Ectopic Fat Depots and Cardiometabolic Burden: A Possible Dangerous Liaison in Women Planning Assisted Reproduction

Objective: We evaluated cardiometabolic burden in women planning assisted reproduction in order to identify subgroups at higher risk of pregnancy complications and cardiovascular disease. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study we investigated 60 infertile women with BMI≥25 kg/m(2) referred to the Center for Assisted Reproduction. All women underwent metabolic, anthropometric parameters and ultrasound evaluation of ectopic fat depots. Results: All women had waist ≥80 cm. We found that 93.3% of women had pathological subcutaneous, 58.3% visceral and 80% para-perirenal fat; all women had fatty liver. Visceral fat and severity of steatosis were significantly related to the presence of metabolic syndrome (OR =5.7; p=0.03).A significant negative correlation between low HDL-c and para-perirenal fat (p<0.0001), a significant positive correlation with fasting plasma glucose and para-perirenal fat (p=0.001) were found. We observed a significant positive correlation between visceral fat and hs-CRP (p=0.002), HOMA-IR (p=0.04) and triglycerides (p=0.002), a significant negative correlation with HDL-c (p=0.05). Conclusion: This study by highlighting a clinically “dangerous liaison” between ectopic fat depots and metabolic/inflammatory markers, might permit to identify women with a worse metabolic phenotype and encourage lifestyle changes for improving their general and reproductive health together

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Women's Health and Obstetric Outcomes after Assisted Reproduction: A Survey from an Italian Fertility Center

Background: the restrictive measures that were adopted during three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on both the emotional state and lifestyle of the general population. We evaluated the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyles and emotional states of women planning assisted reproductive technology (ART), and whether these changes affected ART outcomes. Methods: quantitative research, using a web-based survey, was performed on 289 Caucasian women. Results: In preconception, we observed higher percentage of women with positive obstetric outcomes who reduced body weight (52.4% vs. 27.2%, p = 0.09). Over 60% of women with positive outcomes practiced physical activity vs. 47% of women with negative outcomes (p = 0.03), as well as having better quality of sleep (45% vs. 35%), and a more solid relationships with their partners (65.1% vs. 51.7%, p = 0.03). Women who increased their intake of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes (p &lt; 0.05), according to the Mediterranean diet, showed positive outcomes. We observed that participants who experienced &ldquo;very much&rdquo; or &ldquo;extreme&rdquo; anxiety, sadness, and fear (p &lt; 0.05) during pandemic were clearly more numerous in the group with negative pregnancy outcomes. Conclusions: healthy lifestyle together with a positive emotional state in preconception can positively influence the obstetric outcomes after ART

Factors VIII and Von Willebrand Levels in Women Undergoing Assisted Reproduction: Are Their Levels Associated with Clinical Pregnancy Outcome?

A growing number of infertile women are considering pregnancy through assisted reproductive technologies; hormonal fertility treatment is associated with a procoagulant milieu. In oocyte donation Assisted Reproductive Technologies there are patients who experience repeated implantation failures, as well as biochemical pregnancy, in particular in women at advanced age (>40 yrs). No information is available concerning coagulation changes in women undergoing oocyte donation. In this study, we decided to identify changes in haemostasis in women undergoing infertility treatment and their relationship with clinical pregnancy outcome.  Our findings evidence an early increase of FVIII and VWF coagulation proteins, suggesting their potential role as early “predictors” of a successful clinical pregnancy in oocyte donation women. This may be intriguing for exploring potential mechanisms responsible for the establishment of a successful pregnancy after oocyte donation

Improvement in ACE I/D polymorphism detection

The ACE I/D polymorphism has been reported to influence predisposition to cardiovascular disease. Conflicting results in its detection may be due to mistyping of I/D genotypes as D/D genotypes occurring in the traditional genotyping method. In order to resolve mistyping troubles and to permit a rapid and accurate analysis, we performed a stepdown PCR reaction followed by detection using Nanogen technology, and we compared these results with those obtained from traditional genotyping methods, such as conventional and confirmatory PCR. The Nanogen stepdown method showed a 100% sensitivity and 99.6% specificity, when compared with the confirmatory PCR. Our experiments provide evidence that, by using the Nanogen stepdown method, the DD mistyping was markedly decreased, thus representing a useful tool suitable for performing large-scale screening or research