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The thermal and oxidative degradation of carotenoids was studied in an oil model system to determine their relative stabilities and the major β-carotene isomers formed during the reaction. All-trans β-carotene, 9-cis β-carotene, lycopene, and lutein were heated in safflower seed oil at 75, 85, and 95°C for 24, 12, and 5 h, respectively. The major isomers formed during heating of β-carotene were 13-cis, 9-cis, and an unidentified cis isomer. The degradation kinetics for the carotenoids followed a first-order kinetic model. The rates of degradation were as follows: lycopene > all-trans β-carotene ≈ 9-cis β-carotene > lutein. The values for the thermodynamic parameters indicate that a kinetic compensation effect exists between all of the carotenoids. These data suggest that lycopene was most susceptible to degradation and lutein had the greatest stability in the model system of the carotenoids tested. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the rates of degradation for 9-cis and all-trans β-carotene under the experimental conditions. JAOCS 75, 823-829 (1998).

VEGF111 accelerates blood vessel recruitment and functional angiogenesis and improves the viability of ovarian cortex by limiting ischemia and ovarian cortex damage.

With the increase in obesity prevalence among women of reproductive age globally, the risks of type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes, pre‐eclampsia, and other conditions are rising, with detrimental effects on maternal and newborn health. The period before pregnancy is increasingly recognized as crucial for addressing weight management and reducing malnutrition (both under‐ and overnutrition) in both parents to reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the mother as well as the passage of risk to her offspring. Healthcare practitioners, including obstetricians, gynecologists, midwives, and general practitioners, have an important role to play in supporting women in planning a pregnancy and achieving healthy nutrition and weight before pregnancy. In this position paper, the FIGO Pregnancy Obesity and Nutrition Initiative provides an overview of the evidence for preconception clinical guidelines to reduce the risk of NCDs in mothers and their offspring. It encourages healthcare practitioners to initiate a dialogue on women’s health, nutrition, and weight management before conception. While acknowledging the fundamental importance of the wider social and environmental determinants of health, this paper focuses on a simple set of recommendations for clinical practice that can be used even in short consultations. The recommendations can be contextualized based on local cultural and dietary practices as part of a system‐wide public health approach to influence the wider determinants as well as individual factors influencing preconception health.

BackgroundAggressive anti-cancer treatments can result in ovarian failure. Ovarian cryopreservation has been developed to preserve the fertility of young women, but early graft revascularisation still requires improvement.MethodsFrozen/thawed sheep ovarian cortical biopsies were embedded in collagen matrix with or without isoform 165 of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF165) and transplanted into ovaries of immunodeficient mice. Ovaries were chosen as transplantation sites to more closely resemble clinical conditions in which orthotopic transplantation has previously allowed several spontaneous pregnancies.ResultsWe found that VEGF165 significantly increased the number of Dextran-FITC positive functional vessels 3 days after grafting. Dextran- fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) positive vessels were detectable in 53% and 29% of the mice in the VEGF-treated and control groups, respectively. Among these positive fragments, 50% in the treated group displayed mature smooth-muscle-actin-alpha (alpha-SMA) positive functional vessels compared with 0% in the control group. CD31 positive murine blood vessels were observed in 40% of the VEGF165 transplants compared with 21% of the controls. After 3 weeks, the density of murine vessels was significantly higher in the VEGF165 group.ConclusionThe encapsulation of ovarian tissue in collagen matrix in the presence of VEGF165 before grafting has a positive effect on functional blood vessel recruitment. It can be considered as a useful technique to be improved and further developed before human clinical applications in female cancer patients in the context of fertility preservation.

The stability and antioxidant effects of carotenoids and tocopherols in safflower seed oil were evaluated under thermal (75°C) and oxidative conditions and the oxidative stability index (OSI) determined. The antioxidant capability of butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) was also compared with that of β-carotene in a model system. Lycopene and β-carotene (1 to 2000 ppm) were heated (75°C) and exposed to air (2.5 psi) in an oxidative stability instrument. β-Carotene had no antioxidant effect at concentrations below 500 ppm, because it did not alter the induction time. Lycopene increased the induction time only slightly at low concentrations. However, at concentrations greater than 500 ppm, both β-carotene and lycopene acted as prooxidants, significantly decreasing the induction period. At the highest concentration, 2000 ppm, lycopene was more prooxidative than β-carotene. α-and γ-Tocopherol (concentration, 1000 ppm) delayed the induction time by 16 and 26 h, respectively. There was no cooperative interaction between α-tocopherol and β-carotene in delaying the onset of oxidation. Furthermore, BHT was significantly more antioxidative than β-carotene. Thus, under thermal and oxidative conditions, β-carotene could not delay the onset of oxidation. The tocopherols and BHT were effective in suppressing the onset of oxidation, as determined by the oxidative stability measurement.

ObjectiveTo evaluate and compare the distribution and density of primordial follicles within a whole sheep ovary and to gain insight into how to overcome the impact of natural follicular heterogeneity on the experimental results.DesignHistological study.SettingAcademic research center.AnimalsFive- to nine-month-old ewes.InterventionsFreshly sampled whole sheep ovaries were collected and prepared for histological analysis.Main Outcome Measure(s)The follicular densities and distributions were determined for hematoxylin and eosin sections. A mathematical model was derived based on the follicle counts and Monte-Carlo simulations.ResultsHeterogeneous distributions and densities of primordial follicles were identified 1) for distinct areas of the same ovarian cortex, 2) between the ovaries of the same animal and 3) across different ewes. A mathematical model based on the analysis of 37,153 primordial follicles from 8 different ovaries facilitated the estimation of the number of cortical biopsies and sections that had to be analyzed to overcome such heterogeneity.ConclusionThe influence of physiological follicular heterogeneity on experimental and clinical results can be overcome when a definite number of cortical pieces and sections are taken into consideration.

BackgroundOvarian tissue preservation is proposed to patients at risk of premature ovarian failure, but this procedure still needs to be optimized. To limit injury during ovarian tissue cryopreservation, anti-apoptotic drugs were added to the transport and freezing media of ovarian cortex tissue.MethodsSheep ovaries were transported, prepared and frozen in solutions containing vehicle or anti-apoptotic drugs (Z-VAD-FMK, a pan-caspase inhibitor, or sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), a bioactive lipid). After the tissue was thawed, the ovarian cortex was cultured for 2 or 6 days. Follicular quantification and morphological and proliferation analyses were performed on histological sections.ResultsAfter 2 days of culture, S1P improved the quality of primordial follicles; higher densities of morphologically normal and proliferative primordial follicles were found. Z-VAD-FMK displayed similar effects by preserving global primordial follicular density, but this effect was evident after 6 days of culture. This drug also improved cell proliferation after 2 and 6 days of culture.ConclusionsOur results showed that the addition of S1P or Z-VAD-FMK to the transport and freezing media prior to ovarian tissue cryopreservation improves primordial follicular quality and therefore improves global tissue survival. This should ultimately lead to improved fertility restoration after auto-transplantation.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13048-016-0216-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.