US Fertility Research Division
Medical journal articles from USF-affiliated authors
Karine Matevossian, DO; Anne Rivelli, MA, MPH; Meike L. Uhler, MD. AJOG Clin Rep. Nov 2022.
A survey was emailed to medical trainees across a broad range of medical specialties to gather information about US residents’ and fellows’ fertility knowledge and their views on family planning. The responses from those who completed the survey suggest that women physicians and Ob/Gyn trainees do not have greater knowledge of basic female fertility than males or those in other specialties. Female trainees were less likely to be married or have children and more likely to report postponing childbearing.
Jonah Bardos, MD, Jacyln Kwal, MD, Wayne Caswell, MS, Samad Jahandideh, PhD, Melissa Stratton, BS, Michael Tucker, PhD, Alan Decherney, MD, Kate Devine, MD, Micah Hill, DO, Jeanne E. O’Brien, MD, MSc. Accepted, Fertil Steril. 2022.
This retrospective study gathered data from embryos of donor oocytes that underwent trophectoderm biopsy and PGT-A from four different laboratories to investigate variation in euploid blastocyst rate and live birth rate across different laboratories when controlling for blastocyst quality. Results from the study suggest that there are differences in euploid blastocyst rate and live birth rates for a young and healthy population between laboratories, suggesting that not all PGT-A laboratories are comparable.
COVID-19 has created an additional barrier for women who wish to or are currently undergoing fertility treatment. Fertility centers should address asymptomatic, COVID-19 positive patients on a case-by-case basis in order to ensure safety to center staff and the patient, while also mitigating the dangers associated with cycle cancellation. This study is a discussion of two case studies where women underwent oocyte retrievals and were asymptomatic but tested positive for COVID-19. In both special cases, the risks of canceling the cycles were heavily considered by practice physicians and risk management, and extra precautions were taken to ensure no medical staff were also infected.
Utilizing a web-based survey that was distributed to users of the Sibling Donor Registry, this study found that 40.2% of people who were conceived using donor gametes would consider using donor gametes themselves and 24.6% were undecided. Those who were undecided or had already used donor gametes tended to be younger, and less likely to be married or identify as female than those who would not consider donor gametes.
A machine learning model was developed using de-identified, electronic medical record data from three IVF clinics to determine the best starting dose of FSH during ovarian stimulation per individual. This tool uses historical FSH dosing and clinical outcomes as a guideline for new patients starting ovarian stimulation and may help standardize care across fertility practices.
Prior to embryo transfer, assessment of the fallopian tubes and uterine cavity is vital to determining if a woman’s anatomy is compliant with pregnancy. This article discusses more patient-friendly alternatives to diagnostic imaging, in particular, various modalities of ultrasound, for women who are noninfertile and undergoing embryo transfer.
Women diagnosed with endometriosis-associated infertility are often successfully treated with IVF. The PREGnant study utilizes an oral GnRH antagonist to treat endometriosis prior to IVF start; the efficacy of the treatment will be assessed using live birth rates. This publication further explains the study protocol.
Jesam J, Jeria F, Nunez D, Pardo L, Varel S, Mondion M, Pi JE. Técnicas de reproducción asistida en personas del mismo sexo y solas por opción: realidad en Chile 2021; Assisted reproduction techniques in people of the same sex and alone by option: Reality in Chile 2021. Rev Chil Obstet Ginecol. 2022 Jun 04; 87(1):62-67. doi: 10.24875/RECHOG.21000028.
This manuscript discusses the changing makeup of households and families in Chile as sexual and gender diversity continue to grow and their access to assisted reproduction techniques. Legislation and policies have continued to evolve to allow this diversification, but further policies and legislation are still needed to ensure all people have access to assisted reproduction technologies.
Topics included in this review include: there is no universal menopause experience, poor support during menopauses exacerbates the negativity that surrounds menopause, the current medical field fuels negative expectations regarding menopause, and how to create a positive menopause experience.
A survey that queried pain during egg donation was emailed to women who had undergone egg donation. Results from the survey allowed the study team to conclude that this group of women had been made aware of the risk of pain they would experience beforehand, and that those who had reported being informed of the risk of pain were less likely to report higher levels of pain. They also found that unexpected levels of pain were related to low donor satisfaction.
Endometrial receptivity analysis (ERA) is an add-on tool used in the fertility practice to find the optimal timing of egg implantation into the endometrium during the menstrual cycle. This study found that in a pool of patients with previously unsuccessful frozen embryo transfers, live birth outcomes did not differ when ERA results deemed the endometrium receptive or nonreceptive. Patients who used ERA and those who underwent standard protocol did not have differences in live birth outcomes.
A group of female physicians were interviewed to develop a survey to characterize the fertility needs and family planning concerns of women in medicine. The interviews revealed that this group of women felt generally that they had inadequate formal training in fertility, that their knowledge of fertility was based on informal education, and that they desired a more formal medical education in fertility. Of the female physicians who completed the pilot survey: a notable percentage of respondents reported declining opportunities for career advancement (29%), choosing a different specialty (21%), or changing their work setting from academic to private practice (17%), to accommodate having children.
Results from a genome-wide association study suggest three new loci associated with circulating anti-Mullerian hormone levels in pre-menopausal women, as well as confirmed one previously reported loci. This information provides more detail about the genetic variation and mechanisms of AMH expression and may be used to further study diseases associated with AMH levels.
This symposium synopsis discusses maintaining health and wellness throughout a lifetime, particularly for women in midlife. The synopsis touches on topics such as understanding age, the mind-body connection and the impact of mental health, using food as medicine, the accessibility of wellness to all people, and implementing science during the midlife to address menopause.
This study was performed as a secondary analysis of samples and gathered data on the effect of lipid and insulin infusions on reproductive hormonal output. These data suggest that diet and metabolism play a role in modulation of pituitary trophic hormones, and these pathways may be a target for future therapeutics.
Dr. Nanette Santoro shares her story of being raised in a religious household and discusses the damage brought unto women from the culture wars of abortion and the pro-life movement. Dr. Santoro goes on to discuss the need to disassociate a woman’s reproductive potential to her worth and remove religious ties from public policy.
In recent years, multiple studies have assessed the effect of freezing and thawing of embryos on pregnancy and birth rates, but have reached mixed conclusions. This study compared pregnancy rates in freshly transferred embryos to embryos that were vitrified (frozen) twice, once as an egg and once as an embryo. There was no significant difference in clinical pregnancy rate between the fresh and twice vitrified embryos, however, there was a downward trend (38.63% to 32.46%) of clinical pregnancy rate in the twice vitrified group compared to freshly transferred embryos.
Data from the KEEPS (Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study) clinical trial suggests that recently menopausal women with higher waist circumferences (over 88 cm) and waist-to-hip ratios (over 0.8) were associated with lower cognitive function, assessed by lower Modified Mini Mental Status scores.
Analysis of the gut microbiome of a large set of Hispanic/Latinos in the United States revealed that post-menopausal Hispanic/Latino women had a gut microbiome more similar to that of men, and changes in gut microbiome due to menopause were associated with adverse cardiometabolic risks. These data suggest that the gut microbiome contributes to cardiometabolic health during menopause.
This study was able to determine that uterine leiomyoma (fibroid) cells have increased expression of FKBP51 compared to normal myometrial cells. This binding protein may be used to further study fibroid pathogenesis.
Results of this study, conducted to characterize the experiences of Black women going through menopause and identify barriers for participating in a lifestyle program, suggested that women were interested to learn more about improving their overall health during menopause and were willing to participate in a lifestyle program. The study team also found that a program that allows other women to associate with other women creates a more sustainable lifestyle program.
In this review, Dr. Nanette Santoro discusses the contrasting viewpoints of medical providers and patients in how they view their storaged embryos. Dr. Santoro goes on to outline the heightened responsibility that medical staff face with advancing frozen embryo storage technology and longer storage times.
This article discusses recent studies that were unable to detect SARS-CoV-2 in the reproductive tracts of women who were newly diagnosed with COVID-19 and had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic. This editorial concludes that it may be feasible for patients who have been newly diagnosed with COVID-19 with mild symptoms or are asymptomatic to proceed with egg retrievals. One study reports that acute COVID-19 infection did not influence fertilization or embryo development, and other studies suggest that COVID-19 may influence embryo generation or embryo quality.
To address the largely undocumented experiences of Black women seeking fertility treatment, this study gathered data on the sociocultural, clinical, and psychobiological barriers and facilitators Black women faced when seeking fertility treatment. These women saw barriers to treatment such as inadequate knowledge of resources, poor clinical management at the primary care level, and limited social support. The study identified psychological distress, complex gynecological medical history, and culturally competent providers as facilitators to care.
The probability of pregnancy and the risk of a multiple pregnancy was able to be predicted in this predictive model of retrospective data of patients undergoing treatment with gonadotropins, letrozole, and clomiphene citrate for ovarian induction/ovarian stimulation with intrauterine insemination. This study was able to successfully create an easy-to-use formula to predict chances of pregnancy and a multiple pregnancy based on the characteristics of the patient for commonly used fertility treatments.
A brief survey was sent to women who were diagnosed with endometriosis, undergoing fertility treatment, and were within the University of Colorado healthcare system: the survey gathered information on whether these women would consider being apart of a clinical trial and whether their experiences with delays in IVF treatments due to COVID-19 would influence their consideration of a 8-week treatment prior to their IVF cycle. This survey was distributed to gather information about women who may quality for the PREGnant study for women diagnosed with endometriosis who may be randomized to an experimental group that undergoes a 60-day treatment with an GnRH antagonist prior to IVF start. Results from the survey suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic would influence the decisions of some women to delay IVF treatment to participate in a trial.
To better understand the relationship between genes involved in fertility and metabolism, 84 genes related to fertility were extracted from human ovarian granulosa cells and treated with irisin or leptin, hormones related to metabolism. The study presents the changes in gene expression after treatment.
A retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the benefit of characterizing an artificial intelligence model to rank blastocyst-stage embryos and identify limitations that may affect the methods clinical usage. This artificial intelligence model was able to successfully categorize embryos according to the development of the trophectoderm and inner cell mass and showed improved predictions of clinical pregnancy.
Presented here are the outcomes and discussion of the FIT-PLESE clinical trial for women with infertility and obesity. Protocol involved all participants to increase their physical activity, and half were randomized to an intensive group treated with open-label anti-obesity medication (Orlistat), nutritional counseling, and meal replacement products for 16 weeks. This study showed that an average of 7% weight loss did not improve the rate of having any live birth or a healthy live birth but did improve participants’ cardiometabolic health.
This study found that postmenopausal women had higher innate immune activation, measured using plasma sCD14 and sCD163, compared to premenopausal women, and the elevation in the immune response occurs during the transition into menopause. Interestingly, a relationship could not be made with menopause and biomarkers of systemic inflammation, even though inflammation is normally a consequence of immune activation.
Women in stages of menopause are at increased cardiometabolic risk due to fluctuations in circulating estrogens and increased fat mass, and thus, a woman’s transition into menopause imposes a significant health burden. This review discusses menopause’s stages, the changes in a women’s body and cardiometabolic health throughout menopause, and lifestyle interventions women may use to improve their health during menopause.
The rationale and data surrounding differing routes of administration for progesterone supplementation, progesterone in oil (PIO) vs. vaginal, as luteal phase support during FET cycles is discussed in this editorial. Data suggests that when using vaginal progesterone, monitoring of progesterone levels may be necessary, while PIO may render monitoring unnecessary. A recent study has shown that patients have no clear preference to route of administration of progesterone when routes have similar efficacy.
American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) 2022
Oral Presentations
Alexandra Gannon, Janet Bruno-Gaston, Vipin A Vidyadharan, Shaji Chacko, Marta L Fiorotto, Juan Marini, Amy K Schutt, William Gibbons, Chellakkan Selvanesan Blesson, and Inka Didelija
Victoria W. Fitz, Victoria W Fitz, Laura Grau, Savannah Mierau, Robin Green, Carol Derby, Ellen B Gold, Jan Leslie Shifren, Genevieve S Neal-Perry, Mary Sammel, Nanette Santoro
Aimee M Seungdamrong, Lubna Pal, Satu Kuokkamen, Harry Lieman, Robert A Wild, Fangbai Sun, Heping Zhand, Michael P Diamond, Richard S Legro, and Nanette Santoro
Eduardo Hariton, Kevin Ho, Eva Cui, Cora Chen, Jerrine R Morris, and Marcelle I Cedars
Seth J. Barishansky, Jeanne O’Brien, Kathleen Devine, Angela K. Lawson
Papri Sarkar, Erika P. New, Rachel G. Sprague, Zoran Pavlovic, Samad Jahandideh, Kate Devine, Anthony N. Imudia
Bijan Morshedi, Seifeldin Sadek, Samad Jahandideh, Eric Widra, Kate Devine, Nicole Banks
Lauren Barrison, Melissa Stratton, Wayne Caswell, Kate Devine, Phillip A. Romanski
Phillip A. Romanski, Melissa Stratton, Wayne Caswell, Kate Devine
Jaclyn Kwal, Jonah Bardos, Samad Jahandideh, Micah Hill, Alan DeCherney, Jeanne E. O’Brien, Michael Levy, Kate Devine, Jessica Kanter
John S. Rushing, Tracy Truong, Randall Meacham, Judy E. Stern, Alex J. Polotsky
Poster Presentations
Janet Bruno-Gaston, Alexandra Gannon, Vipin A. Vidyadharan, Amy K Schutt, William Gibbons, and Chellakkan Selvanesan Blesson
Ashley Kim, Erin Eckart, Jennifer D Peck, Abigail Campbell, John Maxwell, Michael P Diamond, Anne Z Steiner, Christos Coutifaris, Marcelle Cedars, Nanette Santoro,
Amalia Namath, Samad Jahandideh, Kathleen Devine, and Jeanne E O’Brien
Laura Zalles, Samad Jahandideh, Jerry Wang, Kate Devine, Janet Bruno-Gaston
Shelley Dolitsky, Jeffrey Amos, Samad Jahandideh, Kate Devine, Nicole Doyle
John S. Rushing, Cassandra Roeca, Elizabeth Clain, Ivy Lersten, Dana Siegel, Joshua Johnson, Nanette Santoro, Alex J. Polotsky
Elizabeth Clain, Samad Jahandideh, Anthony N. Imudia, Papri Sarkar, Kate Devine, Cassandra Roeca
Seifeldin Sadek, Terry Jacot, Martha Claire Thomas, David F. Archer, Diane M. Duffy
Ali Borazjani, Samad Jahandideh, Shan Dawood, Kate Devine, and Michael J Tucker.
Amalia Namath, Samad Jahandideh, Jason Bromer, Kathleen Devine, and Jeanne E O’Brien.
Amalia Namath, Samad Jahandideh, Jason Bromer, Kathleen Devine, and Jeanne E O’Brien
Charlene G. Echague, Samad Jahandideh, Kate Devine, Phillip A. Romanski
Seth J. Barishansky, Jeanne O’Brien, Kathleen Devine, Angela K. Lawson
Alexandra Gannon, Janet Bruno-Gaston, Vipin A Vidyadharan, Marta L Fiorotto, Shaji Chacko, Juan Marini, Amy K Schutt, William Gibbons, and Chellakan Selvanesan Blesson
Eden R Cardozo, Ruben J Alvero, Michael P Diamond, Nanette Santoro, and Brindha Bavan
Ange Wang, Jamie Corley, Jake Anderson-Bialis, Jerrine R Morris, Alisha Tolani, Lauren Citro, Deborah Anderson Bialis and Victor Y Fujimoto
Justina Jyujii Cha, Michael Fanton, Camelia Brumar, Kathleen Miller, David Hoffman, and Kevin Loewke
Video Abstracts
Kelley Dorsey, Zoran Pavlovic, Rachel Sprague, and Emad Mikhail
Kevin Lambrese, Kathleen Miller, Nathan R Treff
Pacific Coast Reproductive Society (PCRS) 2022
Oral Presentations
Megan Yamasaki, Micah Hill, Samad Jahandideh, Alan DeCherney, Shelley Dolitsky, Carissa Pekny, Kate Devine
Jacyln Kwal, Jonah Bardos, Marja Brolinson, Grace Whitely, Samad Jahandideh, Micah Hill, Alan DeCherney, Michael Levy, Kate Devine
Poster Presentations
Pavlovic ZJ, Smotrich G, New EP, Jahandideh S, Sprague R, Silva C, Imudia A, Plosker S
Schwartz A, Berger M, Caswell W, Vest A, Imudia AN, Jahandideh S, Hill M, OBrien J, Devine K, and Tucker M
Marja Brolinson, MD; Samad Jahandideh, PhD; Taer Han; James Graham, MS; Chandra Surya; Micah Hill, DO; Alan DeCherney, MD; Kate Devine MD
Joshua Combs, MD, Alan DeCherney, MD, Samad Jahandideh, PhD, Kate Devine, MD, Micah Hill, DO, Richard Nelson, PhD, Jeanne O’Brein
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