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Assessment of IgG and IgM antibodies followed by IgG avidity testing for inconclusive results may be an acceptable approach in pregnant women with unknown serological status prior to pregnancy. Utilization of IgG avidity as a supplemental test prevented unnecessary intervention in IgG and IgM antibodies positive patients. No primary infection was detected for CMV, rubella and T. gondii infections in the urban population screened.

Antithyroid antibodies (ATA) are found in 5-15% of women at reproductive age and are not necessarily accompanied with thyroid dysfunction. ATA are associated with adverse effects such as spontaneous miscarriage, recurrent miscarriages, preterm delivery and maternal post-partum thyroiditis in women with normal thyroid hormone concentrations. The role of ATA on the outcome of IVF cycles remains to be investigated. This study evaluated the impact of ATA on the outcome of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)-embryo transfer cycles in euthyroid women. A total of 253 women undergoing ICSI-embryo transfer cycles were prospectively enrolled in this study. Women positive for at least one of the thyroid antibodies, with normal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free T4 concentrations and negative for anticardiolipin antibodies and lupus anticoagulant were included. ICSI was performed for fertilization in all cycles. Of 253 women, 219 were ATA negative and 34 ATA positive. Implantation rates (19.1% versus 18.4%), miscarriage rates (9.0% versus 8.3%) and ongoing pregnancy rates (37.0% versus 32.4%) did not differ significantly between the ATA-positive group and the ATA-negative group, respectively. The presence of antithyroid antibodies in euthyroid and antiphospholipid antibody-negative women was not found to significantly affect the outcome of ICSI-embryo transfer cycles. Antithyroid antibodies (ATA) can interact with thyroid hormone receptors located on the human oocyte and impair the chance of fertilization and healthy pregnancy. They are found in 5-15% of women at reproductive age and are not necessarily accompanied with thyroid dysfunction. ATA have been reported to be associated with adverse effects such as spontaneous miscarriage, recurrent miscarriages, preterm delivery and maternal post-partum thyroiditis in women with normal thyroid hormone concentrations. The role of ATA on the outcome of IVF cycles remains to be investigated. The objective of our study was to evaluate the impact of ATA on the outcome of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)-embryo transfer cycles in euthyroid women. A total of 253 women undergoing ICSI-embryo transfer cycles were prospectively enrolled in this study. Women with at least one of the thyroid antibodies positive and normal TSH and free T4 concentrations were included in the study. Since other immunological disorders might affect the results, antiphospholipid antibodies (APA), which are the markers of antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, were also screened in all women prior to study. Women with positive for APA were excluded in the final analysis. Of 253 women, 219 (86.6%) were ATA negative and 34 (13.4%) ATA positive. Implantation rates (19.1% versus 18.4%), biochemical pregnancy rates (9.2% versus 14.3%), miscarriage rates (9.0% versus 8.3%) and ongoing pregnancy rates (37.0% versus 32.4%) did not differ significantly between the ATA-positive group and the ATA-negative group, respectively. In conclusion, presence of antithyroid antibodies in euthyroid and antiphospholipid a...

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of blastocyst transfer in women with at least two previously unsuccessful in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) attempts. Methods Retrospective analysis of 238 couples (with previous implantation failures) had equal number (two) of cleavage-stage embryos (n =143) or blastocysts (n =95) transferred in the same IVF center.Results The clinical pregnancy rates and live-birth rates were similar in the cleavagestage embryo transfer group and the blastocyst group (35.6 % vs. 40 % and 32.1 % vs. 35.7 %; p >0.05, respectively). Miscarriage rates (9.8 % vs. 10.5 %) and multiple pregnancy rates (15.6 % vs. 23.6 %) did not differ. Although implantation rate was higher with blastocyst transfer than that with day 3 transfer, it did not reach to a statistical significance (24.7 % and 19 %, respectively, p >0.05). Conclusion Blastocyst transfer in ICSI cycles does not yield a better outcome than that obtained with cleavage-stage embryos in women who had unsuccessful IVF attempts previously.

Human endometrial stem cells (hESCs) are mesenchymal stem cells, which are responsible for the monthly renewal of the basal layer of the human endometrium by facilitating stromal and vascular regeneration. In this study, hESCs were isolated by using three different isolation methods including nonenzymatic and enzymatic digestion with trypsin and collagenase type 1. To determine the efficiency of these three methods, cells were characterized using a cell proliferation assay and mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cell markers. Our results demonstrate that although the nonenzymatic isolation method gave rise to hESCs that had a higher proliferative rate, the mesenchymal stem cell profiles for hESCs isolated with three methods were similar, with no significant difference for the early passages. However, late passage hESCs isolated using trypsin showed a CD31 high CD44 low profile. Similarly, when hESCs isolated with the nonenzymatic method were kept until late passage, they demonstrated a CD31 high profile with a significant decrease in CD90, CD73, CD44, and CD105 surface expression levels. Only hESCs isolated with collagenase type 1 did not present a significant shift in their mesenchymal CD marker profile from early to late passages, suggesting that the long-term maintenance of mesenchymal markers could only be achieved in cell isolation with collagenase type 1.