Browse and borrow resources that support the learning needs and professional development of C&W staff, clinicians, students and faculty.
With the increasing use of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) every year, concerns have been raised regarding the possible effect these procedures have on the health of the children procured by them. Although patients born via ART are usually healthy, studies have associated these procedures wi…
In-vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are two of the most common forms of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) used to treat human infertility. Presently, over two million children have been conceived by ART. The majority of these children are born healthy. H…
Copy 1 BC Children's and Women's Study and Learning Commons Thesis Shelf | Available |
In order to characterize and compare the pattern of inhibin production in the follicular phase between patients of the clomiphene citrate/human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) and Buserelin/hMG protocols in in-vitro fertilization, serum inhibin levels from 20 patients in each protocol were measured. …
A sperm specific and species conserved monoclonal antibody (HS-63) was shown to inhibit in vitro fertilization of mouse oocytes and human sperm penetration to zona-free hamster ova. The sperm antigen (SA-63) which reacts with HS-63 was found to be localized on the sperm acrosome. Following sperm ca…
Superovulation causes detrimental effects, including embryonic loss and implantation failure. This study determined potential roles for insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) in uterine environment regulation and preimplantation development, in conjunction with the detrimental effects of superovulation…
The gonadotropin - releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor is a plasma membrane associated receptor and a member of the GTP - binding protein coupled receptor family. The interaction of the ligand, GnRH, and the GnRH receptor is a critical event in the endocrine control of reproduction. This coupling sti…
Activin A (homodimer of inhibin βA-subunit) is known to increase inhibin βB-subunit and inhibin B (heterodimer of inhibin α- and βB-subunit) levels and decrease progesterone accumulation in human granulosa cells. Growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) is a potent paracrine regul…
Disruptions or imbalances of the vaginal microbiome can lead to negative reproductive health consequences for women, including an increased risk of sexually transmitted infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, and preterm birth. HIV-positive women may be particularly vulnerable to microbiome disrup…
Human newborns exposed in utero to maternally administered SSRIs such as fluoxetine (FX) have an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes including poor neonatal adaptation. This comprises respiratory difficulty, jitteriness, cyanosis when feeding and persists for several days after birth. Seve…
Aberrant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activity contributes to the development of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), a common and lethal female malignancy. Elucidating the regulation of EGFR function will improve treatments for EOC and the survival of patients. This study aims to elucidate …
Pregnancies derived from in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are associated with increased rates of chromosome abnormalities, congenital malformations, low birth weight, pre-term births, multiple gestations, and imprinting disorders. Assisted reproductive techno…
Light microscopy has remained the primary tool for the assessment of embryo quality and the selection of embryos for transfer in clinical IVF practice. Recent studies have suggested that metabolomic profiling of embryo culture media can distinguish human embryos with better implantation potential. …
Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) binds androgens and estrogens with high affinity, and regulates the distribution of these sex steroids in the blood and other biological fluids. Liver is the primary site of SHBG production, but the human SHBG transcription unit responsible for this is also expre…
The distintegrin-like and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin repeats (ADAMTS) are members of a gene family of secreted, multidomain and multifunctional proteinases that are able to proteolytically degrade a diverse array of cellular, extracellular and extracellular matrix (ECM) substrates. We ex…
Nuclear receptors including estrogen receptors (ERs) and progesterone receptors (PRs) are activated by their ligands as well as by signaling pathways in response to peptide hormones and growth factors. In gonadotrophs, gonadotropin releasing hormones (GnRHs) act via the GnRH receptor (GnRHR). Both …
It is increasingly apparent that GnRH-II acts as an autocrine/paracrine regulator in non-pituitary tissues, in addition to its role in the regulation of gonadotropin synthesis, and is an important player in cancer cell biology. High levels of GnRH-II and GnRHR in malignant ovarian tumors as compare…
The ADAMTS (A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase with TromboSpondin Repeats) are a novel family of secreted metalloproteinases. There is increasing evidence that distinct ADAMTS subtypes play key roles in embryonic development, reproduction and cancer. Nineteen ADAMTS subtypes have been identified i…
Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological cancer in the Western world, but comparatively little is known about its development. Epithelial ovarian carcinomas are thought to originate in the ovarian surface epithelium (OSE), i.e. the mesothelium covering the ovary, but experimental evidence fo…
These studies examined the effects of prostaglandin-F[sub 2a] (PGF[sub 2a]) on progesterone and 178-estradiol (estradiol) production, as well as DNA and PGF[sub 2a]-receptor (PGF[sub 2a]-R) mRNA levels, in the human granulosa-luteal cell (GLC). Additionally, the interactions of PGF[sub 2a] with hum…
The studies undertaken herewithin sought to characterize the pattern of regulation of the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRH-R) mRNA levels in the rat ovary. The demonstration of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) transcripts in steroidproducing and steroid-dependent tissues suggest…