ART, higher maternal BMI, parity, and male infant sex were determined to be predictive variables for birth weight and gestational age after taking into consideration their association by using a joint multilevel multiple logistic regression model

Attitude of law and medical students to oocyte donation

Background: Among the young generation, medical and law students' attitude towards third party reproduction is very important because they will be directly involved in restricting or developing the programs that will support it in the future. The aim of this survey was to investigate attitude of law and medical students to oocyte donation and key aspects of this kind of third party

Materials and Methods: In analytical cross-sectional study, 345 medical and law students were randomly selected using stratified sampling. Data was collected using attitude toward donation- oocyte [ATOD-O] questionnaire. Re- sponses were on a 5-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed according to established statistical approach by Heeren and D'Agostino

Results: The majority of the participants agreed with oocyte donation being the last choice for infertility treatment. There was a significant difference between medical students and law students regarding the acceptance of oocyte donation [3.23 vs. 3.53, P=0.025]. In addition, female participants were more tolerant on receiving donated oocytes from their sisters than male participants [3.01 vs. 2.58, P=0.002] and finally, a higher number of the participants had a positive attitude towards anonymity of the donor and the recipient to one another [3.93 vs. 3.86, P=0.580]. The vast majority of female students believed that the oocyte recipient naturally likes that child [P<0.0001]

Conclusion: In the current study, a great majority of law and medical students support oocyte donation as an alternative way of starting a family. There is an interest among female students in donating oocytes anonymously. The majority believed that the oocyte recipient family will like the donor oocyte child naturally

Relationship between quality of life, relationship beliefs and attribution style in infertile couples

Background: Many infertile couples experience psychological distress and suffer from impaired quality of life. Gen- erally, when couples are dealing with uncontrolled events such as infertility, it is important to manage it well and to use the suitable coping style; so this can represent an example of attribution style. The purpose of this study is to investigate the quality of life, relationship beliefs and attribution style in infertile couples

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study consisted of 50 infertile couples, who were at least 18 years of age and could read and write in Persian. Participants provided demographic and general characteristics and completed the quality of life [SF-12], relationship belief inventory [RBI] and attribution style [ASQ] forms. Data was analyzed by the paired t test, Pearson correlation tests and multiple linear regression analysis, using SPSS version 22 statistical software

Results: Overall, 50 infertile couples participated in our study. The males had a significantly higher score for quality of life compared to the females [P=0.019]. In RBI subscales except "Disagreement is Destructive" all others signifi- cantly higher in wives than husbands. All subscales of RBI had a negative correlation with the quality of life. The quality of life had a significant correlation with positive internal [r=0.213, P=0.033]. The adjusted regression model showed that the quality of life for males was higher than in females [beta=-3.098, P=0.024]

Conclusion: The current data indicate that in infertile couples, the husbands have a higher quality of life in comparison to their wives. Also, all subscales of relationship beliefs have a negative correlation with the quality of life, but in at- tribution style, just internal attribution style for positive events is associated with the quality of life. In general, there is a correlation between relationship beliefs and the quality of life in infertile couples

Sperm retrieval in patients with klinefelter syndrome: a skewed regression model analysis

Background: The most common chromosomal abnormality due to non-obstructive azoospermia [NOA] is Klinefelter syndrome [KS] which occurs in 1-1.72 out of 500-1000 male infants. The probability of retrieving sperm as the outcome could be asymmetrically different between patients with and without KS, therefore logistic regression analysis is not a well-qualified test for this type of data. This study has been designed to evaluate skewed regression model analysis for data collected from microsurgical testicular sperm extraction [micro-TESE] among azoospermic patients with and without non-mosaic KS syndrome

Materials and Methods: This cohort study compared the micro-TESE outcome between 134 men with classic KS and 537 men with NOA and normal karyotype who were referred to Royan Institute between 2009 and 2011. In addition to our main outcome, which was sperm retrieval, we also used logistic and skewed regression analyses to compare the following demographic and hormonal factors: age, level of follicle stimulating hormone [FSH], luteinizing hormone [LH], and testosterone between the two groups

Results: A comparison of the micro-TESE between the KS and control groups showed a success rate of 28.4% [38/134] for the KS group and 22.2% [119/537] for the control group. In the KS group, a significantly difference [P<0.001] existed between testosterone levels for the successful sperm retrieval group [3.4 +/- 0.48 mg/mL] compared to the unsuccessful sperm retrieval group [2.33 +/- 0.23 mg/mL]. The index for quasi Akaike information criterion [QAIC] had a goodness of fit of 74 for the skewed model which was lower than logistic regression [QAIC=85]

Conclusion: According to the results, skewed regression is more efficient in estimating sperm retrieval success when the data from patients with KS are analyzed. This finding should be investigated by conducting additional studies with different data structures

Evaluation on hope and psychological symptoms in infertile couples undergoing assisted reproduction treatment

Background: This study evaluated hope, depression, anxiety, and stress among three groups of infertile couples

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study consisted of three groups of infertile couples-candidates for oocyte donation [n=60], embryo donation [n=60], and normal infertile [n=60]. Participants included couples seen at Royan Institute, Tehran, Iran between 2013-2014 who were at least 18 years of age and could read and write in Persian. Participants provided demographic and general characteristics and completed the Persian version of the Adult Trait Hope Scale [hope, agency and pathway] and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale [DASS]. Data was analyzed by the paired t test, ANOVA, ANCOVA and Pearson correlation tests using SPSS statistical software

Results: Overall, 180 infertile couples participated in the three groups. There was a significant higher mean score for hope in husbands compared to wives in the normal infertile group [P=0.046]. Husbands in the normal infertile group also had a significantly higher mean score for pathway [P=0.032]. The frequency of anxiety significantly differed in female subjects [P=0.028]. In the normal infertile group, the anxiety distribution significantly differed between wives and husbands [P=0.006]. There was a significantly different stress frequency in male subjects [P=0.048]. In the embryo donation group, stress significantly differed between wives and husbands [P=0.002]. In the normal infertile group, stress also significantly differed between wives and husbands [P=0.05]

Conclusion: The results have suggested that hope might be important in reducing psychological symptoms and psychological adjustment in those exposed to infertility problems who follow medical recommendations, which accelerates recovery. It is recommended to hold psychological counseling sessions [hope therapy] during reproduction cycles

Attitudes of infertile couples, fertility clinic staff and researchers toward personhood of the human embryo in Iran

Objective: After the introduction of assisted reproductive techniques, human embryos were officially introduced into laboratories and now thousands of them are cryopreserved in such settings. Embryonic stem cells and the future application of such cells in the treatment of disease opened the door to further research on human embryos. These developments raise many ethical issues, some of which have religious aspects. The main question is: what is the embryo? Should we consider it a human being? Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate attitudes towards the personhood of the embryo

Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study, 203 infertile patients [n=406], 54 clinic staff and 49 embryo researchers, selected using convenience sampling at the Royan Institute, completed a questionnaire on personhood of human embryo. The questionnaire had been developed following qualitative research and had satisfied face and content validity tests

Results: At the pre-implantation stage the majority of participants in all three groups considered the human embryo as "not a human being". Also, at the post-implantation stage of development, the majority of infertile couples and clinic staff considered the embryo as "not a human being" but, half the researchers [51%] considered the embryo in this stage as a "potential human". Half of the infertile couples considered the human fetus before ensoulment time [19th week of pregnancy according to the Shiite Islamic scholars] as "not-human being", while more than half of researchers [55.1%] considered it as a "potential human"

Conclusion: Ensoulment time is a major and important border for personhood. Most infertile couples and clinic staff consider the human embryo as "not a human being" but majority of all study participants considered the human fetus to be a complete human after ensoulment time

Prevalence and Determinants of Preterm Birth in Tehran, Iran: A Comparison between Logistic Regression and Decision Tree Methods

OBJECTIVES: Preterm birth (PTB) is a leading cause of neonatal death and the second biggest cause of death in children under five years of age. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of PTB and its associated factors using logistic regression and decision tree classification methods. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 4,415 pregnant women in Tehran, Iran, from July 6–21, 2015. Data were collected by a researcher-developed questionnaire through interviews with mothers and review of their medical records. To evaluate the accuracy of the logistic regression and decision tree methods, several indices such as sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the curve were used. RESULTS: The PTB rate was 5.5% in this study. The logistic regression outperformed the decision tree for the classification of PTB based on risk factors. Logistic regression showed that multiple pregnancies, mothers with preeclampsia, and those who conceived with assisted reproductive technology had an increased risk for PTB (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Identifying and training mothers at risk as well as improving prenatal care may reduce the PTB rate. We also recommend that statisticians utilize the logistic regression model for the classification of risk groups for PTB.

Psychometric properties of the satisfaction with life scale [SWLS] in Iranian infertile women

Background: Infertility is a global public health issue and may adversely affect life satisfaction. One of the most widely instruments used to assess life satisfaction is the Satisfaction with Life Scale [SWLS]

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the SWLS in Iranian infertile women

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, a total of 125 infertile women referring to Royan Institute in Tehran were selected by convenience sampling method. The participants were administered the SWLS, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS], and a demographic questionnaire. The psychometric properties of the SWLS were examined: construct validity using confirmatory factor analysis [CFA], reliability using Cronbach's alpha and convergent validity by examining the relationship with HADS

Result: Results of the CFA indicated that a single-factor model provides a good fit to the data [X[2]/df= 1.58; GFI= 0.975; CFI= 0.995; NFI= 0.985; RMSEA= 0.069 and SRMR= 0.027]. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for SWLS was 0.887. Significant negative correlations were found between SWLS and HADS scores for anxiety [r= -0.410] and depression [r= -0.434], indicating an acceptable convergent validity

Conclusion: The SWLS has adequate psychometric properties for assessing life satisfaction in Iranian infertile women

efficient trio-based mini-haplotyping method for genetic diagnosis of phenylketonuria

Background: In 1993, Muller developed the Prenatal Attachment Inventory [PAI] which has been used widely in many studies and translated into several languages. The current study aimed to translate the PAI into Persian, assess the underlying structure of the PAI, and the appropriateness of the one-factor solution proposed by Muller

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we recruited a total of 322 primigravidae in their 27th to 34th gestational weeks that referred to private and governmental prenatal clinics in Tehran, Iran. All participants completed the Persian versions of the PAI and a demographic questionnaire. Participants were re-tested 2 weeks after the initial testing The following psychometric properties of the PAI were investigated: construct validity by confirmatory factor analysis [CFA], internal consistency reliability with Cronbach's alpha, and test-retest reliability according to the intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]

Results: The CFA results indicated that a single-factor model provided good fit to the data, which confirmed the original model by its developer. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for PAI was 0.856 and the test-retest reliability with ICC was 0.784. Considering the duration between marriage and pregnancy, women with low duration scored significantly higher than women with high duration on PAI [P=0.043]

Conclusion: The Persian version of the PAI showed that one factor structure was ad- equate and could be used for measuring psychological affectionate attachment between Iranian mothers and their fetuses

Development and validation of attitude toward gestational surrogacy scale in iranian infertile couples

Background: Surrogacy is one of the most challenging infertility treatments engaging ethical, psychological and social issues. Attitudes survey plays an important role to disclosure variant aspects of surrogacy, to help meeting legislative gaps and ambiguities, and to convert controversial dimensions surrounding surrogacy to a normative concept that eliminates stigma. The aim of this study is to develop a comprehensive scale for gestational surrogacy attitudes

Materials and Methods: Development process of gestational surrogacy attitudes scale [GSAS] performed based on a descriptive cross-sectional study and included a rich data pool gathered from literature reviews, a qualitative pilot study on 15 infertile couples [n=30], use of expert advisory panel [EAP] consisting of 20 members, as well as use of content validity through qualitative and quantitative study by the means of content validity ratio [CVR] and content validity index [CVI]. Also internal consistence using Cron-bach's alpha and test-retest reliability using intracalss correlation coefficient [ICC] were evaluated. Application of GSAS was tested in a cross-sectional study that was conducted on 200 infertile couples [n=400] at Royan Institute, Tehran, Iran, during 2014

Results: Final version of GSAS had 30 items within five subscales including [acceptance of surrogacy], [Surrogacy and public attitudes], [Child born through surrogacy] [Surrogate mother], and "Intentional attitude and surrogacy future attempt". Content validity was represented with values of CVR=0.73 and CVI =0.98. Cronbach's alpha value was 0.91 for the overall scale, while ICC value due to test-retest responses was 0.89

Conclusion: Acceptable level of competency and capability of GSAS is significantly indicated; therefore, it seems to be an appropriate tool for the evaluation of gestational surrogacy attitudes in Iranian infertile couples

Prevalence of infertility problems among Iranian infertile patients referred to Royan institute

Background: Few studies have been conducted on the infertility problems in Iran. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of infertility problems and related factors in Iranian infertile patients

Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study, 405 infertile patients referred to Royan Institute, Tehran, Iran, between 2014 and 2015, were selected by simple random sampling. Participants completed the Fertility Problem Inventory [FPI] including 46 questions in five domains [social concern, sexual concern, relationship concern, rejection of parenthood, and need for parenthood]. Mean difference between male and female was verified using independent-samples Student's t test. A generalized linear model [GLM] was also used for testing the effect of variables on the fertility problems. Data was analyzed using Stata software version 13

Results: The mean age [SD] of participants was 31.28 [5.42]. Our results showed that 160 infertile men [95.23%] were classified as very high prevalence of infertility problems. Among infertile women, 83 patients [35.02%] were as very high prevalence of infertility problems, and 154 patients [64.98%] were as high prevalence. Age [P<0.001], sex [P<0.001], a history of abortion [P=0.009], failure of previous treatment [P<0.001], and education [P=0.014] had a significant relationship with FPI scores

Conclusion: Bases on the results of current study, an younger male with lower education level, history of abortion and history of previous treatments failure experienced more infertility problems

Assisted reproductive technology in Iran: the first national report on centers, 2011

Background: Due to the worldwide increase in infertility, it is both necessary and im-portant to have assisted reproductive technology [ART] registries. In Iran, donation and surrogacy programs are approved by decrees from religious scholars. ART has been used since 1984 in Iran and the first Iranian infant conceived by gamete intra-fallopian transfer [GIFT] was born in 1989. This report, however, is the first national report on Iranian ART centers

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted under the supervision of the Iranian Ministry of Health, presented a summary of the numbers and percentages of centers that provided infertility services in Iran, as well as the status of ART in Iran during 2011

Results: A total of 52 centers reported treatment cycles and performed approximately 29000 intrauterine insemination [IUI], in addition to 35000 in vitro fertilization [IVF] and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection [ICSI] cycles

Conclusion: Iran has considerable potential to provide IVF services for both Iranians as well as other nationalities throughout the region. This proves the need for a national center that will implement a registry system

Development of A questionnaire to measure attitude toward oocyte donation

To our knowledge, there is no valid and comprehensive questionnaire that considers attitude toward oocyte donation [OD]. Therefore this study has aimed to design and develop a tool entitled attitude toward donation-oocyte [ATOD-O] to measure attitude toward OD. This methodological, qualitative research was undertaken on 15 infertile cases. In addition, we performed a literature review and search of various databases. Validity of this questionnaire was conducted by knowledgeable experts who determined indices such as relevancy, clarity, and comprehensiveness. Reliability of the questionnaire was assessed based on the opinions of experts and infertile couples referred to Royan Institute. ATOD-O was designed in 52 statements that covered various issues such as the OD process, donor and recipient characteristics, as well as family, emotional, psychological, legal, religious, and socio-economic dimensions. Results were scored as five points: 1 [strongly disagree], 2 [disagree], 3 [somewhat], 4 [agree], and 5 [strongly agree]. The overall relevancy of the questionnaire was 97% and clarity was 96%. Overall comprehensiveness was 100%.The findings from this preliminary validation study have indicated that ATOD-O is a valid measure for measuring and assessing attitude toward donated oocytes. This questionnaire can be used in studies regarding different groups of a society

Using fertile couples as embryo donors: an ethical dilemma

The use of donated embryos has offered hope for infertile couples who have no other means to have children. In Iran, fertility centers use fertile couples as embryo donors. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of this procedure will be discussed. We conclude that embryo-donation should be performed with frozen embryos thus preventing healthy donors from being harmed by fertility drugs. There must be guidelines for choosing the appropriate donor families. In countries where commercial egg donation is acceptable, fertile couples can be procured as embryo donors thus fulfilling the possible shortage of good quality embryos. Using frozen embryos seems to have less ethical, religious and legal problems when compared to the use of fertile embryo donors

Ethical issues of transplanting organs from transgenic animals into human beings

One of the most important applications of transgenic animals for medical purposes is to transplant their organs into human's body, an issue which has caused a lot of ethical and scientific discussions. we can divide the ethical arguments to two comprehensive groups; the first group which is known as deontological critiques [related to the action itself regardless of any results pointing the human or animal] and the second group, called the consequentialist critiques [which are directly pointing the consequences of the action]. The latter arguments also can be divided to two subgroups. In the first one which named anthropocentrism, just humankind has inherent value in the moral society, and it studies the problem just from a human-based point of view while in second named, biocentrism all the living organism have this value and it deals specially with the problem from the animal-based viewpoint. In this descriptive-analytic study, ethical issues were retrieved from books, papers, international guidelines, thesis, declarations and instructions, and even some weekly journals using keywords related to transgenic animals, organ, and transplantation. According to the precautionary principle with the strong legal and ethical background, due to lack of accepted scientific certainties about the safety of the procedure, in this phase, transplanting animal's organs into human beings have the potential harm and danger for both human and animals, and application of this procedure is unethical until the safety to human will be proven

Effect of Beta Mercaptaethanol with and without BSO [DL-Buthionine Sulfoximine] on Resumption of Meisosis, in vitro maturation and Embryo development of immature mouse oocytes

The purpose of this study was to evaluated the effect of beta-mercaptoethanol on resumption of meiosis, in vitro maturation of immature mouse oocytes and resulting embryo development with and without BSO [DL-Buthionine sulfoximine] Material and Germinal vesicle [GV] were recovered from 6-8 weeks old NMRI ovaries and cultured in maturation medium in MEMalpha supplemented with 7.5IU/ml hCG, 100mIU/ml rhFSH, 5% FCS [control group] and adding 100 micro m beta-mercaptoethanol [group 1] or with 5mM BSO + 100 micro m beta-mercaptoethanol [group 2] for 24h. The matured oocytes then were fertilized and cultured for 5 days. Fertilization and development were accomplished in T6 medium.The percentage of GV oocytes reaching to metaphase I [or undergo GVBD] were 78.5%, 85%, 86% in control group, group 1 and group 2 respectively, that no significant difference was detected between groups. The proportion of oocytes that progressed to the metaphase II [MII] stage was minimum within 5mM BSO group [group 2] and maximum within beta-mercaptoetanol group [group 1] with significant difference comparing with control and each other [P<=0.05]. The percentage of embryos reaching to morula stage within beta-mercaptoetanol group was significantly higher than the control group [5% and 12.2% respectively]. None of oocytes treated with BSO could pass the 8 cell stage. beta-mercaptoetanol enhances IVM and improves embryo development. While adding BSO into the maturation medium even with beta-mercaptoetanol decreases maturation and declines the embryo development

Effect of DEHP[Di-2ethyl hexyl-phthalate] on resumption of meiosis and in -virto maturation of mouse oocytes and development of resulting embryos

DEHP [di[2-ethylhexyl] phthalate]] is widely used in plastic industry and some reproductive toxicity has been shown with it. So, this study was designed to evaluate DEHP effects on resumption of meiosis and in vitro maturation of mouse oocytes as well as development of embryos resulted from them. Mice of 4-6 weeks old were administered daily doses of 50, 100, 200 microl of 2.56 micro M DEHP solution for 12 days. Immature mouse oocytes were recovered from all experimental groups and matured in MEM-alpha medium containing 5% FCS with and without 7.5 IU hCG and 100 mIU rFSH. IVF was performed T6 medium. Resumption of meiosis and in vitro maturation were significantly lower in all experimental groups in culture media without hormones compared to controls. Fertilization and embryo development were also significantly decreased in both culture media [with and without hormones]. This study showed the adverse effects of DEHP on in vitro maturation and embryo development in a dose dependent manner