14 research outputs found
Does Maternal Underweight Prior to Conception Influence Pregnancy Risks and Outcome?
While obesity in pregnancy and pregnancy outcome in obese women are subjects of diverse research in recent publications, it is remarkable that the data for pregnancy outcome in pre-conceptional underweight mothers is extremely limited. Apart from an increasing prevalence of obesity, however, the prevalence for underweight in distinct sub-groups of mothers is also increasing. In contrary to obesity, less people are affected by underweight in Europe. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies human weight into different categories (1). A body mass index (BMI) less than 18.5 kg/m 2 is defined as underweight. In Germany, the incidence of underweight in women is low with a nationwide prevalence of 3% (2). Especially in young women in certain social groups, an anorectic model-like weight is the ideal of beauty and a lot of cases of underweight in women of childbearing age are due to eating disorders (3). The lifetime incidence of eating disorders in young women of childbearing age is 5.2-6.5 % (4). While obesity is a frequently encountered problem in pregnant women with multiple complications during pregnancy and delivery (5-16), data on pregnant women with underweight or anorexia are scarce Because of hormonal disorders due to anorexia, underweight women often have menstrual irregularities leading to amenorrhea and infertility. Disorders in hypothalamic-hypophysis functions result in hypogonadotrope anovulatory cycle
Elaborations on Corallopyronin A as a Novel Treatment Strategy Against Genital Chlamydial Infections
Ascending Chlamydia trachomatis infection causes functional damage to the fallopian tubes, which may lead to ectopic pregnancy and infertility in women. Treatment failures using the standard regimens of doxycycline and azithromycin have been observed. We tested the polyketide-derived α-pyrone antibiotic Corallopyronin A (CorA) that inhibits the bacterial DNA dependent RNA polymerase and has strong activity against various extracellular and some intracellular bacteria. Extensive testing in cell culture infection models and in an ex vivo human fallopian tube model under different oxygen concentrations was performed to assess the anti-chlamydial efficacy of CorA at physiological conditions. CorA showed high efficacy against C. trachomatis (MICN/H: 0.5 μg/mL for serovar D and L2), C. muridarum (MICN/H: 0.5 μg/mL), and C. pneumoniae (MICN/H: 1 μg/mL) under normoxic (N) and hypoxic (H) conditions. Recoverable inclusion forming units were significantly lower already at 0.25 μg/mL for all tested chlamydiae. CorA at a concentration of 1 μg/mL was also effective against already established C. trachomatis and C. pneumoniae infections (up to 24 h.p.i.) in epithelial cells, while efficacy against C. muridarum was limited to earlier time points. A preliminary study using a C. muridarum genital infection model revealed corresponding limitations in the efficacy. Importantly, in an ex vivo human fallopian tube model, the growth of C. trachomatis was significantly inhibited by CorA at concentrations of 1–2 μg/mL under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The overall high efficacies of CorA against C. trachomatis in cell culture and an ex vivo human fallopian tube model under physiological oxygen concentrations qualifies this drug as a candidate that should be further investigated
PSMD9 expression correlates with recurrence after radiotherapy in patients with cervical cancer
Microbiota-based analysis reveals specific bacterial traits and a novel strategy for the diagnosis of infectious infertility
<div><p>Tubal factor infertility (TFI) accounts for more than 30% of the cases of female infertility and mostly resides from an inflammatory process triggered by an infection. Clinical appearances largely differ, and very often infections are not recognized or remain completely asymptomatic over time. Here, we characterized the microbial pattern in females diagnosed with infectious infertility (ININF) in comparison to females with non-infectious infertility (nININF), female sex workers (FSW) and healthy controls (fertile). Females diagnosed with infectious infertility differed significantly in the seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against the <i>C</i>. <i>trachomatis</i> proteins MOMP, OMP2, CPAF and HSP60 when compared to fertile females. Microbiota analysis using 16S amplicon sequencing of cervical swabs revealed significant differences between ININF and fertile controls in the relative read count of <i>Gardnerella</i> (10.08% <i>vs</i>. 5.43%). Alpha diversity varies among groups, which are characterized by community state types including <i>Lactobacillus</i>-dominated communities in fertile females, an increase in diversity in all the other groups and <i>Gardnerella</i>-dominated communities occurring more often in ININF. While all single parameters did not allow predicting infections as the cause of infertility, including <i>C</i>. <i>trachomatis</i> IgG/IgA status together with 16S rRNA gene analysis of the ten most frequent taxa a total of 93.8% of the females were correctly classified. Further studies are needed to unravel the impact of the cervical microbiota in the pathogenesis of infectious infertility and its potential for identifying females at risk earlier in life.</p></div
Metagenomic analysis using PICRUSt prediction of the metagenome based on normalized 16S rRNA gene sequences.
<p>Complete linkage clustering of samples based on predicted metagenomes and assignment of CSTs and study groups. The predicted metagenome clustering shows high concordance with the CST assignment. Lcr: <i>L</i>. <i>crispatus</i>-dominated CST; Lin: <i>L</i>. <i>iners</i>-dominated CST; Lga: <i>L</i>. <i>gasseri</i>-dominated CST; Gva: <i>G</i>. <i>vaginalis</i>-dominated CST; div: diverse communities. nININF: Non-infectious infertility; ININF: Infectious infertility; FSW: Female sex worker.</p
Average relative read count of bacteria and bacterial diversity differ between the study groups.
<p>The relative read count of genera in each study group is displayed (A). Genera are shown if they account for a minimum of one percent in at least one of the groups. An overview of statistical comparisons among taxa can be found in the <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0191047#pone.0191047.s005" target="_blank">S1 Table</a>. The diversity of each sample was calculated using Simpson´s diversity index and plotted according to the study groups (B; Wilcoxon rank-sum test with Hochberg correction: ***p<0.001). nININF: Non-infectious infertility; ININF: Infectious infertility; FSW: Female sex worker.</p
Self-reported questionnaire on previous infections.
<p>Including human Papillomavirus (HPV), <i>N</i>. <i>gonorrhoeae</i>, Herpes simplex virus (HSV), <i>Treponema pallidum</i>, Hepatitis B/C and HIV (Fisher´s exact test: *p<0.05, **p<0.01).</p
Results of the diagnostic testing for sexually transmitted infections.
<p>Diagnostics were performed by PCR (A) and conventional bacterial culture (B) from cervical swabs. Serological testing was apllied for IgG (C) and IgA (D) antibodies targeting different epitopes (MOMP, OMP2, TARP, CPAF and HSP60) of <i>C</i>. <i>trachomatis</i> (Fisher´s exact test: *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001). GBS: Group B <i>Streptococcus</i>.</p