Endometriosis is a common chronic gynecological disorder defined as the presence of ectopic functional endometrial tissues, outside uterine cavity, primarily on the pelvic peritoneum and the ovaries. Several studies revealed a correlation between aberrant stem-cell activity in the endometrium and endometriosis. Yet the molecular and cellular behaviors of mesnchymal stem cells in development of endometriosis are hampered by lack of invitro experiments. Our aim was to explore morphological and molecular changes associated with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exposition to serum derived from women with severe endometriosis. Two cell cultures of MSCs isolated from endometrial tissues of two endometriosis-free women. Each cell culture was treated individually with the serum of women with endometriosis (experimental group/n = 7), and serum of women without endometriosis (control group/ n = 4) for 14 days. Quantitative Real-Time PCR was performed later to reveal expression of OCT-4, CDH1 and CDH2, STAT3 and SOX2 genes. Morphologically, cells showed no significant changes. However from molecular point of view, we found increased expression in OCT-4, CDH1 and CDH2. For STAT3 and SOX2 we did not find a significant difference. This study shows that endometriosis serum induced molecular changes in human endometrial MSCs (EnMSCs) that might be related to altered cell behavior which may be a step in differentiation that may be completed invivo by other factors to complete the process of transition. Further researches are needed for optimization to reach differentiation.

Background Many issues need to be studied regarding pregnant women during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess fetal growth, fetal well-being, and any observed gross anomalies that may follow SARS-CoV-2 infection in Egyptian pregnant women. During fetal anomaly scan at 22 weeks, we compared 30 pregnant women with a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection at 6‑12 weeks of gestation (group A) with 60 pregnant women (group B) who had no history of SARS-CoV-2. Then, we followed them on 28 and 34 weeks of gestation with fetal biometry and Doppler study. Results Our results revealed no significant difference between both groups regarding fetal biometry, estimated fetal weight, amniotic fluid index, Doppler scan, and gross anomaly scan throughout all visits. Conclusion According to the results of our pilot study, SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy was not found to increase the risk of fetal growth restriction or possible fetal gross anomalies. Nevertheless, larger-scale studies are needed to confirm those findings. Perhaps, post-SARS-CoV-2 infection pregnancies may run an uncomplicated course regarding fetal parameters.

Background Women’s fecundity is known to decrease with the increase in chronologic age. Several biomarkers of the ovarian reserve, including follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), anti Müllerian hormone (AMH), have been proposed as possible predictors for the response to controlled ovarian stimulation (COS). Although there are assumptions indicating that the relationship between age and ovarian reserve is highly variable and the potential different validity of ovarian reserve markers in women in different age groups remains to be demonstrated. The purpose of our study was evaluating FSH and AMH as potential predictors of response to controlled ovarian stimulation and prediction of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcome according to age. This prospective study has been carried out on 218 women having ICSI cycles. Cases were divided into two groups, group 1 (n 148), their age < 35 years, and group 2 (n 70), their age ≥ 35 years. All women received antagonist protocol during their ICSI cycles. Basal FSH and AMH were measured and correlated to the number of follicles on the day of trigger, the number of oocytes retrieved, chemical, and clinical pregnancies. Results The fertilization rate in group 1 was 68.15%, while in group 2 was 77.82% (p = 0.003) while the implantation rate (number of gestational sacs observed at 6 weeks of pregnancy divided by the number of transferred embryos) was 18.95 and 11.98% in group 1 and group 2, respectively (p = 0.041). The clinical pregnancy rate among both groups was 38.51% in group 1, while 24.29% in group 2 (p = 0.038). Women who got pregnant among those aged < 35 years had significantly lower basal FSH (p < 0.001), while women who got pregnant among those aged ≥ 35 years had significantly higher AMH levels (p value < 0.001) and higher E2 levels on the day of trigger (p = 0.007). Conclusion We found that below the age of 35 years, the chances of pregnancy are more correlated to FSH levels, while above the age of 35 years, AMH was a more relevant test.

Objective. We studied the G-CSF's effect on women with unexplained infertility and previous ICSI failure. Unexplained infertility is a condition when couples are not able to conceive despite normal semen analysis and absence of female infertility factor(s). Cytokines, transcription factors and signaling pathways are essential for complex interactions of decidualization. G-CSF is a glycoprotein with growth factor and cytokine functions, which are produced in many tissues.Patient and Methods. The study was done on a total of 200 women with only 196 women who ended the study (99 women as a study group, 96 women as a control group). All women were M a n u s c r i p t a c c e p t e d f o r p u b l i c a t i o n complaining of unexplained infertility with previous history of failed ICSI. All cases proceed through ICSI procedure while study group only undergone G-CSF infusion intrauterine at time of ovum pickup.Results. We found that intrauterine G-CSF injection at time of ovum pickup in the study group, in comparison with control group, did not improve neither implantation rate (16.68% vs 19.66%, p = 0.243) nor the chemical (54.5% vs 67%, p = 0.074), clinical pregnancy (51.5% vs 62.9%, p = 0.108) rates as well as live birth rates (31.0% vs 39.8%, p = 0.227). Conclusions.Intrauterine infusion of G-CSF may not improve Implantation rate in women with unexplained previous intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) failure. Further studies are needed to conclude if the dose, route and timing of the drug administration can give better results.

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