Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular bacterium whose only natural host is humans. Although presenting as asymptomatic in most women, genital tract chlamydial infections are a leading cause of pelvic inflammatory disease, tubal factor infertility, and ectopic pregnancy. C. trachomatis has evolved successful mechanisms to avoid destruction by autophagy and the host immune system and persist within host epithelial cells. The intracellular form of this organism, the reticulate body, can enter into a persistent nonreplicative but viable state under unfavorable conditions. The infectious form of the organism, the elementary body, is again generated when the immune attack subsides. In its persistent form, C. trachomatis ceases to produce its major structural and membrane components, but synthesis of its 60-kDa heat shock protein (hsp60) is greatly upregulated and released from the cell. The immune response to hsp60, perhaps exacerbated by repeated cycles of productive infection and persistence, may promote damage to fallopian tube epithelial cells, scar formation, and tubal occlusion. The chlamydial and human hsp60 proteins are very similar, and hsp60 is one of the first proteins produced by newly formed embryos. Thus, the development of immunity to epitopes in the chlamydial hsp60 that are also present in the corresponding human hsp60 may increase susceptibility to pregnancy failure in infected women. Delineation of host factors that increase the likelihood that C. trachomatis will avoid immune destruction and survive within host epithelial cells and utilization of this knowledge to design individualized preventative and treatment protocols are needed to more effectively combat infections by this persistent pathogen.

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This retrospective cohort study aimed to explore whether paternal age and semen quality parameters affect the embryological and clinical outcomes of ICSI with oocyte donation. A total of 339 oocyte donation (OD)-ICSI cycles were categorized into four groups according to the semen parameter profiles of the male counterparts: normozoospermia (NS, n = 184), oligozoospermia (OS, n = 41), asthenozoospermia (AS, n = 50), and oligoasthenozoospermia (OAS, n = 64). The effect of age, total sperm count, and progressive motility was separately analyzed for reproductive outcomes and compared between the study groups: fertilization, blastulation, and top-quality embryo rate, biochemical and clinical pregnancy, live birth, and miscarriage. A negative correlation between male age and fertilization rate was observed (r s = − 0.23, p < 0.0001), while male age was a significant factor for biochemical pregnancy (p = 0.0002), clinical pregnancy (p = 0.0017), and live birth (p = 0.0038). Reduced total sperm count and lowered progressive motility led to poorer fertilization rates (r s = 0.19 and 0.35, respectively, p < 0.0001) and affected embryo quality (r s = 0.13, p = 0.02, and r s = 0.22, p < 0.0001, respectively). OD-ICSI cycles with asthenozoospermia had significantly lowered success rates in biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, and live birth (p < 0.05). Our study demonstrated that both advanced male age and reduced progressive motility of spermatozoa exert a significant negative influence on the outcome of assisted reproduction, even in controlled procedures with gamete selection and optimization such as in OD-ICSI. Improvement in treatment strategies and male fertility evaluation requires incorporation of such evidence to obtain better prognosis towards personalized management.

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Papillary neoplasms are a distinct assemblage of breast lesions whose main characteristic is the presence of fibrovascular cores which are surrounded by epithelial cells. Papillary lesions are of heterogenous nature, with similar clinical behavior and histomorphologic characteristics. Their biological patterns, however, can be quite different. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2019), breast tumors have been recently classified into five subdivisions of papillary neoplasms. They are namely: intraductal papilloma, papillary ductal carcinoma in situ, encapsulated papillary carcinoma (EPC), solid-papillary carcinoma and invasive papillary carcinoma. Despite the papillary architecture being easily recognized, histological variations are diagnostically challenging. The presence or absence of myoepithelial cells in the papillary cores can distinguish the malignant from the benign lesions respectively. EPC is a rare, histologically unique carcinoma type whose main characteristic is a thick fibrous capsule at the periphery and a prolific cell structure with fibrovascular stalk support. A characteristic feature is the absence of myoepithelial cells at the surrounding thick fibrous capsule. Usually, EPC maintains a slowly developing tumor despite the absence of myoepithelial cells. An EPC case presents diagnostic difficulties since it bears close resemblance to malignant and benign papillary breast lesions. Upon a clinical and radiological evaluation, EPC commonly appears as a benign lump. In mammography, the tumor is frequently found in a retroareolar position as a well-defined mass. On the other hand, in an ultrasound, the tumor will appear as a cystic lesion characterized by solid components. The clinical picture of EPC is usually an asymptomatic benign mass which at times can be felt through auto-palpation or screening mammography. A bloody nipple discharge is regarded as a common symptom. We report a case of an EPC of a 81-year-old woman who presented with a mass in the left breast.