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Objectives: To evaluate the acceptance of postpartum intrauterine contraceptive devices (PPIUCD) among the inhabitants of Assiut governorate, Egypt and to study the factors that influence this acceptance. Subjects and Methods: Contraceptive counseling was given to 3,541 clients: 1,880 and 1,661 during the antenatal visits and postpartum hospitalization, respectively. Acceptors during antenatal counseling were to receive IUCDs via postplacental insertion in the case of vaginal delivery or transcesarean insertion in case of abdominal delivery. The clients who refused PPIUCD and chose interval IUCD insertion were referred to the Family Planning Clinic after the end of puerperium. Among postpartum counselees, PPIUCD acceptors received predischarge insertion within 48 h of delivery and the interval IUCD were referred to have IUCD inserted after the end of puerperium. The acceptance rate of both PPIUCD and interval IUCD and the percentage of actual insertions were recorded. The causes of both acceptance and refusal were also recorded. Results: Of the 3,541 clients, 1,024 (28.9%) accepted the use of IUCD after delivery. Acceptance was approximately the same during antenal and postpartum counseling: 26.4 and 31.8%, respectively. Verbal acceptance was higher among women with formal education than among illiterate women. Planning another pregnancy in the near future, preference for another contraceptive method, namely lactational infertility, and complications from previous use of IUCD were the most common reasons for refusing the use of IUCD. Of the 1,024 verbal acceptors, only 243 (23.7%) had the actual insertion of IUCD. Conclusion: Both the acceptance and actual insertion of IUCD were low probably because the use of IUCD is a new concept in the community. For these women, the only opportunity to receive information about contraceptives is during childbirth when they are in contact with medical personnel. Hence, it is suggested that family planning should be integrated with maternal and child-care services in order to effectively promote the use of contraceptive devices in these women who otherwise would not seek the use of such a device.

OBJECTIVE To screen a panel of targeted adenoviruses as vectors for endometriosis gene therapy. STUDY DESIGN Endometriotic cells were obtained from subjects with ovarian endometriomas. Liver tissues were taken from donors during hepatic transplantation surgery. Human endometriotic cells and liver tissues were transfected by targeted adenoviruses expressing luciferase reporter gene. Luciferase Activity mediated by each virus was expressed as a percentage of adenovirus serotype 5 activity. Two-tailed Student’s t test was used to compare the adenovirus data. RESULTS In endometriosic cells, the adenovirus-RGD (Ad5-RGD-luc), adenovirus under secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor promoter (Ad-SLPI-luc), and adenovirus under heparanse promoter (Ad-heparanase-luc) showed significantly higher activity as compared to the adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5-CMV-luc). In liver tissues, adenovirus-survivin (Ad-survivin-luc) and Ad-heparanase-luc had significantly lower activity compared with Ad5-CMV-luc. CONCLUSION Ad-heparanase-luc showed “endometriosis on, liver off” phenotype and is promising vector for endometriosis gene therapy.

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