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Departamento de Reproducción Animal​., The guinea pig is an important meat production species in South America and a valuable animal model for the study of reproduction in humans and mammals. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) in this species is poorly developed mainly because of the limited accessibility to homologous (Ho) oocytes outside of South America. Thus, heterologous (He) IVF represents an alternative to improve the procedure. We aimed to evaluate the fertilising capacity of guinea pig sperm using two capacitation protocols in He IVF with murine oocytes. Spermatozoa were collected from the vas deferens of three guinea pigs and processed separately using two protocols: (A) spermatozoa were isolated by flushing the lumen of the vas deferens with 2 mL of 0.15 m NaCl and the sperm suspension was washed twice by centrifugation at 600 × g for 3 min and then incubated in minimal culture medium with 0.25 mM Na-pyruvate, 20.0 mM Na-lactate, and 5.56 mM glucose (MCM-PLG), during 2 h at 5% CO2 and 37°C; (B) the vas deferens was gently minced with fine scissors and spermatozoa suspended in 500 μL of HTF medium supplemented with 1% bopvine serum albumin (BSA), and incubated for 1 h at 5% CO2 and 37°C. Zona-intact murine oocytes collected from superovulated female mice were used for He IVF with spermatozoa capacitated through protocol A (HeA, n = 285) or B (HeB, n = 296) into drops of 500 µL of MCM-PLG with 2.7 mM KCl and 0.3% BSA or HTF medium, respectively. In parallel, Ho IVF (n = 243) and parthenogenesis (non-fertilised oocytes, n = 75) was performed in HTF medium. In vitro-matured oocytes were co-incubated for 5 h with 1 × 106 spermatozoa mL−1 and then presumptive zygotes or (parthenogenetic) oocytes were cultured in KSOM medium at 37°C and 5% CO2 to complete a total of 48 h of incubation. Sperm-oocyte interaction was assessed at 2.5 h post-insemination (hpi) by evaluating the number of bound spermatozoa. Presumptive zygotes were fixed and stained with Hoechst at 6, 18, and 22 hpi to assess polyspermy and pronuclear formation (PrF) by widefield fluorescence microscope with structured illumination. Cleavage rate was evaluated at 24 and 48 hpi. Data obtained from three replicates were analysed using one-way ANOVA. The number of bound sperm was similar between groups (Ho = 0.9 ± 0.1; HeA = 0.8 ± 0.1; HeB = 0.8 ± 0.1). No differences were seen in PrF at any time point (ranged from 24.4 ± 0.6 to 25.1 ± 0.9%) or cleavage rate between HeA or HeB IVF at 24 hpi (25.6 ± 0.9 and 25.7 ± 2.9%, respectively) or 48 hpi (24.2 ± 1.7 and 25.0 ± 1.3%). Homologous IVF was associated with higher percentages of PrF at 6 hpi (79.8 ± 2.1%) compared to HeA (24.4 ± 0.6%) and HeB (25.1 ± 0.9) IVF, and no polyspermy was detected. As expected, the cleavage rate at 24 or 48 hpi was higher (P < 0.05) in Ho (80.8 ± 0.9 and 81.4 ± 1.0, respectively) than He IVF. In addition, spontaneous parthenogenetic activation in mature unfertilised oocytes from mice at 24 and 48 hpi was observed (1.9 ± 1.9 and 2.6 ± 2.6%, respectively). In conclusion, He IVF is a promising method to assess the fertilising ability of guinea pig spermatozoa obtained from epididymis, revealing their ability to penetrate zona-intact murine oocytes, leading to hybrid embryo formation.

Disruption of normal intrauterine brain development is a significant consequence of premature birth and may lead to serious complications, such as neonatal brain injury (NBI). This prospective case-control longitudinal study aimed at determining the levels and prognostic value of serum activin A during the first three days of life in human premature neonates which later developed NBI. It was conducted in a single tertiary hospital and eligible participants were live-born premature (

The impact of physical exercise, as preventative measure, to control the progression of cardiovascular disease in midlife remains under investigation. We aimed to investigate the effect of different levels of intensity of physical activity on metabolic and vascular profile in healthy postmenopausal women. A total of 625 healthy postmenopausal women (mean age 57.7 ± 7.6 years) were evaluated using the short IPAQ questionnaire for quantification of physical activity. The energy expenditure was estimated in metabolic equivalent of energy (MET) hours per week. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured as an index of arterial stiffness. Intima-media thickness of both right and left common carotid artery, carotid bulb and internal carotid artery, and combined carotid IMT were also assessed by non-invasive and well-validated methods. Mean values of PWV decreased linearly with increasing intensity of physical activity (classes of physical activity: sedentary vs walking vs moderate vs vigorous activity: 9.07 ± 1.22 m/s vs 9.12 ± 1.72 m/s vs 8.47 ± 1.31m/s vs 7.94 ± 0.40 m/s, ANOVA P for linear trend.003). In non-obese postmenopausal women, PWV values associated with: (a) the total number of METs (b-coefficient = −0.261, P =.002) as well as with SBP; (b) or with the number of moderate METs (b-coefficient = −0.192, P =.025) as well as with age and SBP. No significant associations were observed between the intensity of physical exercise and arterial stiffness in the overweight-obese group. Physical activity is negatively associated with arterial stiffness in postmenopausal women with normal weight. This association was not observed in overweight or obese women. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC

Background: Neonatal brain injury (NBI) is a serious adverse outcome in premature neonates. We sought to determine the levels and prognostic value of serum S100B during the first three days of life in premature neonates (

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), which is secreted by granulosa cells of late preantral and small antral follicles, is a marker of ovarian reserve. The association of ovarian reserve with subclinical atherosclerosis in women of reproductive age is currently unknown. We primary investigated whether AMH levels are associated with markers of subclinical atherosclerosis in healthy, normally menstruating women. In this cross-sectional study, vascular structure and function were assessed by measurement of carotid and femoral intima–media thickness (IMT), flow-mediated dilation, carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity and augmentation index. Lipid profile and serum AMH concentrations were also measured. Seventy premenopausal women, aged 32.7 ± 6.5 years, were included. Mean AMH levels were lower in smokers than in non-smokers and negatively associated with total cholesterol (TC) levels. An inverse association between mean AMH concentrations and femoral and carotid IMT in all segments was observed. No correlation with other markers of subclinical atherosclerosis or established cardiovascular (CV) risk factors was found. After multivariable adjustment, the association between AMH concentrations and combined carotid IMT or carotid bulb IMT remained significant. In conclusion, in healthy, normally ovulating women, AMH concentrations are negatively associated with subclinical atherosclerosis indices and TC levels, independently of established CV risk factors. © The Author(s) 2020.

OBJECTIVE: Recent evidence in postmenopausal women suggested lack of association between serum levels of retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) and subclinical atherosclerosis; however, associations with arterial stiffness in this population remain unexplored. We evaluated the association among RBP4 and cardiovascular risk factors, including homocysteine, a marker involved in retinoic acid synthesis, and indices of arterial stiffness, in a sample of apparently healthy postmenopausal women. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 123 healthy postmenopausal women, not on hormone therapy, antihypertensive, or hypolipidemic treatment and with a menopausal age 10 years or less. We performed biochemical/hormonal assessment and sonographic evaluation, including carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) and carotid artery stiffness index (SI). RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed that RBP4 values correlated with age, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and estradiol levels. There was a trend of association of SI and PWV with homocysteine and triglycerides. RBP4 differed according to PWV, using the median PWV value as cut-off (RBP4, PWV ≤8.1 vs >8.1 m/s: 10.09 ± 2.05 vs 10.85 ± 1.91 ng/mL, analysis of covariance P value 0.014 adjusted for age, menopausal age, estradiol, pulse pressure). Linear regression analysis showed that PWV was independently associated with RBP4, age, and pulse pressure, whereas SI was independently associated with RBP4. An increase of one standard deviation in RBP4 levels (2.54 ng/mL) was associated with an increase of 0.577 m/s in PWV. CONCLUSIONS: RBP4 serum levels are associated with arterial stiffness, in a sample of healthy postmenopausal women. If this association is causative, serum RBP4 levels could serve as a marker of arterial stiffness. Prospective studies are required to investigate the significance of our findings. : Video Summary:http://links.lww.com/MENO/A621. Video Summary:http://links.lww.com/MENO/A621.