Intrauterine insemination (IUI) is a widely used fertility treatment for couples with male and/or non-male factor infertility and is a relatively simple and inexpensive procedure. When used for unexplained infertility, IUI combined with ovarian stimulation increases the pregnancy rates, but evidence does not support this to be true when applied for male factor infertility. Recently, the revised World Health Organization laboratory manual for semen criteria provided a new insight for practical guidelines. Further randomized, controlled studies are necessary to develop standardized IUI strategies. The authors reviewed, via literature search, on the indications, prognostic factors, ovarian stimulation protocols, and methods that have been employed for IUI treatment.

BACKGROUND: Provision of optimal endometrial stromal cells is essential in uterine tissue engineering. Culture of these cells is significantly influenced by gonadotropin hormones. This investigation attempted to define the proliferation profiles of murine uterine endometrial stromal cells during in vitro culture with recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (rFSH), urinary follicle stimulating hormone (uFSH), and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). METHODS: Murine uterine endometrial stromal cells were collected from 8-week-old mice and cultured in vitro up to 72 h, with rFSH, uFSH, or hCG. Cell cycles were analyzed by BrdU assay, and cyclin D1 expression was evaluated according to dose and duration of gonadotropin treatment. RESULTS: BrdU assay showed a further inhibitory effect on murine uterine endometrial stromal cell proliferation when cultured with rFSH compared to uFSH, and a similar inhibitory proliferation profile when cultured with hCG at a specific range of concentrations. The expression of cyclin D1 of murine uterine endometrial stromal cells was down-regulated when cultured with rFSH, uFSH, or hCG, compared to control. CONCLUSIONS: FSH may inhibit the proliferation of murine uterine endometrial stromal cells during in vitro culture. rFSH may have more significant inhibitory effects on the proliferation of endometrial stromal cells than uFSH. Establishing an optimal endocrine milieu is necessary using more advanced combination of female hormones for in vitro culture of this type of cells. Keywords Uterus Á Endometrial stromal cells Á In vitro culture Yong Jin Kim and Yoon Young Kim have contributed equally to this work.