Asian immigrants to the United States are less likely to donate cryopreserved embryos for research use.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there are ethnic differences in the proportion of IVF patients donating excess cryopreserved embryos for use in research. DESIGN: Retrospective. SETTING: University clinic. PATIENT(S): Four hundred consecutive patients undergoing IVF. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Embryo disposition plan reported on the cryopreservation consent form (disposal, donation for research, or donation for therapeutic use). RESULT(S): Compared with Europeans or Asians born in the U.S., Asians born outside the U.S. were less likely to opt to donate excess embryos. Research donation was highly associated with interest in participation in clinical research. CONCLUSION(S): Decreased donation of excess embryos for research among Asians born outside the U.S. may relate to religious, sociocultural, language, or other undescribed factors. Targeted educational strategies may be critical to the development of a diverse pool of embryos available for research.

Racial and ethnic disparities in reproductive endocrinology and infertility.

This review examines racial and ethnic disparities in reproductive health focusing on 3 key topical areas: (1) infertility, (2) polycystic ovarian syndrome, and (3) reproductive aging. We report that an increasing body of knowledge points toward reduced infertility access and in vitro fertilization outcomes in Asian, black, and Hispanic women compared with white women. There are differences in the reproductive and metabolic phenotypes of Asian, black, and Hispanic women presenting with the polycystic ovarian syndrome compared with white women. Reproductive aging differences appear to exist in all racial and ethnic groups. Awareness of racial and ethnic disparities is critical to a complete understanding of the health issues facing women of reproductive age.

Asian women are less likely to express interest in infertility research.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the differences among racial and ethnic groups in their willingness to participate in medical infertility research. We further explored these differences within racial and ethnic subcategories to gain a broader understanding of minority patients' willingness to participate in infertility research. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: University fertility center. PATIENT(S): One thousand forty-nine women presenting for reproductive care. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Willingness to be contacted for recruitment to ongoing research. RESULT(S): Asians were less likely than non-Hispanic Whites to express willingness to be contacted regarding research (odds ratio 0.44, 95% confidence interval 0.33; 0.57), as were Middle Eastern women. Decreased willingness was seen in all Asian subcategories except Vietnamese. Women born outside the United States were less likely to consent to be contacted than those born in the United States. CONCLUSION(S): Asian and Middle Eastern patients are less likely than non-Hispanic Whites to express interest in research participation in the infertility clinic setting. Strategies to target these women for research recruitment are necessary to achieve parity in both research participation and assisted reproductive technology outcomes.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma ligand inhibition of RANTES production by human endometriotic stromal cells is mediated through an upstream promoter element.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma) ligands on transcription and secretion of regulated upon activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) in endometriotic stromal cells. DESIGN: Controlled laboratory study. SETTING: Academic research laboratory. Women in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle undergoing laparoscopic resection for endometriosis. [1]. Transient transfection of endometriotic stromal cells with RANTES promoter vectors with and without a mutagenized PPAR-gamma response element (PPRE), then treatment with PPAR-gamma ligands; [2]. co-incubation of cells with PPAR-gamma ligands. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): RANTES promoter activity and RANTES secretion. In endometriotic stromal cells, addition of PPAR-gamma ligands (rosiglitazone and 15 deoxy-Delta(12,14) prostaglandin J(2)) inhibited RANTES promoter activity by 51% and 50%, respectively. In cells transfected with the same promoter after site-directed mutagenesis of the 5' PPRE, addition of PPAR-gamma ligands failed to inhibit promoter activity. When endometriotic stromal cells were treated with PPAR-gamma ligands, a decrease in RANTES secretion by 51% and 20%, respectively, was observed. CONCLUION(S): The PPAR-gamma ligands inhibit RANTES transcription and protein production in endometriotic stromal cells. Transcriptional repression appears to be mediated through a specific PPRE at -344 to -322 bp upstream from the RNA polymerase start site.