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Fertility is a way through which human beings biologically replace themselves in order to continue their existence on earth. The present paper therefore attempts to study the factors affecting fertility among the Jat women of Haryana state. A household survey was conducted in 15 villages of Palwal district in which the concentration of Jats was found to be highest and 1014 ever married women were interviewed. Age at marriage, present age, education status, family type, and preference for male child were the most important factors that affected fertility in the studied population. Age at menarche, age at first conception, occupation status, use of birth control measures, and household per capita annual income did not affect the fertility in the studied population.

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BackgroundMetabolic syndrome (MeS), a constellation of metabolic adversities, and history of miscarriage make women at a higher risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). However, molecular evidence indicating a link between the two phenotypes (history of miscarriage and MeS) among women would offer an opportunity to predict the risk factor for CVDs at an early stage. Thus, the present retrospective study attempts to identify the proteins signatures (if any) to understand the connection between the history of miscarriage and MeS.MethodsAge-matched 80 pre-menopausal women who were not on any medical intervention or drugs were recruited from a Mendelian population of the same gene pool. Recruited women were classified into four groups—(a) Group A—absolute cases with history of miscarriage and MeS, (b) Group B—absolute controls without any history of miscarriage and MeS, (c) Group C—cases with MeS but lack any history of miscarriage, (d) Group D—cases with history of miscarriage but lack MeS. Differentially expressed proteins in plasma samples of women from four groups were identified using 2-D gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry.ResultsThree case groups (A, C, and D) showed 18 differentially expressed proteins. Nearly 60% of proteins (11/18) were commonly dysregulated in Group C (only with MeS) and Group D (only with miscarriage history). Nearly 40% of proteins (7/18) were commonly dysregulated in the three case groups (Groups A, C, and D), indicating a shared pathophysiology. Four proteins were exclusive but shared by case groups C and D indicating the independent routes for CVDs through MeS or miscarriages. In absolute cases, transthyretin (TTR) showed exclusive upregulation, which was further validated by Western blotting and ELISA. Networking analyses showed the strong association of TTR with haptoglobin, transferrin and ApoA1 hinting toward a cross-talk among these proteins which could be a cause or an effect of TTR upregulation.ConclusionThe study provides evidence for molecular link between the history of miscarriage and MeS through a putative role of TTR. However, longitudinal follow-up studies with larger sample size would further help to demonstrate the significance of TTR and other targeted proteins in risk stratification and the onset of CVDs.

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