The impact of pregnancy on sexual functioning in Polish women.

INTRODUCTION: Sexual life of pregnant women alters during pregnancy due to the physiologic,' anatomic and hormonal changes in her body. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate female sexual functioning after becoming pregnant. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective survey study including 148 pregnant women. An anonymous questionnaire including 60 inquiries concerning intimate relationship before and during pregnancy was performed. The following statistical test were used: Chi-square test of independence, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and Wilcoxon test. The significance level of p = 0.05 was assumed. RESULTS: Most of the respondents were between 31 and 40 years old (55%). Majority of them were married (86%). During pregnancy, slightly more than half of women had a moderate need for sexual intercourse (51%), a large percentage of them had a low need (32%), a high need for intercourse was declared by 17% of women. The correlation analysis showed a statistically significant relationship between women's education and the need for sex before pregnancy (p = 0.049). Respondents with higher degrees of education more often felt the need for intercourse before pregnancy. No correlation was found between education and the need for intercourse after pregnancy (p = 0.107). After becoming pregnant, 51% of women had less need for intercourse, 7% more, and 42% the same as before pregnancy, and these differences were statistically significant (p < 0.001). Also, a decreased satisfaction with sexual intercourse was reported during pregnancy (p < 0.001). After getting pregnant, the average number of intercourses decreased in majority (71%) of respondents, and differences in the number of intercourses before and during pregnancy were statistically significant (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Pregnancy has significant impact on woman's sexuality. After becoming pregnant majority of women declare less need for sexual intercourses, decreased number of intercourses with less satisfaction.

Female sexual functioning during pregnancy.

Sexuality is a fundamental, biological function of every human body, regardless of age, gender or race. However, the need for intimacy, closeness and sexual activity changes over time; it is influenced by the age, experience, physical and health condition. Sex is also one of the most important domains of the quality of life (QoL). However, this topic is still uneasy and rarely discussed, even though female sexual dysfunction (FSD) is a common problem, which affects 20% to 50% of women. Moreover, women experience processes that do not affect men, such as menstruation, pregnancy and menopause. In this review we focused on pregnancy, since sexual life of pregnant women alters during pregnancy due to the physiological, anatomical and hormonal changes in her body. Nonetheless, woman can keep having sex during a physiological pregnancy, but this issue is rarely addressed by physicians-gynecologists. Therefore, the aim of this manuscript was to discuss female sexuality during pregnancy.

Sexual functions in individuals with inflammatory bowel diseases.

Problems with intimacy and sexuality are one of the major concerns of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Many symptoms, complications, and consequences of these disorders are likely to impact on body image, intimacy, and sexual function. Moreover, mood disorders, in particular depression, which is a major risk factor for sexual dysfunctions, are reported to be common in chronic illnesses such as IBD. However, despite this obvious relevance, sexual problems are rarely addressed in the clinical management of patients with IBD. The aim of this review was to discuss sexual problem in people with IBD.

Reproduction and Pregnancy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease - Management and Treatment Based on Current Guidelines.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) affect mainly young population. Therefore, fertility and pregnancy are important clinical issues to be considered. Generally, fertility in IBD patients is not decreased either in males or females when compared to a healthy population. Moreover, drugs used for IBD treatment do not significantly affect fertility in humans. However, prolonged treatment with sulphasalazine may reduce semen quality and cause reversible infertility. Since the disease course and a risk of pregnancy-related complications depend mainly on disease activity at the time of conception, female patients with IBD should plan their pregnancy during a remission phase. Methotrexate, mycophenolate mofetil and thalidomide are strongly contraindicated during pregnancy. Other medications used for IBD seem to be safe provided that they are administered with caution. In 2015, European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) published its Consensus on Reproduction and Pregnancy in IBD. However, management of IBD during the reproductive age and during pregnancy still remains controversial, since evidence-based data come mostly from retrospective studies. The aim of this paper was to discuss the issue of reproduction and pregnancy in IBD patients based on current ECCO guidelines and literature.

Plasma C16-Cer levels are increased in patients with preterm labor.

INTRODUCTION: The pathogenesis of preterm labor is fragmentarily explained. The most widely accepted theory points out to infection and inflammation as possible causes, which can be mediated by potentially different factors, including sphingolipid mediators. Sphingolipids are a class of lipids that have been shown as important mediators in various cell processes such as: proliferation, growth, apoptosis, stress response, necrosis and inflammation. The aim of the study was to assess plasma concentrations of selected sphingolipids in patients with preterm labor. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We used ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with triple mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS) to assess plasma concentrations of the 11 sphingolipids in patients presenting with symptoms of preterm labor (n=61) and threatened preterm labor (n=40). RESULTS: We observed a statistically significant increase (p-value<0.004) in plasma concentrations of C16-Cer in patients with preterm labor as compared to the control group. We also found C16-Cer to be the best predictor of preterm labor in the group of patients with symptoms occurring after 32 weeks of gestation. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show a possible involvement of selected sphingolipids, especially C16-Cer, in the pathogenesis of preterm labor. Their role as predictors of preterm delivery needs to be validated in the future on larger group of patients.

Inflammation and ovarian cancer--current views.

Ovarian cancers pose the greatest challenge for gynecological oncology. They are a heterogeneous, rapidly progressing and highly lethal group of malignancies and their etiology is still poorly understood. Among many hypotheses, explaining the pathogenesis of malignant tumors, chronic inflammation seems to play a significant role, which was proved in cervical, hepatic and esophageal cancers. The processes of inflammation and carcinogenesis are very much alike. Their similarity was experimentally confirmed by epidemiological, immunological, biochemical and genetic studies. Additionally this view is supported by indirect epidemiological and clinical evidence linking ovarian cancer with pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis or polycystic ovary syndrome. Chronic inflammation is a key factor in the pathogenesis of these illnesses. Moreover ovulation involving repeated damage and repair of the ovarian surface epithelium is in fact an inflammatory process. In this review, we focus on the role of inflammation in cancer initiation, promotion and progression with special emphasis on the ovarian cancer. We discuss the potential involvement of the fallopian tubes, endometriosis and microenvironment of tumors represented by cytokines, chemokines, growth factors and various enzymes that destroy the extracellular matrix. Considering that molecular biology is currently rapidly evolving, we focus on the function of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kappaB) in the pathophysiology of inflammation and cancer.

Assessment of the selected biochemical markers in predicting preterm labour.

OBJECTIVE: The differential diagnosis between preterm and false labour remains one of the most challenging issues in perinatal medicine. AIM: To assess the prognostic importance of the selected biochemical markers in predicting preterm labour. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 74 patients hospitalized due to threatening preterm labour. 51 women gave birth prematurely; the remaining 23 were diagnosed with false labour. We used ELISA arrays to study 13 proteins: IGFBP-1, IGFBP-2, BDNF, L-Selectin, E-Selectin, ICAM-1, PECAM, VCAM-1, MIP-1 delta (MIP-1d) MIP-3ß (MIP-3b), Eotaxin-1, Eotaxin-2, BLC. RESULTS: An increased risk of preterm labour should be expected when the serum concentration for: IGFBP-1 > 158.83 pg/ml (sens. 0.608, sp. 0.609, p < 0.0001); MIP-1d < 27.66 pg/ml (sens. 0.627, sp. 0.627, p = 0.021); BDNF >36.54 pg/ml (sens. 0.630, sp. 0.647, p = 0.002); BLC >25.46 pg/ml (sens. 0.588, sp. 0.609, p < 0.001); Eotaxin-1 >1.16 pg/ml (sens. 0.633, sp. 0.652). CONCLUSION: There have been reported statistically significant differences in serum concentrations of selected proteins in women with preterm labour and false labour.