During the COVID-19 outbreak in China, she was Leader of the National Medical Rescue Team (Peking University) for Hubei Province, responsible for the clinical management of intensive care units and pregnant women with COVID-19.

Purpose The aim of this study was to assess whether the intrafollicular cytokine profile in naturally developed follicles is different in women with endometriosis, possibly explaining the lower reproductive outcome in endometriosis patients. Methods A matched case-control study was conducted at a university-based infertility and endometriosis centre. The study population included 17 patients with laparoscopically and histologically confirmed endometriosis (rAFS stages II-IV), each undergoing one natural cycle IVF (NC-IVF) treatment cycle between 2013 and 2015, and 17 age-matched NC-IVF women without diagnosed endometriosis (control group). Follicular fluid and serum was collected at the time of follicle aspiration. The concentrations of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-15, IL-18, TNF-α) and hormones (testosterone, estradiol, AMH) were determined in follicular fluid and serum by single or multiplexed immunoassay and compared between both groups. Results In the follicular fluid, IL-1β and IL-6 showed significantly (P < 0.001 and 0.01, respectively) higher median concentrations in the endometriosis group than in the control group and a tendency towards endometriosis severity (rAFS stage) dependence. The levels of the interleukins detectable in follicular fluid were significantly higher than those in the serum (P < 0.01). Follicular estradiol concentration was lower in severe endometriosis patients than in the control group (P = 0.036). Follicular fluid IL-1β and IL-6 levels were not correlated with estradiol in the same compartment in neither patient group. Conclusions In women with moderate and severe endometrioses, some intrafollicular inflammatory cytokines are upregulated and not correlated with intrafollicular hormone concentrations. This might be due to the inflammatory microenvironment in endometriosis women, affecting follicular function and thereby possibly contributing to the reproductive dysfunction in endometriosis.

BackgroundOvarian stimulation in IVF cycle results in luteal supraphysiological steroid concentrations especially for high response patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of ovarian steroid hormone suppression in luteal phase after oocyte retrieval for preventing severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in high-risk patients with embryo cryopreservation.Methods281 patients with high risk of OHSS were enrolled in this study among 4735 infertile women undergoing their first IVF treatment. The subjects were allocated into treatment and control group. The treatment group (n = 161) received letrozole (n = 43), mifepristone (n = 51), cetrotide (n = 39) and three-drug combinations (n = 28) during the luteal phase after oocyte retrieval, respectively. The control group (n = 120) received no medicine. Fertilization rate, good embryo rate, serum steroid concentration, clinical outcome, and incidence of severe OHSS were compared between the two groups.ResultsOn days 2, 5 and 8 after oocyte retrieval, serum estradiol levels in the letrozole and three-drug combination therapy group were significantly lower than in the other three groups at the same time (P < 0.001, respectively). There were no significantly difference of serum luteinizing hormone concentration on days 2, 5 and 8 and progesterone concentration on day 8 after oocyte retreival among the five groups (P > 0.05, respectively). Compared with the control group, the incidence of severe OHSS, the paracentesis rate, the duration of hospitalization and the days of luteal phase in each subgroup of treatment groups was not significantly decreased (P > 0.05, respectively).ConclusionsOur findings indicate that steroidal ovarian suppression in luteal phase after oocyte retrieval seems to be unable to prevent severe OHSS in high-risk patients with embryo cryopreservation.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a kind of endocrine disorder which is prevalent in adult women, so exploring more biomarkers for PCOS is imperative. Recently, circular RNA and microRNA are confirmed to be related with PCOS development. Whether circular RNA ASPH (circASPH) is involved in PCOS need to be studied further. We utilized RT‐qPCR to measure the expression levels of circASPH, miR‐375 and MAP2K6 in PCOS patients and normal group. The effects of circASPH and miR‐375 on KGN cells proliferation and apoptosis were observed by CCK‐8 assay, EdU incorporation assay and apoptosis assay, separately. Then Dual‐luciferase reporter assay was carried out to verify the circASPH/miR375 axis and miR375/MAP2K6 axis. The interaction between circASPH and MAP2K6 were detected with the support of RT‐qPCR and Western blot. We found circASPH and MAP2K6 were both over‐expressed in PCOS patients, while miR‐375 was in the opposite direction. Moreover, miR‐375 was negatively regulated by circASPH, while MAP2K6 was positively regulated by circASPH. In addition, circASPH directly targeted miR‐375, which targeted MAP2K6. More than that, the knockdown of circASPH repressed KGN cells proliferation and enhanced apoptosis, while the silence of miR‐375 reversed the above effects. In conclusion, circASPH promotes KGN cells proliferation through miR‐375/MAP2K6 axis in PCOS, and they are thought‐provoking biomarkers for PCOS diagnosis and therapy.

Background The mechanism of the pathological change of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is still unclear. Previous studies have shown that PCOS is a chronic nonspecific low-grade inflammatory condition, and that heat shock protein (HSP)70 has a potent anti-inflammatory property. So the aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between HSP70 and the hormones and inflammatory factors and to find out the role of HSP70 in the pathogenesis of PCOS. Methods Twenty female Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats (aged 23 days and weighted 80-90 g) were randomly divided into two groups ( n = 10 per group), PCOS group and control group. PCOS group were subcutaneously injected with 6 mg/100 g dehydro-epiandrosterone (DHEA) for 20 consecutive days, the control group were subcutaneously injected with a solvent of equivalent amount. All the samples were collected in the morning fasting state, 12 h after the last administration. Histological examinations of ovarian tissues were analyzed. Hormone levels and inflammatory factors levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Results Serum concentrations of testosterone (T) and luteinizing hormone (LH) were significantly higher in the PCOS group than the control group ( P < 0.001), but the concentrations of estradiol (E 2 ), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and insulin didn’t show significant difference between these two groups. All the concentrations of inflammatory factors including C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-18, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. were significantly higher in PCOS group than the control group ( P < 0.001). The expressions of HSP70 were significantly lower in serum but higher in ovarian tissues in the PCOS group than the control group. Spearman rank correlation analysis showed strong negative correlation of serum HSP70 levels with T, LH and all the detected inflammatory factors. Conclusion The abnormal expression of HSP70 correlated with testosterone and inflammatory factors, which indicates that HSP70 may play an important role in PCOS pathology.