Gap junctions play an important role in cell-to-cell communication, a process obviously required for embryo implantation. Uterine luminal epithelium (LE) is the first contact for an implanting embryo and is critical for the establishment of uterine receptivity. Microarray analysis of LE from periimplantation mouse uterus showed low level expression of 19 gap junction proteins in preimplantation...

Uterine contractility decreases at the time of blastocyst transfer Dear Sir, Fanchin and co-workers (Fanchin et al., 2001) should be congratulated for publishing a very well written paper on the role of uterine contractions in assisted reproduction. They provide convincing evidence that uterine contractility at the time of theoretical blastocyst transfer (7 days after HCG injections or 5 days a...

background: embryo transfer (et) has traditionally been performed two days after oocyte retrieval. delaying transfer from day two to day three or four would allow for further development of the embryo might therefore optimize the selection of viable and best quality embryos for transfer and may be closer to the physiological time of the entry into the uterus than transfer on day two and might h...

Introduction Although embryo transfer provides a means of obtaining pregnancies from some mares that might not otherwise be capable of producing offspring, some mares cannot provide embryos for transfer. Mares in which embryo transfer may not be successful include those with: 1) failure of ovulation, 2) chronic endometritis (uterine inflammation), or 3) anatomical problems (e.g., cervical adhes...

Development of uterine endometrial receptivity for implantation is orchestrated by cyclic steroid hormone-mediated signals. It is unknown if these signals are necessary for oviduct function in supporting fertilization and preimplantation development. Here we show that conditional knockout (cKO) mice lacking estrogen receptor α (ERα) in oviduct and uterine epithelial cells have impaired fertiliz...

The normal intrauterine fluid environment is essential for embryo implantation. In hydrosalpinx patients, the implantation and pregnancy rates are markedly decreased after IVF-embryo transfer, while salpingectomy could significantly improve the pregnancy rates. The leakage of hydrosalpinx fluid into the endometrial cavity was supposed to be the major cause for impaired fertility. However, the u...

Survival of embryos exposed to several concentrations of uterine proteins and changes in tubal morphology in rabbits given low preovulatory doses of progesterone (P4) that had previously not affected ovulation or fertilization, but caused severe embryo mortality, were studied. In experiment 1, 332 morulae were cultured for 24 h in a control medium containing < 0.5 to > 3.0 mg x mL(-1) of Day 3 ...

BACKGROUND In all IVF programmes, some patients fail to achieve an ongoing pregnancy, even after numerous embryo transfer procedures. An unfavourable environment within the uterus might be a contributory factor to such recurrent implantation failure. This question was addressed by measuring cytokine concentrations and matrix metalloproteinase activities in fluid derived from uterine irrigation ...