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The construction of bioartificial livers, such as liver organoids, offers significant promise for disease modeling, drug development, and regenerative medicine. However, existing methods for generating liver organoids have limitations, including lengthy and complex processes (taking 6–8 weeks or longer), safety concerns associated with pluripotency, limited functionality of pluripotent stem cell‐derived hepatocytes, and small, highly variable sizes (typically ≈50–500 µm in diameter). Prolonged culture also leads to the formation of necrotic cores, further restricting size and function. In this study, a straightforward and time‐efficient approach is developed for creating rapid self‐assembly mini‐livers (RSALs) within 12 h. Additionally, primary hepatocytes are significantly expanded in vitro for use as seeding cells. RSALs exhibit consistent larger sizes (5.5 mm in diameter), improved cell viability (99%), and enhanced liver functionality. Notably, RSALs are functionally vascularized within 2 weeks post‐transplantation into the mesentery of mice. These authentic hepatocyte‐based RSALs effectively protect mice from 90%‐hepatectomy‐induced liver failure, demonstrating the potential of bioartificial liver‐based therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The clinical effect of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) on endometrial receptivity and embryo implantation remains unclear. Herein, we aim to investigate whether a COVID‐19 history adversely affect female pregnancy outcomes after frozen‐thawed embryo transfer (FET). This prospective cohort study enrolled 230 women who underwent FET cycles from December 2022 to April 2023 in an academic fertility center. Based on the history of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection before FET, women were divided into the infected group (n = 136) and the control group (n = 94). The primary outcome was the clinical pregnancy rate per cycle. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to adjust for potential confounders, while subgroup analysis and restricted cubic splines were used to depict the effect of postinfection time interval on FET. The results showed that the clinical pregnancy rate was 59.6% in the infected group and 63.9% in the control group (p = 0.513). Similarly, the two groups were comparable in the rates of biochemical pregnancy (69.1% vs. 76.6%; p = 0.214) and embryo implantation (51.7% vs. 54.5%; p = 0.628). After adjustment, the nonsignificant association remained between prior infection and clinical pregnancy (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.42–1.46). However, the odds for clinical pregnancy were significantly lower in the ≤30 days subgroup (OR = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.03–0.77), while no statistical significance was detected for 31–60 days and >60 days subgroups compared with the uninfected women. In conclusion, our findings suggested that SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in women had no significant effect on subsequent FET treatment overall, but pregnancy rates tended to be decreased if vitrified‐thawed embryos were transferred within 30 days after infection. A 1‐month postponement should be rationally recommended, while further studies with larger sample groups and longer follow‐up periods are warranted for confirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between prior coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) infection in females and subsequent treatment outcomes of assisted reproductive technology (ART). Methods: A systematic literature review was carried out up to 16 December 2022, in PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library. Random‐effect models were adopted to estimate the pooled effects as mean differences (MDs) or odds ratios (ORs). I2 statistic and Egger's test were applied to assess heterogeneity and publication bias, respectively. Results: After screening 1480 records, 15 cohort studies totalling 1905 cycles were included in this meta‐analysis. In a comparison of previously COVID‐19‐infected versus uninfected women, no significant differences were observed in the primary outcomes of the retrieved oocytes number (MD = 0.06; 95% confidence interval [CI]: ‐0.75–0.88; I2 = 0) and clinical pregnancy rate (OR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.74–1.24; I2 = 0). Pooled analyses of other predefined outcomes, which encompassed four cycle characteristics, six laboratory indicators and four pregnancy results, also showed no adverse effects of prior COVID‐19 infection. Most outcomes remained consistent after further sensitivity and subgroup analyses, and no significant publication bias was observed. Conclusions: Our work provides the first systematic evidence that COVID‐19 infection history in females may have no measurable detrimental impact on the subsequent ART cycle. More data are needed to assess the live birth outcome and the optimal time interval from infection to assisted reproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) vaccination on semen parameters through systematic review and meta‐analysis. PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were comprehensively searched by June 2022. Studies were considered eligible if they compared semen parameters before and after COVID‐19 vaccination or between vaccinated and unvaccinated men, with no restrictions on vaccine types or doses. The effect size was calculated as mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) using a random‐effects model. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the sources of heterogeneity measured by the I2 statistic, with publication bias evaluated by Egger's test. Twelve cohort studies involving 914 participants fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In a comparison of vaccinated versus unvaccinated group, the pooled data revealed no significant differences in semen volume (MD = 0.18 ml, 95% CI −0.02 to 0.38), sperm concentration (MD = 1.16 million/ml, 95% CI −1.34 to 3.66), total sperm motility (MD = −0.14%, 95% CI −2.84 to 2.56), progressive sperm motility (MD = −1.06%, 95% CI −2.88 to 0.77), total sperm count (MD = 5.92 million, 95% CI −10.22 to 22.05), total motile sperm count (MD = 2.18 million, 95% CI −1.28 to 5.63), total progressively motile sperm count (MD = −3.87 million, 95% CI −13.16 to 5.43), and sperm morphology (MD = 0.07%, 95% CI −0.84 to 0.97). The results also remained similar across messenger ribonucleic acid, viral‐vector, and inactivated COVID‐19 vaccines. Sensitivity analysis identified two individual studies that contributed to heterogeneity, while the effect size was not materially altered. No obvious publication bias was detected among included studies. Our finding suggested that COVID‐19 vaccination had no detrimental impact on semen quality, which could be potentially helpful to reduce male vaccine hesitancy and increase vaccination coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The association between the mode of previous delivery and subsequent success of assisted reproductive treatment has been poorly understood. By mitigating the detrimental effect of supraphysiologic estradiol levels on endometrial receptivity, a freeze-all strategy provides a novel model to investigate the sole impact of a prior cesarean delivery (CD) on embryo transfer outcomes.Material and Methods: This single-center retrospective cohort study included 2660 patients who underwent their first frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles after a freeze-all policy from January 2013 to December 2018. Patients with a history of live birth by CD were assigned to the CD group, and those with only vaginal delivery (VD) were categorized into the VD group. The primary outcome measure was live birth. Baseline characteristics of the two groups were balanced by propensity score matching in a ratio of 1:1. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using the after-matching data.Results: Compared with the VD group, the rates of clinical pregnancy (38.3% vs 44.5%; P = .005) and live birth (27.5% vs 33.4%; P = .003) were significantly lower in women with a history of CD. When adjusted for a number of major confounding factors, the negative association between a prior CD and frozen-thawed embryo transfer success was maintained, with the adjusted odds ratio (OR) being 0.80 (95% CI 0.66-0.96) and 0.78 (95% CI 0.63-0.95) for clinical pregnancy and live birth, respectively. Furthermore, a CD history conferred a marginally increased risk of early miscarriage (crude OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.04-2.11; adjusted OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.01-2.14), whereas the odds of multiple and ectopic pregnancy did not show significant differences before and after adjustment.Conclusions: A prior CD was associated with a decreased chance of live birth and an increased risk of early miscarriage in frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We read with great interest the recent study by Moon et al.,[1] which demonstrated no significant differences in the delivery outcomes of pregnant women in a set of acupuncture and control groups. As a result of the potential adverse effects of these disorders on pregnancy outcomes,[2] a direct comparison between these two populations could be affected by the patient characteristics and so fail to fully reflect the effects of the acupuncture treatment itself. Given the benefits of acupuncture on maternal symptoms, a comprehensive safety validation for neonates would further promote the widespread use of this complementary therapy. [Extracted from the article]