A Pilot Study on Biochemical Profile of Follicular Fluid in Breast Cancer Patients

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common type of cancer among women in almost all countries worldwide and is one of the oncological pathologies for which is indicated fertility preservation, a type of procedure used to help keep a person's ability to have children. Follicular fluid (FF) is a major component of oocyte microenvironment, which is involved in oocyte growth, follicular maturation, and in communication between germ and somatic cells; furthermore, it accumulates all metabolites during oocytes growth. To obtain information about changes on fertility due to cancer, we aimed at investigating potential biomarkers to discriminate between FF samples obtained from 16 BC patients and 10 healthy women undergoing in vitro fertilization treatments. An NMR-based metabolomics approach was performed to investigate the FF metabolic profiles; ELISA and western blotting assays were used to investigate protein markers of oxidative and inflammatory stress, which are processes closely related to cancer. Our results seem to suggest that FFs of BC women display some significant metabolic alterations in comparison to healthy controls, and these variations are also related with tumor staging

Are the Follicular Fluid Characteristics of Recovered Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients Different From Those of Vaccinated Women Approaching in vitro Fertilization?

The aim of this pilot study is to evaluate if SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection induce observable metabolic effects in follicular fluid of women who are following in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments. The possible impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on fertility and IVF outcome is considered. We have selected for this study: six women vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 infection, five recovered COVID-19 patients, and we used nine healthy women as the control group. At the time of oocytes retrieval from participants in the study, follicular fluids were collected and metabolomic analysis was performed by 1H NMR spectroscopy in combination with multivariate analysis to interpret the spectral data. The search for antibody positivity in the follicular fluid aspirates was also carried out, together with the western blotting analysis of some inflammatory proteins, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), and the free radical scavenger superoxide dismutase 2. Higher levels of Ala and Pro together with lower levels of lipids and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) were found in follicular fluids (FFs) of vaccinated women while lower levels of many metabolites were detected in FFs of recovered COVID patients. Expression level of TNF-α was significantly lower both in recovered COVID-19 patients and vaccinated women in comparison to healthy controls

Redox Balance and Inflammatory Response in Follicular Fluids of Women Recovered by SARS-CoV-2 Infection or Anti-COVID-19 Vaccinated: A Combined Metabolomics and Biochemical Study

To date, not many studies have presented evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infecting the female reproductive system. Furthermore, so far, no effect of the administration of anti-COVID 19 vaccines has been reported to affect the quality of oocytes retrieved from women who resorted to assisted reproduction technology (ART). The FF metabolic profiles of women who had been infected by SARS-CoV-2 before IVF treatments or after COVID-19 vaccination were examined by 1H NMR. Immunochemical characterization of proteins and cytokines involved in the redox and inflammatory pathways was performed. The increased expression of SOD2 and NQO1, the lack of alteration of IL-6 and CXCL10 levels, as well as the increased expression of CD39, suggested that, both sharing similar molecular mechanisms or proceeding along different routes, the redox balance is controlled in the FF of both vaccinated and recovered women compared to controls. The lower amount of metabolites known to have proinflammatory activity, i.e., TMAO and lipids, further supported the biochemical results, suggesting that the FF microenvironment is controlled so as to guarantee oocyte quality and does not compromise the outcome of ART. In terms of the number of blastocysts obtained after ICSI and the pregnancy rate, the results are also comforting

Fertility specialists’ views, behavior, and attitudes towards the use of endometrial scratching in Italy

Background: Endometrial scratching (ES) or injury is intentional damage to the endometrium performed to improve reproductive outcomes for infertile women desiring pregnancy. Moreover, recent systematic reviews with meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials demonstrated that ES is not effective, data on the safety are limited, and it should not be recommended in clinical practice. The aim of the current study was to assess the view and behavior towards ES among fertility specialists throughout infertility centers in Italy, and the relationship between these views and the attitudes towards the use of ES as an add-on in their commercial setting. Methods: Online survey among infertility centers, affiliated to Italian Society of Human Reproduction (SIRU), was performed using a detailed questionnaire including 45 questions with the possibility to give "closed" multi-choice answers for 41 items and "open" answers for 4 items. Online data from the websites of the infertility centers resulting in affiliation with the specialists were also recorded and analyzed. The quality of information about ES given on infertility centers websites was assessed using a scoring matrix including 10 specific questions (scored from 0 to 2 points), and the possible scores ranged from 0 to 13 points ('excellent' if the score was 9 points or more, 'moderate' if the score was between 5 and 8, and 'poor' if it was 4 points or less). Results: The response rate was of 60.6% (43 questionnaires / 71 infertility SIRU-affiliated centers). All included questionnaires were completed in their entirety. Most physicians (~ 70%) reported to offer ES to less than 10% of their patients. The procedure is mainly performed in the secretory phase (69.2%) using pipelle (61.5%), and usually in medical ambulatory (56.4%) before IVF cycles to improve implantation (71.8%) without drugs administration (e.g., pain drugs, antibiotics, anti-hemorrhagics, or others) before (76.8%) or after (64.1%) the procedure. Only a little proportion of infertility centers included in the analysis proposes formally the ES as an add-on procedure (9.3%), even if, when proposed, the full description of the indications, efficacy, safety, and costs is never addressed. However, the overall information quality of the websites was generally "poor" ranging from 3 to 8 and having a low total score (4.7 ± 1.6; mean ± standard deviation). Conclusions: In Italy, ES is a procedure still performed among fertility specialists for improving the implantation rate in IVF patients. Moreover, they have a poor attitude in proposing ES as an add-on in the commercial setting

Storia di un prologo. Edizioni e origini della Yngsta Inledningen

Il libro offre una nuova edizione critica della Yngsta Inledningen svedese, accompagnata da un’edizione sinottica della stessa e da un approfondimento di carattere storico-culturale sul periodo in cui l’opera si colloca (fine XV — inizi XVI secolo). La Yngsta Inledningen è il prologo della Yngsta Rimkrönikan ed è la riscrittura di un altro prologo di qualche anno precedente (Nya Början), a sua volta composto per sostituire il prologo originale della Erikskrönikan quando a essa fu dato un nuovo seguito. Si tratta di un documento di notevole rilevanza linguistica e culturale: grazie alle sue riscritture, il Prologo permette di osservare l’evoluzione della lingua svedese e di riflettere sulla funzione che la letteratura storiografica ha avuto nella Svezia del tempo

Dalla cronaca in rima al dramma storico. Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson e la riscrittura di un’identità

This paper examines the figure of Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson in Swedish literature, from the late Middle Ages to the 20th century. Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson (1390 - 1436) was a Swedish nobleman from Dalarna County, who played a prominent role in Swedish history during the Kalmar Union. The Union ended in 1523, after a long process of decay which had started in 1434, when Engelbrekt led a revolt against the Danish king Erik of Pomerania. Engelbrekt was assassinated in 1434. Soon after his death, he was celebrated as a hero in a rhymed chronicle, which was commissioned to narrate the events of the time. The chronicle contributed to create the myth of Engelbrekt, henceforth hailed as a hero and saint. In the following centuries, the enthusiasm about Engelbrekt died down, and he was almost forgotten. His popularity revived only in the 19th century, when he was romantically celebrated as a national hero and a symbol of Swedish identity. Engelbrekt became the inspiring motif of numerous literary works, such as the pièce Engelbrekt (1901) by August Strindberg, which emphasizes the crucial role of this character for the definition of the identity of the Swedish nation

Bergtagning: la leggenda del rapimento nella montagna nelle ballate e nei racconti popolari svedesi

Il termine svedese bergtagning significa ‘rapimento nella montagna’ e indica un credo popolare la cui prima testimonianza letteraria risale a un carme scaldico del XII secolo. Secondo la leggenda, la montagna poteva magicamente catturare e chiudere al suo interno le persone che vagavano nelle foreste, tenendole prigioniere per sempre o talvolta liberandole, ma in uno stato mentale profondamente mutato. Il motivo è argomento di racconti popolari, registrati nelle campagne svedesi nel XIX secolo; ricorre anche in numerose ballate scritte nel XIX secolo ma appartenenti a un’antica tradizione orale risalente al Medioevo. Il motivo del rapimento nella montagna ha avuto una vasta eco nella cultura nordica, dal Medioevo fino ai nostri giorni; riferimenti all’anticocredo sono inoltre presenti anche in opere moderne. In questo articolo si analizza il mito così come appare in alcuni dei contesti in cui ricorre: racconti popolari e ballate medievali, e, per meglio comprenderne il radicamento nella cultura popolare, nella poesia scaldica e nelle saghe norrene.The Swedish term bergtagning means ‘abduction into the mountain’andindicates a popular belief, whose first literary evidence is in a skaldic poem dating back to the 12thcentury. According to the legend, the mountain could magically abduct people who were wandering among woods, keeping them prisoner forever or setting them free in a deeply changed state of mind. This motif is the subject of many oral folk tales, recorded in rural areas of Sweden during the 19thcentury, and it also recurs in several ballads written in the 19thbut belonging to ancient oral traditions that date back to the Middle Ages. The bergtagning motif is deeply rooted in the popular culture; references and allusions to ancient lore occur in numerous literary works even in modern times. This article aims to analyse how the phenomenon is described in some of the contexts in which it occurs: folk tales and medieval ballads, and, in order to understand its roots in popular culture, in Norse sagas and skaldic poetry