No abstract

Our findings suggest that endometrium of women with dormant GTB is associated with poor receptivity, as evidenced by reduced receptivity markers and aberrant LIF-STAT3 signaling. In vitro treatment of hESC with HSP65 also confirms compromised endometrial decidualization.

Pregnancy represents an integrated orchestration of physiological processes in order to establish systemic, neuroendocrine and immunological harmony facilitating the semi-allogenic fetal growth in the maternal entity. According to the cytokine profile alterations in immune mediation of pregnancy, the later can be demarcated into three phases. The first immune phase of pregnancy, being dominated by pro-inflammatory cytokines, suffers from inflammatory propagations to enable successful implantation. In the second phase, a probable shift from pro-inflammatory Th1 cytokines to anti-inflammatory Th2 cytokines establishes symbiotic existence of fetal with maternal components ensuring robust fetal development. The final immune phase of pregnancy is again characterized by induction of inflammatory and cytolytic cytokines reinforcing inflammatory scenario to facilitate parturition. The present article, thus, compartmentalizes and simplifies the concept of immune regulation of pregnancy based on the panoply of activated cytokines.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) involves a complex pathogenesis and with the evolving novel variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the long-term impacts of the unceasing COVID-19 pandemic are mostly uncertain. Evidence indicates deleterious impact of this disease upon male reproductive health. It is concerning that COVID-19 may contribute to the already global declining trend of male fertility. The adverse impacts of COVID-19 on male reproduction may primarily be attributed to the induction of systemic inflammatory responses and oxidative stress (OS), which operate as a vicious loop. Bringing the systemic inflammation to a halt is critical for ‘putting out’ the ‘cytokine storm’ induced by excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. The possibility of OS playing a prime role in COVID-19-mediated male reproductive dysfunctions has led to the advocacy of antioxidant therapy. An array of antioxidant defense medications has shown to be effective in experimental and clinical studies of COVID-19. The present review thus discusses the possibilities as to whether antioxidant drugs would contribute to combating the SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced male reproductive disruptions, thereby aiming at kindling research ideas that are needed for identification and treatment of COVID-19-mediated male reproductive impairments.