Plasma metabolomics for diagnostic biomarkers on ectopic pregnancy.

Metabolomics is a relatively novel omics tool to provide potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of the diseases and to insight the pathophysiology not having discussed ever before. In the present study, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) was employed to the plasma samples of Group T1: Patients with ectopic pregnancy diagnosed using ultrasound, and followed-up with beta-hCG level (n = 40), Group T2: Patients with ectopic pregnancy diagnosed using ultrasound, underwent surgical treatment and confirmed using histopathology (n = 40), Group P: Healthy pregnant women (n = 40) in the first prenatal visit of pregnancy, Group C: Healthy volunteers (n = 40) scheduling a routine gynecological examination. Metabolite extraction was performed using 3 kDa pores - Amicon® Ultra 0.5 mL Centrifugal Filters. A gradient elution program (mobile phase composition was water and acetonitrile consisting of 0.1% formic acid) was applied using a C18 column (Agilent Zorbax 1.8 µM, 100 x 2.1 mm). Total analysis time was 25 min when the flow rate was 0.2 mL/min. The raw data was processed through XCMS - R program language edition where the optimum parameters detected using Isotopologue Parameter Optimization (IPO). The potential metabolites were identified using MetaboAnalyst 5.0 and finally 27 metabolites were evaluated to be proposed as potential biomarkers to be used for the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy.

Impact of Curcumin on Ovarian Reserve After Tubal Ligation: an Experimental Study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of tubal ligation (TL) via modified Pomeroy method on ovarian reserve and to determine the role of curcumin (Curcuma longa [Indian saffron]) against ovarian reserve decrement after TL. Forty-eight albino Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: (1) Control group: a sham operation was performed (n = 12), (2) Tubal ligation group: TL was performed (n = 12), (3) TL+DMSO group: 1 mL/day dimethyl sulfoxide was used for 50 days after TL, (4) TL+Curc group: 100 mg/kg/day curcumin dissolved in DMSO was administrated for 50 days after TL. Pre-operatively and on post-operative day 50, blood samples were collected for AMH evaluation, and oophorectomy was performed for histological and immunohistochemical examinations of ovaries in all groups. No difference in the basal AMH levels was found among the groups (p = 0.249). Compared to the basal, AMH levels were lower in the control, TL, and TL+DMSO groups (p = 0.003, p = 0.004, and p < 0.001, respectively) but not different in the TL+Curc group (p = 0.503) on post-operative day 50. No significant differences in the number of primary, preantral, antral, atretic follicles, and corpus luteum among the groups (p > 0.05) were found. The percentage of granulosa cells stained for caspase-3 in antral follicles and the corpus luteum was higher in the TL+Curc group than in the control and TL groups ([antral follicles; p < 0.01 for both groups], [corpus leteum; p = 0.009 and 0.002 for the control and TL groups, respectively]). It seems that TL does not decrease ovarian reserve and curcumin might have a positive effect on ovarian reserve in the setting of TL.

Value of Post-transfer Day-12 Beta Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Levels for Pregnancy Outcome Prediction of Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Cycles.

BACKGROUND: Several markers were studied previously in order to predict the pregnancy outcome of assisted reproductive techniques; however, serum beta human chorionic gonadotropin was found to be the most predictive marker. AIMS: To evaluate the value of serum beta human chorionic gonadotropin levels in discriminating biochemical and clinical pregnancies 12 days after embryo transfer, while determining the factors predicting ongoing pregnancy was established as the secondary aim. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional study. METHODS: A total of 445 pregnant cycles were retrospectively analysed in 2359 embryo transfer cycles. Patients were divided into two groups according to the outcome of pregnancy: biochemical and clinical. RESULTS: The cut-off value of beta human chorionic gonadotropin levels on day 12 in predicting clinical pregnancies was 86.8 IU/mL with 65.1% sensitivity and 74.7% specificity [CI: 0.76 (0.71-0.81). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed different cut-off values for embryo transfer days (57 mIU/mL for day 3 embryo transfer CI: 0.59-0.79 and 87 mIU/mL for day 5 embryo transfer, CI: 0.74-0.86). Subgroup analysis of clinical pregnancies revealed a significant difference between ongoing pregnancies and early fetal losses regarding duration of infertility (81.3±54.4 vs. 100.2±62.2 months), serum oestradiol on hCG day (2667.4±1276.4 vs. 2094.6±1260.5 pg/mL), number of transferred embryos (1.9±0.8 vs. 1.5±0.7) and the prevalence of diminished ovarian reserve as an indication (2.3% vs 12.2%). CONCLUSION: Beta human chorionic gonadotropin levels on day 12 following embryo transfer provide an important parameter for the prediction of clinical pregnancy; however, other stimulation parameters are indicated in the prediction of ongoing pregnancies.