Predictive factors of early moderate/severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in non-polycystic ovarian syndrome patients: a statistical model

Purpose: To evaluate demographic, medical history and clinical cycle characteristics of infertile non-polycystic ovary syndrome (NPCOS) women with the purpose of investigating their associations with the prevalence of moderate-to-severe OHSS. Methods: In this retrospective study, among 7073 in vitro fertilization and/or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) cycles, 86 cases of NPCO patients who developed moderate-to-severe OHSS while being treated with IVF/ICSI cycles were analyzed during the period of January 2008 to December 2010 at Royan Institute. To review the OHSS risk factors, 172 NPCOS patients without developing OHSS, treated at the same period of time, were selected randomly by computer as control group. We used multiple logistic regression in a backward manner to build a prediction model. Results: The regression analysis revealed that the variables, including age odds ratio (OR) 0.9, confidence interval (CI) 0.81�0.99, antral follicles count (OR 4.3, CI 2.7�6.9), infertility cause (tubal factor, OR 11.5, CI 1.1�51.3), hypothyroidism (OR 3.8, CI 1.5�9.4) and positive history of ovarian surgery (OR 0.2, CI 0.05�0.9) were the most important predictors of OHSS. The regression model had an area under curve of 0.94, presenting an allowable discriminative performance that was equal with two strong predictive variables, including the number of follicles and serum estradiol level on human chorionic gonadotropin day. Conclusion(s): The predictive regression model based on primary characteristics of NPCOS patients had equal specificity in comparison with two mentioned strong predictive variables. Therefore, it may be beneficial to apply this model before the beginning of ovarian stimulation protocol. © 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Determination of hepatitis B surface antibody and gamma interferon responsiveness in vaccinated personnel reffered to a health network in Dashte-e Azadegan (Khozestan province)

Background: Among the preventing measures for hepatitis B is vaccination against the virus. This study aimed to determine the antibody level against the hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) and its relation to interferon gamma (IFN-γ) level among the vaccinated staffs and also the reasons for the lack of response in such persons. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on vaccinated staff (n=130) referred to Shahid Chamran Hospital. Using ELISA the samples were studied for anti-HBsAb and INF-γ level. Then, the relationship between antibody level and some indexes (e.g. sex, age, BMI, number of vaccine doses, time past after the last dose and INF-γ level) was considered. Results: Among the studied participants, 68.5 and 31.5 had a perfect and failure of immunity response (>10 IU/ml and <10 IU/ml, respectively). There was a direct relationship between the INF-γ and anti-HBs titration (R=0.635). In addition, there was a significant relationship (P<0.05) between anti-HBs titer and some indexes (e.g. BMI, the number of doses and the time interval since the last dose of vaccine); however, no significant relationship was observed between the sex and age on one hand and antibody titration on the other hand. Conclusion: Failure in INF-γ production against the virus can have a role in immunity response. Hence, measuring the anti-HBs level following the vaccination and also 5 years after are suggested for high risk cases; then, upon which a decision can be made on the reminder dosage

Comparison of the symptoms and localisation of endometriosis involvement according to fertility status of endometriosis patients

This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence of endometriosis in women who were referred for Diagnostic Laparoscopy Unit due to infertility or pelvic pain between January 2012 and January 2013 and compare the symptoms and laparoscopic signs among the three groups according to the fertility status. Four hundred and thirteen women were evaluated; of these, 383 patients for infertility and 30 patients for pelvic pain and/or cyst. Endometriosis symptoms were compared between fertile and infertile women with primary and secondary infertility. There was no statistically significant difference in the overall prevalence of endometriosis between the three study groups (52.9, 45 and 40.7, respectively, in primary, secondary infertile and fertile women). The endometriosis stage was categorised as early- (I and II) or late- (III and IV) stages and the extent of endometriosis was divided into peritoneal, ovarian and ovarian coexisting with peritoneal. There is no relationship between the frequency of dysmenorrhoea or non-cyclic pelvic pain and the disease stage; although these pain symptoms are significantly more prevalent in cases with both ovarian and peritoneal endometriotic implants. Infertility was more prevalent among the patients with peritoneal endometriosis in comparison to the ones with ovarian endometriosis. Further studies with a larger sample size are required to confirm these findings.Impact statementWhat is already known on this subject? Few studies have been done in this area and only one study compared the localisation of endometriosis lesions between fertile and infertile endometriosis cases; however, more study is needed to confirm their results. What the results of this study add? A possible relationship between localisation of endometriosis involvement and infertility was found in the present study in agreement to result of a previous study performance in this area. Although the present study includes a greater number of cases than that of the previous reported study, further studies with a larger sample size are required for the confirmation or refusal of this finding. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? The results of this study could have clinical application in the consultation and decision-making in infertile women with an endometriosis diagnosis. © 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Phenotypic and Genotypic Analysis of the Population of Phytophthora infestans in Bangladesh Between 2014 and 2019

In Bangladesh, the third largest producer of potatoes in Asia, late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans, is the major constraint to production. Nevertheless, there is a lack of published information on the pathogen population. A collection of 69 isolates obtained from samples of infected potato foliage collected in 2018–2019 varied significantly in their aggressiveness to detached potato leaflets and tuber slices of cv. Diamant. On leaflets, most isolates were highly aggressive, colonizing more than half the surface in 7 days. On tuber slices, while some isolates were highly aggressive, those collected in 2019 were less so. There was a significant effect of the locations from which the isolates were obtained on aggressiveness to both leaflets and tuber slices, but aggressiveness to leaflets and to tuber slices was not significantly correlated. All isolates were A2 mating type and either intermediate (38%) or resistant (62%) in sensitivity to the fungicide metalaxyl. A subset of 24 isolates all had mitochondrial DNA haplotype Ia. Samples of P. infestans DNA (124) from infected potato foliage obtained from Bangladesh (2014–2019) were genotyped by 12-plex SSR. The vast majority (95%) were assigned to EU_13_A2, which was present in every year in which samples were collected. Numerous EU_13_A2 variants were identified, many specific to Bangladesh. Six samples (from 2017 to 2019) had genotypes distinct from EU_13_A2 and with no close match to known European lineages. It is concluded that the current P. infestans population of Bangladesh is dominated by the aggressive lineage EU_13_A2, also dominant in India and Pakistan. The implications of this for control of late blight are discussed