pelvic inflammatory disease (pid) is a rare complication of transvaginal oocyte retrieval. it may result in failure of assisted reproductive techniques (art). during a 7 years period, 5958 transvaginal ultrasound-guided oocyte retrievals resulted in 10 cases of acute pid. eight out of 10 patients were diagnosed infertile because of endometriosis. two patients had mild ovarian, 3 had stage iii, ...

objective: currently, there is no agreement on the optimal urinary derived human chorionic gonadotropin (u-hcg) dose requirement for initiating final oocyte maturation prior to oocyte collection in in vitro fertilization (ivf), but doses that range from 2500- 15000 iu have been used. we intended to determine whether low dose u-hcg was effective for oocyte maturation in ivf/intracytoplasmic sper...

Cell-to-cell communication was characterized in cumulus-oocyte complexes from rat ovarian follicles before and after ovulation. Numerous, small gap junctional contacts were present between cumulus cells and oocytes before ovulation. The gap junction are formed on the oocyte surface by cumulus cell processes that transverse the zona pellucida and contact the oolemma. The entire cumulus mass was ...

CAPSULE Mechanisms that control the survival of oocytes and, by extension, the duration of ovarian function have been identified. However, it is still not clear whether oocyte "quality" is related to survival, nor is the role of the granulosa cells of follicles in follicle survival entirely understood. Here, we consider oocyte-intrinsic and oocyte-extrinsic mechanisms of oocyte loss and argue t...

Polarity of the Drosophila oocyte is essential for correct development of the egg and future embryo. The Par proteins Par-6, aPKC and Bazooka are needed to maintain oocyte polarity and localize to specific domains early in oocyte development. To date, no upstream regulator or mechanism for localization of the Par proteins in the oocyte has been identified. We have analyzed the role of the small...

In spite of great efforts, the mechanisms for postovulatory oocyte aging are not fully understood. Although our previous work showed that the FasL/Fas signaling facilitated oocyte aging, the intra-oocyte signaling pathways are unknown. Furthermore, the mechanisms by which oxidative stress facilitates oocyte aging and the causal relationship between Ca2+ rises and caspase-3 activation and betwee...

Improved methods are needed to reliably and accurately evaluate oocyte quality prior to fertilization and transfer into the woman of human embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF). All oocytes that are retrieved and matured in culture are exposed to sperm with little in the way of evaluating the oocyte quality. Furthermore, embryos created through IVF are currently evaluated for dev...

Background: The cryopreservation of human oocyte would make significant contribution to fertility treatments. It could also provide on alternative to embryo preservation for avoidance ethical problems. Embryo cryopreservation is now a successful procedure, but oocyte cryopreservation has poorer results. Materials and Methods: For retrieval of oocyte NMRI mouse were used. after administration of...

Fatty acid oxidation is an important energy source for the oocyte; however, little is known about how this metabolic pathway is regulated in cumulus-oocyte complexes. Analysis of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation showed that many are regulated by the luteinizing hormone surge during in vivo maturation, including acyl-CoA synthetases, carnitine transporters, acyl-CoA dehydrogenases and acet...

The mammalian oocyte develops within a complex of somatic cells known as a follicle, within which signals from the somatic cells regulate the oocyte, and signals from the oocyte regulate the somatic cells. Because isolation of the oocyte from the follicle disrupts these communication pathways, oocyte physiology is best studied within an intact follicle. Here we describe methods for quantitative...