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Although polycystic ovary syndrome is the most common cause of female infertility, its etiology remains poorly understood. Here, the authors report a rat model that spontaneously exhibits the clinical heterogeneity of this syndrome and demonstrate that the phenotype is developmentally programmed.

Abstract Background PPOS protocols, initially described for FP in women with cancer, have many advantages compared to antagonist protocols. PPOS protocols were not evaluated for women with endometriosis. The objective of the study was to describe fertility preservation outcomes in women with endometriosis and to compare an antagonist protocol with a Progestin-Primed Ovarian Stimulation (PPOS) protocol. Method We conducted a prospective cohort study associated with a cost-effectiveness analysis in a tertiary-care university hospital. The measured outcomes included the numbers of retrieved and vitrified oocytes, and direct medical costs. In the whole population, unique and multiple linear regressions analysis were performed to search for a correlation between individual characteristics and the number of retrieved oocyte. Results We included 108 women with endometriosis who had a single stimulation cycle performed with either an antagonist or a PPOS protocol. Overall, 8.1 ± 6.6 oocytes were retrieved and 6.4 ± 5.6 oocytes vitrified per patient. In the multiple regression model, age (p = 0.001), prior ovarian surgery (p = 0.035), and anti-Mullerian hormone level (p = 0.001) were associated with the number of retrieved oocytes. Fifty-four women were stimulated with an antagonist protocol, and 54 with a PPOS protocol. A mean of 7.9 ± 7.4 oocytes were retrieved in the antagonist group and 8.2 ± 5.6 in the PPOS group (p = 0.78). A mean of 6.4 ± 6.4 oocytes were vitrified in the antagonist group and 6.4 ± 4.7 in the PPOS group (p = 1). In the cost-effectiveness analysis, the PPOS protocol was strongly dominant over the antagonist protocol. Conclusion Fertility preservation procedures are feasible and effective for patients affected by endometriosis. Antagonist and PPOS protocols were associated with similar results but the medico-economic analysis was in favor of PPOS protocols.

Abstract Background Blood coagulation plays a crucial role in the blastocyst implantation process and its alteration may be related to in vitro fertilization (IVF) failure. We conducted a prospective observational longitudinal study in women eligible for IVF to explore the association between alterations of coagulation with the IVF outcome and to identify the biomarkers of hypercoagulability which are related with this outcome. Methods Thirty-eight women eligible for IVF (IVF-group) and 30 healthy, age-matched women (control group) were included. In the IVF-group, blood was collected at baseline, 5–8 days after administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH), before and two weeks after administration of human follicular stimulating hormone (FSH). Pregnancy was monitored by measurement of βHCG performed 15 days after embryo transfer. Thrombin generation (TG), minimal tissue factor-triggered whole blood thromboelastometry (ROTEM®), procoagulant phospholipid clotting time (Procoag-PPL®), thrombomodulin (TMa), tissue factor activity (TFa), factor VIII (FVIII), factor von Willebrand (FvW), D-Dimers and fibrinogen were assessed at each time point. Results Positive IVF occurred in 15 women (40%). At baseline, the IVF-group showed significantly increased TG, TFa and TMa and significantly shorter Procoag-PPL versus the control group. After initiation of hormone treatment TG was significantly higher in the IVF-positive as compared to the IVF-negative group. At all studied points, the Procoag-PPL was significantly shorter and the levels of TFa were significantly higher in the IVF-negative group compared to the IVF-positive one. The D-Dimers were higher in the IVF negative as compared to IVF positive group. Multivariate analysis retained the Procoag-PPL and TG as predictors for the IVF outcome. Conclusions Diagnosis of women with hypercoagulability and their stratification to risk of IVF failure using a model based on the Procoag-PPL and TG is a feasible strategy for the optimization of IVF efficiency that needs to be validated in prospective trials.

Background: To evaluate the impact of the association of endometrioma with or without deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) after a first intra cytoplasmic sperm injection- in vitro fertilization (ICSI-IVF) cycle on pregnancy rate. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, women with endometrioma who underwent a first ICSI-IVF cycle from January 2007 to June 2010 were reviewed for pregnancy rate. The main outcome measure was the clinical pregnancy rate. A multiple logistic regression (MLR) was performed; including all variables that were correlated to the conception rate. Only independent factors of pregnancy rate were included in a Recursive Partitioning (RP) model. Results: The study population consisted of 104 patients (37 without DIE and 67 patients with associated DIE). Using multivariable analysis, a lower pregnancy rate was associated with the presence of DIE (OR=0.24 (95% CI: 0.085-0.7); p=0.009) and the use of ICSI (OR=0.23 (95% CI: 0.07-0.8); p=0.02). A higher pregnancy rate was associated with an anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) serum level over 1 ng/ml (OR=4.3 (95% CI: 1.1-19); p=0.049). A RP was built to predict pregnancy rate with good calibration [ROC AUC (95% CI) of 0.70 (0.65-0.75)]. Conclusion: Our data support that DIE associated with endometrioma in infertile patients has a negative impact on pregnancy rate after first ICSI-IVF cycle. Furthermore, our predictive model gives couples better information about the likelihood of conceiving.