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Zhang Y, Sun Q, Mustieles V, Martin L, Sun Y, Bibi Z, Torres N, Coburn-Sanderson A, First O, Souter I, Petrozza JC, Botelho JC, Calafat AM, Wang YX, Messerlian C. Predictors of Serum Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Concentrations among U.S. Couples Attending a Fertility Clinic. Environ Sci Technol 2024; 58:5685-5694. [PMID: 38502775 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c08457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/21/2024]
Abstract
Previous studies have examined the predictors of PFAS concentrations among pregnant women and children. However, no study has explored the predictors of preconception PFAS concentrations among couples in the United States. This study included 572 females and 279 males (249 couples) who attended a U.S. fertility clinic between 2005 and 2019. Questionnaire information on demographics, reproductive history, and lifestyles and serum samples quantified for PFAS concentrations were collected at study enrollment. We examined the PFAS distribution and correlation within couples. We used Ridge regressions to predict the serum concentration of each PFAS in females and males using data of (1) socio-demographic and reproductive history, (2) diet, (3) behavioral factors, and (4) all factors included in (1) to (3) after accounting for temporal exposure trends. We used general linear models for univariate association of each factor with the PFAS concentration. We found moderate to high correlations for PFAS concentrations within couples. Among all examined factors, diet explained more of the variation in PFAS concentrations (1-48%), while behavioral factors explained the least (0-4%). Individuals reporting White race, with a higher body mass index, and nulliparous women had higher PFAS concentrations than others. Fish and shellfish consumption was positively associated with PFAS concentrations among both females and males, while intake of beans (females), peas (male), kale (females), and tortilla (both) was inversely associated with PFAS concentrations. Our findings provide important data for identifying sources of couples' PFAS exposure and informing interventions to reduce PFAS exposure in the preconception period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Zhang
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Qi Sun
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Vicente Mustieles
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria Ibs GRANADA, Granada 18012, Spain
- University of Granada, Center for Biomedical Research (CIBM), Spain. Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid 28029, Spain
| | - Leah Martin
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Yang Sun
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Zainab Bibi
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Nicole Torres
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Ayanna Coburn-Sanderson
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Olivia First
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Irene Souter
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02113, United States
| | - John C Petrozza
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02113, United States
| | - Julianne C Botelho
- National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, United States
| | - Antonia M Calafat
- National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, United States
| | - Yi-Xin Wang
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Carmen Messerlian
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02113, United States
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Zhang Y, Mustieles V, Korevaar T, Martin L, Sun Y, Bibi Z, Torres N, Coburn-Sanderson A, First O, Souter I, Petrozza JC, Broeren MAC, Botelho JC, Calafat AM, Wang YX, Messerlian C. Association between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure and thyroid function biomarkers among females attending a fertility clinic. Environ Pollut 2024; 346:123513. [PMID: 38350534 PMCID: PMC10950513 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 02/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure was associated with changes in thyroid function in pregnant mothers and the general population. Limited such evidence exists in other susceptible populations such as females with fertility problems. This cross-sectional study included 287 females seeking medically assisted reproduction at a fertility clinic in Massachusetts, United States, between 2005 and 2019. Six long-alkyl chain PFAS, thyroid hormones, and autoimmune antibodies were quantified in baseline serum samples. We used generalized linear models and quantile g-computation to evaluate associations of individual PFAS and their total mixture with thyroid biomarkers. Most females were White individuals (82.7%), had graduate degrees (57.8%), and nearly half had unexplained subfertility (45.9%). Serum concentrations of all examined PFAS and their mixture were significantly associated with 2.6%-5.6% lower total triiodothyronine (TT3) concentrations. Serum concentrations of perfluorononanoate (PFNA), perfluorodecanoate (PFDA), and perfluoroundecanoate (PFUnDA), and of the total mixture were associated with higher ratios of free thyroxine (FT4) to free triiodothyronine (FT3). No associations were found for PFAS and TSH or autoimmune antibodies. Our findings support the thyroid-disrupting effect of long alkyl-chain PFAS among a vulnerable population of subfertile females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Zhang
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Vicente Mustieles
- Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria Ibs GRANADA, Spain. University of Granada, Center for Biomedical Research (CIBM), Spain. Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Spain
| | - T.I.M. Korevaar
- Department of Internal Medicine and Academic Center for Thyroid Diseases, Erasmus University Medical Center, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Leah Martin
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yang Sun
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Zainab Bibi
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nicole Torres
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ayanna Coburn-Sanderson
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Olivia First
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - John C. Petrozza
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Maarten A. C. Broeren
- Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry and Haematology, Máxima Medical Centre, Veldhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Julianne C. Botelho
- National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Antonia M. Calafat
- National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Yi-Xin Wang
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Carmen Messerlian
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
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Jiang VS, Cherouveim P, Naert MN, Dimitriadis I, Souter I, Bormann CL. Live birth outcomes following single-step blastocyst warming technique - optimizing efficiency without impacting live birth rates. J Assist Reprod Genet 2024:10.1007/s10815-024-03069-x. [PMID: 38472563 DOI: 10.1007/s10815-024-03069-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To evaluate the impact of a single-step (SS) warming versus standard warming (SW) protocol on the survival/expansion of vitrified blastocysts and their clinical outcomes post-frozen embryo transfer (FET). METHODS Retrospective analysis was performed on 200 vitrified/warmed research blastocysts equally divided amongst two thawing protocols utilizing the Fujifilm Warming NX kits (Fujifilm, CA). SW utilized the standard 14-minute manufacturer's guidelines. SS protocol required only a one-minute immersion in thaw solution (TS) before the embryos were transferred to culture media. A time-interrupted study was performed evaluating 752 FETs (SW: 376 FETs, SS 376 FETs) between April 2021-December 2022 at a single academic fertility clinic in Boston, Massachusetts. Embryologic, clinical pregnancy, and live birth outcomes were assessed using generalized estimated equation (GEE) models, which accounted for potential confounders. RESULTS There was 100% survival for all blastocysts (n = 952 embryos) with no differences in blastocyst re-expansion regardless of PGT status. Adjusted analysis showed no differences in implantation, clinical pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, or biochemical pregnancy rate. A higher odds of multiple gestation [AdjOR(95%CI) 1.06 (1.01, 1.11), p = 0.019] were noted, even when adjusting for number of embryos transferred [AdjOR(95%CI) 1.05 (1.01, 1.10)]. Live birth outcomes showed no differences in live birth rates or birthweight at delivery. CONCLUSIONS The study found equivalent outcomes for SS and SW in all parameters except for a slight rise in the rate of multiple gestations. The results suggest that SS warming is an efficient, viable alternative to SW, reducing thaw times without adverse effects on live birth rates or neonatal birth weights.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria S Jiang
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Panagiotis Cherouveim
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Mackenzie N Naert
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 32 Fruit Street, Suite 4F, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Irene Dimitriadis
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Charles L Bormann
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
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Mitsunami M, Wang S, Soria-Contreras DC, Mínguez-Alarcón L, Ortiz-Panozo E, Stuart JJ, Souter I, Rich-Edwards JW, Chavarro JE. Prepregnancy plant-based diets and risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2024; 230:366.e1-366.e19. [PMID: 37598996 PMCID: PMC10875146 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2023.07.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Plant-based diets have been associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in nonpregnant adults, but specific evidence for their effects on risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy is scarce. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the prospective association between adherence to plant-based diets before pregnancy and the risk for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. We hypothesized that women with higher adherence to plant-based diets would have a lower risk for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN We followed 11,459 parous women (16,780 singleton pregnancies) without chronic diseases, a history of preeclampsia, and cancers who participated in the Nurses' Health Study II (1991-2009), which was a prospective cohort study. Diet was assessed every 4 years using a validated food frequency questionnaire from which we calculated the plant-based diet index (higher score indicates higher adherence) to evaluate the health associations of plant-based diets among participants while accounting for the quality of plant-based foods. Participants self-reported hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including preeclampsia and gestational hypertension. We estimated the relative risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in relation to plant-based diet index adherence in quintiles using generalized estimating equations log-binomial regression while adjusting for potential confounders and accounting for repeated pregnancies for the same woman. RESULTS The mean (standard deviation) age at first in-study pregnancy was 35 (4) years. A total of 1033 cases of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including 482 cases of preeclampsia (2.9%) and 551 cases of gestational hypertension (3.3%) were reported. Women in the highest quintile of plant-based diet index were significantly associated with a lower risk for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy than women in the lowest quintile (relative risk, 0.76; 95% confidence interval, 0.62-0.93). There was an inverse dose-response relationship between plant-based diet index and risk for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. The multivariable-adjusted relative risk (95% confidence interval) of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy for women in increasing quintiles of plant-based diet index were 1 (ref), 0.93 (0.78-1.12), 0.86 (0.72-1.03), 0.84 (0.69-1.03), and 0.76 (0.62-0.93) with a significant linear trend across quintiles (P trend=.005). This association was slightly stronger for gestational hypertension (relative risk, 0.77; 95% confidence interval, 0.60-0.99) than for preeclampsia (relative risk, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.61-1.04). Mediation analysis suggested that body mass index evaluation for dietary assessment and pregnancy explained 39% (95% confidence interval, 15%-70%]) of the relation between plant-based diet index and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and 48% (95% confidence interval, 12%-86%]) of the relation between plant-based diet index and gestational hypertension. CONCLUSION Higher adherence to plant-based diets was associated with a lower risk of developing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Much of the benefit seems to be related to improved weight control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Makiko Mitsunami
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Siwen Wang
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | | | - Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Eduardo Ortiz-Panozo
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Center for Population Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, Mexico
| | - Jennifer J Stuart
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Division of Women's Health, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Irene Souter
- Fertility Center, Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Janet W Rich-Edwards
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Division of Women's Health, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
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Mínguez-Alarcón L, Williams PL, Souter I, Ford JB, Hauser R, Chavarro JE. Women's preconception psychological stress and birth outcomes in a fertility clinic: the EARTH study. Front Glob Womens Health 2024; 5:1293255. [PMID: 38379838 PMCID: PMC10877713 DOI: 10.3389/fgwh.2024.1293255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Background The epidemiologic literature on women's perceived stress in relation to perinatal outcomes has been inconclusive and does not consider the preconception window of exposure. Objective To evaluate whether women's preconception perceived stress is related to live birth, gestational age, and birthweight in a cohort receiving fertility treatment. Methods This observational study included women seeking fertility care at the Massachusetts General Hospital (2004-2019). During preconception, women provided information on their psychological stress using the short version of the validated Perceived Stress Scale 4 (PSS-4). We used regression models to evaluate the associations of stress with live birth (N = 768 attempting to conceive) and perinatal outcomes (N = 413 live births) while adjusting for confounders. Stratified analyses by mode of conception [natural, intrauterine insemination (IUI), and IVF (in vitro fertilization)] and selected socioeconomic factors (race, education, and income) were also conducted. Results Higher psychological stress was negatively associated with the overall probability of live birth (adjusted RR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92, 0.98), particularly among women conceiving using IVF. However, we found no association between women's psychological stress and gestational age and birth weight in the overall analyses and also stratified by mode of conception. Similarly, we observed no differences in women's psychological stress with any of the measured outcomes by socioeconomic factors. Discussion These results highlight the importance of considering the preconception window and mode of conception when evaluating the relationship between women's preconception stress and live birth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
- Departments of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Paige L. Williams
- Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
- Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Irene Souter
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Jennifer B. Ford
- Departments of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Russ Hauser
- Departments of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
- Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Jorge E. Chavarro
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
- Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
- Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
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Mínguez-Alarcón L, Chagnon O, Tanaka A, Williams PL, James-Todd T, Ford JB, Souter I, Rexrode KM, Hauser R, Chavarro JE. Preconception Stress and Pregnancy Serum Glucose Levels Among Women Attending a Fertility Center. J Endocr Soc 2023; 8:bvad152. [PMID: 38178907 PMCID: PMC10766068 DOI: 10.1210/jendso/bvad152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Context The association between women's stress and pregnancy glucose levels remain unclear, specifically when considering the preconception period as a sensitive window of exposure. Objective We investigated whether preconception perceived stress was associated with glucose levels during pregnancy among women attending a fertility center (2004-2019). Methods Before conception, women completed a psychological stress survey using the short version of the validated Perceived Stress Scale 4 (PSS-4), and blood glucose was measured using a 50-gram glucose load test during late pregnancy as a part of screening for gestational diabetes. Linear and log-binomial regression models were used to assess associations of total PSS-4 scores with mean glucose levels and abnormal glucose levels ( ≥ 140 mg/dL), adjusting for age, body mass index, race, smoking, education, physical activity, primary infertility diagnosis, number of babies, and mode of conception. Results Psychological stress was positively associated with mean abnormal glucose levels. The adjusted marginal means (95% CI) of mean glucose levels for women in the first, second, and third tertiles of psychological stress were 115 (110, 119), 119 (115, 123), and 124 (119, 128), and mg/dL, respectively (P for trend = .007). Also, women in the second and third tertiles of psychological stress had 4% and 13% higher probabilities of having abnormal glucose compared with women in the first tertile of psychological stress (P trend = .01). Conclusion These results highlight the importance of considering preconception when evaluating the relationship between women's stress and pregnancy glucose levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston 02115, USA
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston 02115, USA
| | - Olivia Chagnon
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston 02115, USA
| | - Aya Tanaka
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston 02115, USA
| | - Paige L Williams
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston 02115, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston 02115, USA
| | - Tamarra James-Todd
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston 02115, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston 02115, USA
| | - Jennifer B Ford
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston 02115, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Division of Reproductive Medicine and IVF, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Kathryn M Rexrode
- Division of Women's Health, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Russ Hauser
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston 02115, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston 02115, USA
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02115, USA
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston 02115, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston 02115, USA
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
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Hosseinzadeh P, Peck JD, Burks HR, Souter I, Xing A, Craig LB, Diamond MP, Hansen KR. Follicular phase length is not related to live birth outcome in women with unexplained infertility undergoing ovarian stimulation with intrauterine insemination cycles in a multicenter trial. F S Rep 2023; 4:361-366. [PMID: 38204957 PMCID: PMC10774873 DOI: 10.1016/j.xfre.2023.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Objective To evaluate the effect of follicular phase length (FPL) on pregnancy outcomes and endometrial thickness (ET) among women with unexplained infertility undergoing ovarian stimulation with intrauterine insemination (OS-IUI) with clomiphene citrate, letrozole, or gonadotropins. Design Cohort analysis of the Reproductive Medicine Network's Assessment of Multiple Intrauterine Gestations from Ovarian Stimulation randomized controlled trial. Setting Multicenter randomized controlled trial. Patients A total of 869 couples with unexplained infertility who underwent OS-IUI treatment cycles as part of the Assessment of Multiple Intrauterine Gestations from Ovarian Stimulation study. Interventions FPL was evaluated as a categorical variable defined by quintiles (q1: ≤11 days, q2: 12 days, q3: 13 days, q4: 14-15 days, and q5: ≥16 days). Main outcome measures Clinical pregnancy, live birth rates, and ET. Results Decreasing FPL quintiles did not reduce clinical pregnancy or live birth rates in unadjusted or adjusted models with all treatment groups combined or when stratified by the ovarian stimulation medication. All FPL categories had significantly thinner ET compared with the 5th quintile (≥16 days) among women treated with clomiphene citrate or letrozole. Similar but diminished associations were observed among women who underwent ovarian stimulation with gonadotropins, but the observed differences were limited to those with FPL of 12 days or shorter when compared with FPL ≥16 days. Conclusions Although shorter FPL was associated with reduced ET, it was not associated with the outcomes of clinical pregnancy or live birth in women with unexplained infertility undergoing OS-IUI in all treatment groups combined. Similar patterns existed when analyses of clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were stratified by treatment. Clinical trial registration NCT01044862.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pardis Hosseinzadeh
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
| | - Jennifer D. Peck
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Oklahoma College of Public Health, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
| | - Heather R. Burks
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
| | - Irene Souter
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Angela Xing
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
| | - LaTasha B. Craig
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
| | - Michael P. Diamond
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia
| | - Karl R. Hansen
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
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Génard-Walton M, McGee G, Williams PL, Souter I, Ford JB, Chavarro JE, Calafat AM, Hauser R, Mínguez-Alarcón L. Mixtures of urinary concentrations of phenols and phthalate biomarkers in relation to the ovarian reserve among women attending a fertility clinic. Sci Total Environ 2023; 898:165536. [PMID: 37453702 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Although prior studies have found associations of the ovarian reserve with urinary concentrations of some individual phenols and phthalate metabolites, little is known about the potential associations of these chemicals as a mixture with the ovarian reserve. We investigated whether mixtures of four urinary phenols (bisphenol A, butylparaben, methylparaben, propylparaben) and eight metabolites of five phthalate diesters including di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate were associated with markers of the ovarian reserve among 271 women attending a fertility center who enrolled in the Environment and Reproductive Health study (2004-2017). The analysis was restricted to one outcome per study participant using the earliest outcome after the last exposure assessment. Ovarian reserve markers included lower antral follicle count (AFC) defined as AFC < 7, circulating serum levels of day 3 follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) assessed by immunoassays, and diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) defined as either AFC < 7, FSH > 10 UI/L or primary infertility diagnosis of DOR. We applied Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) and quantile g-computation to estimate the joint associations and assess the interactions between chemical exposure biomarkers on the markers of the ovarian reserve while adjusting for confounders. Among all 271 women, 738 urine samples were collected. In quantile g-computation models, a quartile increase in the exposure biomarkers mixture was not significantly associated with lower AFC (OR = 1.10, 95 % CI = 0.52, 2.30), day 3 FSH levels (Beta = 0.30, 95 % CI = -0.32, 0.93) or DOR (OR = 1.02, 95 % CI = 0.52, 2.05). Similarly, BKMR did not show any evidence of associations between the mixture and any of the studied outcomes, or interactions between chemicals. Despite the lack of associations, these results need to be explored among women in other study cohorts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilien Génard-Walton
- Univ Rennes, Inserm, EHESP, Irset (Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail) - UMR_S 1085, F-35000 Rennes, France.
| | - Glen McGee
- Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
| | - Paige L Williams
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA; Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jennifer B Ford
- Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA; Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, USA
| | - Antonia M Calafat
- National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Russ Hauser
- Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA; Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, USA
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Jiang VS, Calafat AM, Williams PL, Chavarro JE, Ford JB, Souter I, Hauser R, Mínguez-Alarcón L. Temporal trends in urinary concentrations of phenols, phthalate metabolites and phthalate replacements between 2000 and 2017 in Boston, MA. Sci Total Environ 2023; 898:165353. [PMID: 37437643 PMCID: PMC10543552 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Revised: 07/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023]
Abstract
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can adversely affect human health and are ubiquitously found in everyday products. We examined temporal trends in urinary concentrations of EDCs and their replacements. Urinary concentrations of 11 environmental phenols, 15 phthalate metabolites, phthalate replacements such as two di(isononyl)cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (DINCH) metabolites, and triclocarban were quantified using isotope-dilution tandem mass spectrometry. This ecological study included 996 male and 819 female patients who were predominantly White/Caucasian (83 %) with an average age of 35 years and a BMI of 25.5 kg/m2 seeking fertility treatment in Boston, MA, USA. Patients provided a total of 6483 urine samples (median = 2, range = 1-30 samples per patient) between 2000 and 2017. Over the study period, we observed significant decreases (% per year) in urinary concentrations of traditional phenols, parabens, and phthalates such as bisphenol A (β: -6.3, 95 % CI: -7.2, -5.4), benzophenone-3 (β: -6.5, 95 % CI: -1.1, -18.9), parabens ((β range:-5.4 to -14.2), triclosan (β: -18.8, 95 % CI: -24, -13.6), dichlorophenols (2.4-dichlorophenol β: -6.6, 95 % CI: -8.8, -4.3); 2,5-dichlorophenol β: -13.6, 95 % CI: -17, -10.3), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate metabolites (β range: -11.9 to -22.0), and other phthalate metabolites including mono-ethyl, mono-n-butyl, and mono-methyl phthalate (β range: -0.3 to -11.5). In contrast, we found significant increases in urinary concentrations of environmental phenol replacements including bisphenol S (β: 3.9, 95 % CI: 2.7, 7.6) and bisphenol F (β: 6, 95 % CI: 1.8, 10.3), DINCH metabolites (cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid monohydroxy isononyl ester [MHiNCH] β: 20, 95 % CI: 17.8, 22.2; monocarboxyisooctyl phthalate [MCOCH] β: 16.2, 95 % CI: 14, 18.4), and newer phthalate replacements such as mono-3-carboxypropyl phthalate, monobenzyl phthalate, mono-2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl phthalate and di-isobutyl phthalate metabolites (β range = 5.3 to 45.1), over time. Urinary MHBP concentrations remained stable over the study period. While the majority of biomarkers measured declined over time, concentrations of several increased, particularly replacement chemicals that are studied.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria S Jiang
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School; 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Antonia M Calafat
- National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Paige L Williams
- Departments of Epidemiology and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, USA; Departments of Biostatistics and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Departments of Epidemiology and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, USA; Departments of Nutrition and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, USA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jennifer B Ford
- Departments of Environmental Health and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School; 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Russ Hauser
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School; 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, USA; Departments of Epidemiology and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, USA; Departments of Environmental Health and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Departments of Environmental Health and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, USA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA, USA.
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Hood RB, Liang D, Tan Y, Ford JB, Souter I, Chavarro JE, Jones DP, Hauser R, Gaskins AJ. Serum and follicular fluid metabolome and markers of ovarian stimulation. Hum Reprod 2023; 38:2196-2207. [PMID: 37740688 PMCID: PMC10628502 DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dead189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/25/2023] Open
Abstract
STUDY QUESTION What metabolic pathways and metabolites in the serum and follicular fluid are associated with peak estradiol levels and the number of mature oocytes? SUMMARY ANSWER In the serum metabolome, mostly fatty acid and amino acid pathways were associated with estradiol levels and mature oocytes while in the follicular fluid metabolome, mostly lipid, vitamin, and hormone pathways were associated with peak estradiol levels and mature oocytes. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Metabolomics has identified several metabolic pathways and metabolites associated with infertility but limited data are available for ovarian stimulation outcomes. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION A prospective cohort study of women undergoing IVF from 2009 to 2015. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS A total of 125 women undergoing a fresh IVF cycle at a fertility clinic in the Northeast United States who provided a serum and follicular fluid sample. Untargeted metabolomics profiling was conducted using liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry in two chromatography columns (C18 and hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC)). The main ovarian stimulation outcomes were peak serum estradiol levels and number of mature oocytes. We utilized adjusted generalized linear regression models to identify significant metabolic features. Models were adjusted for age,BMI, initial infertility diagnosis, and ovarian stimulation protocol. We then conducted pathway analysis using mummichog and metabolite annotation using level-1 evidence. MAIN RESULTS AND ROLE OF CHANCE In the serum metabolome, 480 and 850 features were associated with peak estradiol levels in the C18 and HILIC columns, respectively. Additionally, 437 and 538 features were associated with mature oocytes in the C18 and HILIC columns, respectively. In the follicular fluid metabolome, 752 and 929 features were associated with peak estradiol levels in the C18 and HILIC columns, respectively, Additionally, 993 and 986 features were associated with mature oocytes in the C18 and HILIC columns, respectively. The most common pathways associated with peak estradiol included fatty acids (serum and follicular fluid), hormone (follicular fluid), and lipid pathways (follicular fluid). The most common pathways associated with the number of mature oocytes retrieved included amino acids (serum), fatty acids (serum and follicular fluid), hormone (follicular fluid), and vitamin pathways(follicular fluid). The vitamin D3 pathway had the strongest association with both ovarian stimulation outcomes in the follicularfluid. Four and nine metabolites were identified using level-1 evidence (validated identification) in the serum and follicular fluid metabolomes, respectively. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION Our sample was majority White and highly educated and may not be generalizable to thewider population. Additionally, residual confounding is possible and the flushing medium used in the follicular fluid could have diluted our results. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS The pathways and metabolites identified by our study provide novel insights into the biologicalmechanisms in the serum and follicular fluid that may underlie follicular and oocyte development, which could potentially be used to improve ovarian stimulation outcomes. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) This work was supported by the following grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (P30-ES019776, R01-ES009718, R01-ES022955, P30-ES000002, R00-ES026648, and T32-ES012870), and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (P30DK046200). The authors have no competing interests to disclose. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER N/A.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert B Hood
- Department of Epidemiology, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Donghai Liang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Youran Tan
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jennifer B Ford
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Dean P Jones
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, & Critical Care Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Russ Hauser
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Audrey J Gaskins
- Department of Epidemiology, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
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Salas-Huetos A, Mitsunami M, Wang S, Mínguez-Alarcón L, Ribas-Maynou J, Yeste M, Souter I, Chavarro JE. Women's Adherence to Healthy Dietary Patterns and Outcomes of Infertility Treatment. JAMA Netw Open 2023; 6:e2329982. [PMID: 37594758 PMCID: PMC10439476 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.29982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Importance Increasing evidence suggests that specific foods and nutrients may improve infertility treatment outcomes in women. However, less is known about the role of dietary patterns. Objective To investigate whether women's adherence to a priori-defined dietary patterns promoted for the prevention of chronic conditions is associated with outcomes of infertility treatment. Design, Setting, and Participants This prospective cohort study was conducted at a fertility center at an academic medical center in Boston, Massachusetts. Women undergoing infertility treatment cycles, including intrauterine insemination cycles and in vitro fertilization with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection were included. Data were collected from January 2007 to October 2019, and data were analyzed from February to December 2022. Exposures Women's pretreatment diet was assessed with a validated food frequency questionnaire from which 8 a priori-defined scores were calculated (higher score indicates greater adherence): (1) Trichopoulou Mediterranean diet, (2) alternate Mediterranean diet, (3) Panagiotakos Mediterranean diet, (4) Healthy Eating Index, (5) Alternate Healthy Eating Index, (6) American Heart Association (AHA) index, (7) Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension index, and (8) plant-based diet. Main Outcomes and Measures The adjusted probability of clinically relevant outcomes (live birth as a primary outcome and clinical pregnancy and pregnancy loss as secondary outcomes) was evaluated across quartiles of adherence to each dietary pattern using multivariable generalized linear mixed models to account for repeated cycles. Results This analysis included 612 women with a median (IQR) age of 35.0 (32.0-38.0) years. There was no association between women's adherence to the 8 a priori dietary patterns and probability of clinical pregnancy or live birth following in vitro fertilization or intrauterine insemination. However, an inverse association was found between adherence to AHA dietary pattern and risks of total and clinical pregnancy loss. Among women who became pregnant during the course of infertility treatment, the adjusted probabilities of pregnancy loss in the lowest and highest quartile of the AHA dietary pattern were 0.41 (95% CI, 0.33-0.50) and 0.28 (95% CI, 0.21-0.36), respectively (P for trend = .02). The corresponding adjusted probabilities of clinical pregnancy loss were 0.30 (95% CI, 0.22-0.39) and 0.15 (95% CI, 0.10-0.23) (P for trend = .007). A similar pattern was observed for all other dietary patterns, with the exception of the plant-based diet pattern. Conclusions and Relevance Findings of this cohort study suggest that preconception adherence to the AHA diet may be associated with a lower likelihood of pregnancy loss during the course of infertility treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Salas-Huetos
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
- Unit of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Alimentació, Nutrició, Desenvolupament i Salut Mental, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Reus, Spain
- Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red, M.P. Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Makiko Mitsunami
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Siwen Wang
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Jordi Ribas-Maynou
- Biotechnology of Animal and Human Reproduction (TechnoSperm), Institute of Food and Agricultural Technology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain
- Unit of Cell Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain
| | - Marc Yeste
- Biotechnology of Animal and Human Reproduction (TechnoSperm), Institute of Food and Agricultural Technology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain
- Unit of Cell Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain
| | - Irene Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston
| | - Jorge E. Chavarro
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
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12
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Jiménez-Cardozo N, Mitsunami M, Mínguez-Alarcón L, Ortiz-Panozo E, Wang S, Souter I, Hauser R, Chavarro JE. Iron intake in relation to ovarian reserve among women seeking infertility treatment. Hum Reprod 2023; 38:1613-1620. [PMID: 37329261 PMCID: PMC10391310 DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dead118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023] Open
Abstract
STUDY QUESTION Is there an association between iron intake and ovarian reserve among women seeking fertility care? SUMMARY ANSWER Supplemental iron intake above 45 mg/day is associated with lower ovarian reserve among women seeking fertility care. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Although the literature regarding iron intake in relation to ovarian reserve is scant and inconsistent, some evidence suggests that iron may have gonadotoxic effects. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION This observational study included 582 female participants attending the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center (2007-2019) enrolled in the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Iron intake was estimated using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Markers of ovarian reserve included antral follicle count (AFC) (assessed via transvaginal ultrasound) and Day 3 FSH, both obtained during the course of an infertility evaluation. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Participants had a median age of 35 years and median total iron intake of 29 mg/day. Total iron intake was inversely related to AFC and this association was driven by intake of supplemental iron. Compared to women with a supplemental iron intake of ≤20 mg/day, women consuming 45-64 mg/day of supplemental iron had a 17% (-35%, 0.3%) lower AFC and women consuming ≥65 mg/day of supplemental iron had a 32% (-54%, -11%) lower AFC after adjusting for potential confounders (P, linear trend = 0.003). Similarly, in a multivariable-adjusted analysis, Day 3 FSH levels were 0.9 (0.5, 1.3) IU/ml higher among women with a supplemental iron intake of ≥65 mg/day when compared to women with a supplemental iron intake of ≤20 mg/day (P, linear trend = 0.02). LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION Iron intake was estimated using a method that relies on self-report and we had no biomarkers of iron status in our participants; only 36 women consumed ≥45 mg/day of supplemental iron. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Since all study participants were seeking fertility treatment, our findings may not apply to women in the general population. Although our findings are consistent with studies of women with iron overload, given the paucity of literature on this topic, it is essential that this question is revisited in studies designed to better understand the dose-response relation of this association across the entire distribution of ovarian reserve and the risk-benefit balance of pre-conceptional iron supplementation given its many positive effects on pregnancy outcomes. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) The project was funded by Grants R01ES022955, R01ES033651, R01ES009718, P30ES000002, and P30DK046200 from the National Institutes of Health. N.J.-C. was supported by a Fulbright Scholarship. N.J.-C., M.M., L.M.-A., E.O.-P., S.W., I.S., and J.E.C. declare no conflict of interest related to the work in the manuscript. R.H. has received grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER N/A.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Jiménez-Cardozo
- Grupo de Investigación en Ciencias Básicas y Clínicas de la Salud, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Cali, Colombia
- Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
| | - M Mitsunami
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - L Mínguez-Alarcón
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - E Ortiz-Panozo
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- National Institute of Public Health, Center for Population Health Research, Cuernavaca, Mexico
| | - S Wang
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - I Souter
- Fertility Center, Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - R Hauser
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Fertility Center, Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - J E Chavarro
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
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McGee G, Génard-Walton M, Williams PL, Korevaar TIM, Chavarro JE, Meeker JD, Braun JM, Broeren MA, Ford JB, Calafat AM, Souter I, Hauser R, Mínguez-Alarcón L. Associations of Maternal Urinary Concentrations of Phenols, Individually and as a Mixture, with Serum Biomarkers of Thyroid Function and Autoimmunity: Results from the EARTH Study. Toxics 2023; 11:521. [PMID: 37368621 PMCID: PMC10302981 DOI: 10.3390/toxics11060521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
The associations between urinary phenol concentrations and markers of thyroid function and autoimmunity among potentially susceptible subgroups, such as subfertile women, have been understudied, especially when considering chemical mixtures. We evaluated cross-sectional associations of urinary phenol concentrations, individually and as a mixture, with serum markers of thyroid function and autoimmunity. We included 339 women attending a fertility center who provided one spot urine and one blood sample at enrollment (2009-2015). We quantified four phenols in urine using isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and biomarkers of thyroid function (thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free and total thyroxine (fT4, TT4), and triiodothyronine (fT3, TT3)), and autoimmunity (thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and thyroglobulin (Tg) antibodies (Ab)) in serum using electrochemoluminescence assays. We fit linear and additive models to investigate the association between urinary phenols-both individually and as a mixture-and serum thyroid function and autoimmunity, adjusted for confounders. As a sensitivity analysis, we also applied Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) to investigate non-linear and non-additive interactions. Urinary bisphenol A was associated with thyroid function, in particular, fT3 (mean difference for a 1 log unit increase in concentration: -0.088; 95% CI [-0.151, -0.025]) and TT3 (-0.066; 95% CI [-0.112, -0.020]). Urinary methylparaben and triclosan were also associated with several thyroid hormones. The overall mixture was negatively associated with serum fT3 concentrations (mean difference comparing all four mixture components at their 75th vs. 25th percentiles: -0.19, 95% CI [-0.35, -0.03]). We found no evidence of non-linearity or interactions. These results add to the current literature on phenol exposures and thyroid function in women, suggesting that some phenols may alter the thyroid system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Glen McGee
- Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada;
| | | | - Paige L. Williams
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA;
| | - T. I. M. Korevaar
- Department of Internal Medicine and Academic Center for Thyroid Diseases, Erasmus University Medical Center, 3015 GD Rotterdam, GE, The Netherlands;
| | - Jorge E. Chavarro
- Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA;
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - John D. Meeker
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA;
| | - Joseph M. Braun
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA;
| | - Maarten A. Broeren
- Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry and Haematology, Máxima Medical Centre, 5631 BM Veldhoven, De Run, The Netherlands;
| | - Jennifer B. Ford
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA;
| | - Antonia M. Calafat
- National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA;
| | - Irene Souter
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; (I.S.); (R.H.)
| | - Russ Hauser
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; (I.S.); (R.H.)
- Departments of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA;
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Cherouveim P, Vagios S, Hammer K, Fitz V, Jiang VS, Dimitriadis I, Sacha CR, James KE, Bormann CL, Souter I. The impact of cryopreserved sperm on intrauterine insemination outcomes: is frozen as good as fresh? Front Reprod Health 2023; 5:1181751. [PMID: 37325242 PMCID: PMC10264626 DOI: 10.3389/frph.2023.1181751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Frozen sperm utilization might negatively impact cycle outcomes in animals, implicating cryopreservation-induced sperm damage. However, in vitro fertilization and intrauterine insemination (IUI) in human studies are inconclusive. Methods This study is a retrospective review of 5,335 IUI [± ovarian stimulation (OS)] cycles from a large academic fertility center. Cycles were stratified based on the utilization of frozen (FROZEN, n = 1,871) instead of fresh ejaculated sperm (FRESH, n = 3,464). Main outcomes included human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) positivity, clinical pregnancy (CP), and spontaneous abortion (SAB) rates. Secondary outcome was live birth (LB) rate. Odds ratios (OR) for all outcomes were calculated utilizing logistic regression and adjusted (adjOR) for maternal age, day-3 FSH, and OS regimen. Stratified analysis was performed based on OS subtype [gonadotropins; oral medications (OM): clomiphene citrate and letrozole; and unstimulated/natural]. Time to pregnancy and cumulative pregnancy rates were also calculated. Further subanalyses were performed limited to either the first cycle only or to the partner's sperm only, after excluding female factor infertility, and after stratification by female age (<30, 30-35, and >35 years old). Results Overall, HCG positivity and CP were lower in the FROZEN compared to the FRESH group (12.2% vs. 15.6%, p < 0.001; 9.4% vs. 13.0%, p < 0.001, respectively), which persisted only among OM cycles after stratification (9.9% vs. 14.2% HCG positivity, p = 0.030; 8.1% vs. 11.8% CP, p = 0.041). Among all cycles, adjOR (95% CI) for HCG positivity and CP were 0.75 (0.56-1.02) and 0.77 (0.57-1.03), respectively, ref: FRESH. In OM cycles, adjOR (95% CI) for HCG positivity [0.55 (0.30-0.99)] and CP [0.49 (0.25-0.95), ref.: FRESH] favored the FRESH group but showed no differences among gonadotropin and natural cycles. SAB odds did not differ between groups among OM and natural cycles but were lower in the FROZEN group among gonadotropin cycles [adjOR (95% CI): 0.13 (0.02-0.98), ref.: FRESH]. There were no differences in CP and SAB in the performed subanalyses (limited to first cycles or partner's sperm only, after excluding female factors, or after stratification according to female age). Nevertheless, time to conception was slightly longer in the FROZEN compared to the FRESH group (3.84 vs. 2.58 cycles, p < 0.001). No significant differences were present in LB and cumulative pregnancy results, other than in the subgroup of natural cycles, where higher LB odds [adjOR (95% CI): 1.08 (1.05-1.12)] and higher cumulative pregnancy rate (34% vs. 15%, p = 0.002) were noted in the FROZEN compared to the FRESH group. Conclusion Overall, clinical outcomes did not differ significantly between frozen and fresh sperm IUI cycles, although specific subgroups might benefit from fresh sperm utilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panagiotis Cherouveim
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Stylianos Vagios
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Karissa Hammer
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Victoria Fitz
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Victoria S. Jiang
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Irene Dimitriadis
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Caitlin R. Sacha
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States
| | - Kaitlyn E. James
- Deborah Kelly Center for Outcomes Research, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Charles L. Bormann
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Irene Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
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Mínguez-Alarcón L, Williams PL, Souter I, Ford JB, Ghayda RA, Hauser R, Chavarro JE. Occupational factors and markers of testicular function among men attending a fertility center. Hum Reprod 2023; 38:529-536. [PMID: 36772979 PMCID: PMC10068265 DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dead027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
STUDY QUESTION Are occupational factors associated with markers of testicular function among men attending a fertility center? SUMMARY ANSWER Men working non-daytime/rotating shifts and those with physically demanding jobs have higher sperm concentration and total sperm count as well as higher estradiol and total testosterone concentrations. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Semen quality has declined during recent decades and has been negatively correlated with higher risks of common chronic diseases and mortality, highlighting its public health importance beyond fertility and reproduction. While most of the previous epidemiology literature on male fertility has focused on environmental exposures, dietary factors, and other related variables, little attention has been paid to occupational factors. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION This observational study included 377 men who were male partners in couples seeking infertility treatment at a fertility center, who enrolled in the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) study between 2005 and 2019. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Self-reported information on lifting/moving heavy objects, typical shift, and physical level of exertion at work was collected from a take-home questionnaire. Semen samples were analyzed following World Health Organization guidelines. Enzyme immunoassays were used to assess reproductive hormone concentrations. Linear regression models were used to evaluate the association between occupational factors and measures of testicular function, while adjusting for covariates such as age, BMI, education, race, smoking, and abstinence time, and accounting for multiple semen samples (mean = 2, min-max = 1-9) in analyses for semen parameters. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Men had a median (interquartile range) age of 36 (33, 39) years and were predominantly Caucasian (87%). Of the men who completed the survey, 12% reported often lifting or moving heavy objects at work, 6% reported heavy physical exertion at work, and 9% reported evening or rotating shifts. Men who reported often lifting or moving heavy objects at work had 46% higher sperm concentrations (P = 0.01) and 44% higher total counts (P = 0.01) compared with men who reported never lifting or moving heavy objects at work. Similar results were found for men working in rotating shifts compared to those in day shifts, as well as for men involved in heavy levels of physical exertion compared to those with light levels at work. We also found that men involved in heavy/moderate levels of physical exertion at work had higher circulating testosterone concentrations compared to those with lighter exertion (adjusted means of 515 and 427 ng/dl, respectively, P = 0.08), and men who often moved/lifted heavy objects at work had higher estradiol concentrations, compared to those who never did (adjusted means of 36.8 and 27.1 pg/ml, respectively, P = 0.07). Men working evening/rotating shifts had 24% higher testosterone (P = 0.04) and 45% higher estradiol concentrations (P = 0.01), compared to men working day shifts. No associations were observed for ejaculated volume, total motility, morphologically normal sperm, or serum FSH and LH concentrations. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION Due to our study design which recruited men from couples seeking fertility treatment, it may not be possible to generalize our findings to men from the general population. Also, as is the case of all studies based on self-reported questionnaires, measurement error and misclassification of the exposure are potential concerns. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Physically demanding jobs and rotating or evening shift occupations may be associated with higher testicular function in men measured as higher sperm concentrations and counts as well as higher serum testosterone and estradiol levels. Confirmation of these findings in other non-fertility clinic study populations is warranted. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) NIH grants R01ES022955, R01ES009718, R01ES033651, and R01ES000002 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Legacy, Inc. R.A.G. works part time for Legacy, Inc., which provided funds to perform this analysis. There are no other conflicts of interest. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER N/A.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Paige L Williams
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jennifer B Ford
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ramy Abou Ghayda
- University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Urology Institute, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Russ Hauser
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
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Vagios S, Sacha CR, James KE, Hammer KC, Fitz VW, Dimitriadis I, Bormann CL, Souter I. The impact of anti-Müllerian hormone on endometrial thickness in gonadotropin stimulation/intrauterine insemination cycles: is there an effect on pregnancy outcomes? J Assist Reprod Genet 2023; 40:845-850. [PMID: 36745295 PMCID: PMC10224886 DOI: 10.1007/s10815-023-02736-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To study the association, if any, between anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and pre-ovulatory endometrial thickness (ET) in gonadotropin/intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles. METHODS This retrospective cohort study included a total of 964 patients undergoing 1926 gonadotropin/IUI cycles at an academic fertility center. Primary outcome measure was the association between serum AMH and measured ET on the day of and the day before human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (hCG) ovulation trigger. The effect of a model combining AMH and ET on early pregnancy outcomes was a secondary measure. RESULTS In 52.8% of cycles, ET was last assessed and recorded on the day of hCG administration, while in the remaining 47.2% on the day prior to trigger. In unadjusted regression models, AMH was weakly correlated with ET on hCG trigger day [bAMH (95%CI) = 0.032 (- 0.008, 0.070), p = 0.015]. When adjusting for potential confounders, the positive correlation became significant [0.051 (0.006, 0.102), p = 0.047]. Similar findings were observed when assessing the correlation between AMH and ET on the day prior to hCG trigger. ET was non-significantly associated with the odds of clinical pregnancy, when adjusting for potential confounders, except for when restricting the analysis to couples with idiopathic infertility [OR (95%CI), p-value: 0.787 (0.623, 0.993), 0.044]. CONCLUSION Our findings support an effect of serum AMH on endometrial development in gonadotropin induced cycles, even when adjusting for the diagnosis of PCOS. ET was not associated with the odds of achieving a clinical pregnancy, except for couples with idiopathic infertility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stylianos Vagios
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington Street, Boston, MA, 02111, USA.
| | - Caitlin R Sacha
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Kaitlyn E James
- Deborah Kelly Center for Outcomes Research, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Karissa C Hammer
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Victoria W Fitz
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Irene Dimitriadis
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Charles L Bormann
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
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Mitsunami M, Mínguez-Alarcón L, Florio AA, Wang S, Attaman JA, Souter I, Hauser R, Chavarro JE. Intake of soy products and soy isoflavones in relation to ovarian reserve. Fertil Steril 2023; 119:1017-1029. [PMID: 36871859 DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2023.02.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2022] [Revised: 02/18/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous studies suggest on the relation between soy intake and human fertility are inconsistent. Some clinical studies suggest that soy and phytoestrogens may not be deleterious to reproduction and may even be beneficial in couples undergoing infertility treatment. However, no studies have evaluated the relation between soy or isoflavone intake with markers of ovarian reserve other than follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). OBJECTIVE To investigate the association between intakes of soy food and isoflavone with ovarian reserve. DESIGN Cross-sectional study SETTING: Patients presenting to an academic fertility center between 2007 and 2019 were invited to participate in the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study. Patients, Exposure(s): 667 participants reported their soy food intake and had an antral follicle count (AFC) assessment. Intake of 15 soy-based foods during the previous three months was obtained at baseline and intake of isoflavone was estimated from these reports. Participants were divided into five groups based on soy food and isoflavone intake using those who did not consume soy as the reference group. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Ovarian reserve was assessed using AFC as the primary outcome measure, with AMH and FSH as secondary outcome measures. AFC was measured on the third day of the menstrual cycle. FSH and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) were measured in blood samples obtained on the third day and the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. To evaluate the association between soy intakes and ovarian reserve, we used Poisson regression models for AFC and quantile regression models for AMH and day 3 FSH adjusting for confounders. RESULTS Participants had a median age of 35.0 years. The median intake of soy was 0.09 servings/day and isoflavones was 1.78 mg/day. AFC, AMH and FSH were unrelated to soy intake in crude analyses. We found no association between soy food intake with AFC or day 3 FSH in multivariable models. However, participants in the highest category of soy foods intake had significantly lower AMH levels (-1.16, 95% CI: -1.92, -0.41). Soy intake had no association with AFC, AMH, or FSH in sensitivity analyses that included using different cutoff points of soy intake, excluding participants in the highest 2.5 percentile of intake, and additional statistical adjustment for dietary patterns. CONCLUSION The results of this study are not consistent with a strong positive or inverse association of soy or isoflavone intakes within the observed range of intake, which substantially overlaps with that in the general population of the USA, and ovarian reserve among individuals presenting to fertility centers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Makiko Mitsunami
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andrea A Florio
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Siwen Wang
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jill A Attaman
- Fertility Center, Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Fertility Center, Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Russ Hauser
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Fertility Center, Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
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Mínguez-Alarcón L, Williams PL, Souter I, Ford JB, Hauser R, Chavarro JE. Perceived stress and markers of ovarian reserve among subfertile women. Reprod Biomed Online 2023:S1472-6483(23)00069-X. [PMID: 37085427 DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2023.01.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023]
Abstract
RESEARCH QUESTION Is self-reported psychological stress associated with markers of ovarian reserve among subfertile women? DESIGN Observational study of women (n = 520) seeking fertility care at the Massachusetts General Hospital who enrolled in the Environment and Reproductive Health study between 2005 and 2019. Women completed the short version of the validated PSS4, which assesses psychological stress. Ovarian reserve markers included AFC and circulating serum levels of day-3 FSH, with AMH assessed in a subset of participants (n = 185). RESULTS Higher total PSS4 scores were negatively associated with AFC and serum AMH levels. Analyses adjusted for age, BMI, race, smoking, education, physical activity and type of infertility diagnosis. Women in the second and third tertiles of stress had lower AFC (13.3, 95% CI 12.7 to 13.8; and 13.5, 95% CI 13.0 to 14.1) compared with women in the lowest tertile of psychological stress score (14.3, 95% CI 13.8 to 14.9, both P < 0.05). Women in the second and third tertiles of total PSS4 scores also had lower mean serum AMH compared with women in the lowest tertile (2.99, 95% CI 2.24 to 3.74), and (2.99 95% CI 2.22 to 3.76) versus (3.94 95% CI 3.23 to 4.64). These associations varied by several socioeconomic factors, and were observed among women who were younger, belonging to minority races, with a college degree or with annual household income less than $100,000. CONCLUSIONS Higher perceived stress was negatively associated with AFC and serum AMH levels. These associations varied by several socioeconomic factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA.
| | - Paige L Williams
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA; Department of Biostatistics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Jennifer B Ford
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
| | - Russ Hauser
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA; Departments of Nutrition, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
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Cherouveim P, Jiang VS, Kanakasabapathy MK, Thirumalaraju P, Souter I, Dimitriadis I, Bormann CL, Shafiee H. Quality assurance (QA) for monitoring the performance of assisted reproductive technology (ART) staff using artificial intelligence (AI). J Assist Reprod Genet 2023; 40:241-249. [PMID: 36374394 PMCID: PMC9935795 DOI: 10.1007/s10815-022-02649-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Deep learning neural networks have been used to predict the developmental fate and implantation potential of embryos with high accuracy. Such networks have been used as an assistive quality assurance (QA) tool to identify perturbations in the embryo culture environment which may impact clinical outcomes. The present study aimed to evaluate the utility of an AI-QA tool to consistently monitor ART staff performance (MD and embryologist) in embryo transfer (ET), embryo vitrification (EV), embryo warming (EW), and trophectoderm biopsy (TBx). METHODS Pregnancy outcomes from groups of 20 consecutive elective single day 5 blastocyst transfers were evaluated for the following procedures: MD performed ET (N = 160 transfers), embryologist performed ET (N = 160 transfers), embryologist performed EV (N = 160 vitrification procedures), embryologist performed EW (N = 160 warming procedures), and embryologist performed TBx (N = 120 biopsies). AI-generated implantation probabilities for the same embryo cohorts were estimated, as were mean AI-predicted and actual implantation rates for each provider and compared using Wilcoxon singed-rank test. RESULTS Actual implantation rates following ET performed by one MD provider: "H" was significantly lower than AI-predicted (20% vs. 61%, p = 0.001). Similar results were observed for one embryologist, "H" (30% vs. 60%, p = 0.011). Embryos thawed by embryologist "H" had lower implantation rates compared to AI prediction (25% vs. 60%, p = 0.004). There were no significant differences between actual and AI-predicted implantation rates for EV, TBx, or for the rest of the clinical staff performing ET or EW. CONCLUSIONS AI-based QA tools could provide accurate, reproducible, and efficient staff performance monitoring in an ART practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panagiotis Cherouveim
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Victoria S Jiang
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Manoj Kumar Kanakasabapathy
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Prudhvi Thirumalaraju
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Irene Dimitriadis
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Charles L Bormann
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Hadi Shafiee
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
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Jiang VS, Kartik D, Thirumalaraju P, Kandula H, Kanakasabapathy MK, Souter I, Dimitriadis I, Bormann CL, Shafiee H. Advancements in the future of automating micromanipulation techniques in the IVF laboratory using deep convolutional neural networks. J Assist Reprod Genet 2023; 40:251-257. [PMID: 36586006 PMCID: PMC9935764 DOI: 10.1007/s10815-022-02685-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To determine if deep learning artificial intelligence algorithms can be used to accurately identify key morphologic landmarks on oocytes and cleavage stage embryo images for micromanipulation procedures such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or assisted hatching (AH). METHODS Two convolutional neural network (CNN) models were trained, validated, and tested over three replicates to identify key morphologic landmarks used to guide embryologists when performing micromanipulation procedures. The first model (CNN-ICSI) was trained (n = 13,992), validated (n = 1920), and tested (n = 3900) to identify the optimal location for ICSI through polar body identification. The second model (CNN-AH) was trained (n = 13,908), validated (n = 1908), and tested (n = 3888) to identify the optimal location for AH on the zona pellucida that maximizes distance from healthy blastomeres. RESULTS The CNN-ICSI model accurately identified the polar body and corresponding optimal ICSI location with 98.9% accuracy (95% CI 98.5-99.2%) with a receiver operator characteristic (ROC) with micro and macro area under the curves (AUC) of 1. The CNN-AH model accurately identified the optimal AH location with 99.41% accuracy (95% CI 99.11-99.62%) with a ROC with micro and macro AUCs of 1. CONCLUSION Deep CNN models demonstrate powerful potential in accurately identifying key landmarks on oocytes and cleavage stage embryos for micromanipulation. These findings are novel, essential stepping stones in the automation of micromanipulation procedures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria S Jiang
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Deeksha Kartik
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Division of Renal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Prudhvi Thirumalaraju
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Division of Renal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Hemanth Kandula
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Division of Renal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Manoj Kumar Kanakasabapathy
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Division of Renal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Irene Dimitriadis
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Charles L Bormann
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
| | - Hadi Shafiee
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Division of Renal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
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21
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Jiang VS, Kandula H, Thirumalaraju P, Kanakasabapathy MK, Cherouveim P, Souter I, Dimitriadis I, Bormann CL, Shafiee H. The use of voting ensembles to improve the accuracy of deep neural networks as a non-invasive method to predict embryo ploidy status. J Assist Reprod Genet 2023; 40:301-308. [PMID: 36640251 PMCID: PMC9935776 DOI: 10.1007/s10815-022-02707-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To determine if creating voting ensembles combining convolutional neural networks (CNN), support vector machine (SVM), and multi-layer neural networks (NN) alongside clinical parameters improves the accuracy of artificial intelligence (AI) as a non-invasive method for predicting aneuploidy. METHODS A cohort of 699 day 5 PGT-A tested blastocysts was used to train, validate, and test a CNN to classify embryos as euploid/aneuploid. All embryos were analyzed using a modified FAST-SeqS next-generation sequencing method. Patient characteristics such as maternal age, AMH level, paternal sperm quality, and total number of normally fertilized (2PN) embryos were processed using SVM and NN. To improve model performance, we created voting ensembles using CNN, SVM, and NN to combine our imaging data with clinical parameter variations. Statistical significance was evaluated with a one-sample t-test with 2 degrees of freedom. RESULTS When assessing blastocyst images alone, the CNN test accuracy was 61.2% (± 1.32% SEM, n = 3 models) in correctly classifying euploid/aneuploid embryos (n = 140 embryos). When the best CNN model was assessed as a voting ensemble, the test accuracy improved to 65.0% (AMH; p = 0.1), 66.4% (maternal age; p = 0.06), 65.7% (maternal age, AMH; p = 0.08), 66.4% (maternal age, AMH, number of 2PNs; p = 0.06), and 71.4% (maternal age, AMH, number of 2PNs, sperm quality; p = 0.02) (n = 140 embryos). CONCLUSIONS By combining CNNs with patient characteristics, voting ensembles can be created to improve the accuracy of classifying embryos as euploid/aneuploid from CNN alone, allowing for AI to serve as a potential non-invasive method to aid in karyotype screening and selection of embryos.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria S Jiang
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, VincentBoston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Hemanth Kandula
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Prudhvi Thirumalaraju
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Manoj Kumar Kanakasabapathy
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Panagiotis Cherouveim
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, VincentBoston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, VincentBoston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Irene Dimitriadis
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, VincentBoston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Charles L Bormann
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, VincentBoston, MA, 02114, USA.
| | - Hadi Shafiee
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
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22
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Mínguez-Alarcón L, Hammer KC, Williams PL, Souter I, Ford JB, Rexrode KM, Hauser R, Chavarro JE. Self-reported history of comorbidities and markers of ovarian reserve among subfertile women. J Assist Reprod Genet 2022; 39:2719-2728. [PMID: 36322231 PMCID: PMC9790841 DOI: 10.1007/s10815-022-02643-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To investigate whether history of comorbidities is associated with markers of ovarian reserve among subfertile women. METHODS This observational study includes 645 women seeking fertility care at the Massachusetts General Hospital who enrolled in the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) study (2005-2019). Women completed a comprehensive questionnaire including medical diagnosis of comorbidities. Ovarian reserve markers including antral follicle count (AFC), assessed by transvaginal ultrasound, and circulating serum levels of day 3 FSH and AMH, are assessed by immunoassays. We fit linear regression models to evaluate the association between history of comorbidities and markers of ovarian reserve while adjusting for confounders. RESULTS Self-reported history of hypertension, cancer, and neurological disorders was negatively associated with AFC in unadjusted models and in adjusted models for age, smoking, physical activity, comorbidity count, and BMI. Adjusted mean AFC (95% CI) was lower among women with history of hypertension, compared to women with no self-reported history of hypertension (11.5 vs 15.6, p value 0.0001). In contrast, day 3 FSH levels were positively related to history of eating disorders in both unadjusted and adjusted models (10.8 vs. 7.43 IU/L, p value ≤ 0.0001). Self-reported history of other comorbidities was unrelated to AFC, day 3 FSH, and AMH levels. CONCLUSIONS History of hypertension, cancer, and neurological disorders was negatively associated with AFC, and eating disorders were positively related to day 3 FSH levels. The prevention of common comorbidities among women in reproductive age may help increase women's fertility given the declining birth rates and increasing use of assisted reproductive technologies in the past years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
| | - Karissa C Hammer
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Paige L Williams
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jennifer B Ford
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Kathryn M Rexrode
- Division of Women's Health, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Russ Hauser
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, MA, Boston, USA
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
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23
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Gordon CE, Hammer KC, James K, Lanes A, Vagios S, Starosta A, Hornstein M, Souter I. Optimizing pregnancy outcomes in intrauterine insemination cycles by stratifying pre-wash total motile count and patient-specific factors: a patient counseling tool. J Assist Reprod Genet 2022; 39:2811-2818. [PMID: 36342575 PMCID: PMC9790824 DOI: 10.1007/s10815-022-02636-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to clarify which pre-wash total motile count are associated with improved clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) and live birth rate (LBR) based on maternal age, AMH level, stimulation regimen, and infertility diagnosis. METHODS This was a retrospective cohort study of first completed IUI cycles at two academic fertility centers from 5/2015 to 9/2019. Cycles were stratified by pre-wash TMC, maternal age, AMH level, stimulation regimen, and infertility diagnosis. The primary outcome was CPR and secondary outcomes were live birth and miscarriage. RESULTS One thousand one hundred fifty-four cycles were analyzed. Of the 162 cycles that resulted in a CPR (14.0%), most had an insemination TMC > 20 million. Compared to TMC > 20 million, there was no difference in CPR or LBR for lower TMC categories, excluding the TMC < 2 million group, in which there were no pregnancies. When TMC was stratified by deciles, there was also no difference in CPR and LBR, including within the lowest decile (TMC 0.09-8.6 million). Younger age and higher ovarian reserve parameters were associated with higher pregnancy and LBR when stratified by TMC. There was no difference in pregnancy and LBR when considering different stimulation protocols. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that pregnancy and LBR are equivalent above a TMC of 2 million. Data stratified by TMC and patient parameters can be used to counsel patients pursuing ART.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine E. Gordon
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center for Infertility and Reproductive Surgery, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115 USA
| | - Karissa C. Hammer
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital, Yawkey Suite 10a, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114 USA
| | - Kaitlyn James
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital, Yawkey Suite 10a, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114 USA
| | - Andrea Lanes
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center for Infertility and Reproductive Surgery, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115 USA
| | - Stylianos Vagios
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital, Yawkey Suite 10a, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114 USA
| | - Anabel Starosta
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale New Haven Hospital, 20 York St, New Haven, CT 06510 USA
| | - Mark Hornstein
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital Center for Infertility and Reproductive Surgery, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115 USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital, Yawkey Suite 10a, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114 USA
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24
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Hood RB, Liang D, Tan Y, Ford J, Souter I, Jones DP, Hauser R, Gaskins AJ. Characterizing the follicular fluid metabolome: quantifying the correlation across follicles and differences with the serum metabolome. Fertil Steril 2022; 118:970-979. [PMID: 36175211 PMCID: PMC9938636 DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2022.07.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Revised: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To compare the variability in metabolomes between the serum and follicular fluid, as well as across 3 dominant follicles. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING An academic fertility clinic in the northeastern United States, 2005-2015. PATIENTS One hundred thirty-five women undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment who provided a serum sample during ovarian stimulation and up to 3 follicular fluid samples during oocyte retrieval. INTERVENTION(S) None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Samples were analyzed using liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry and 2 chromatography columns (C18 hydrophobic negative and hydrophilic interaction chromatography [HILIC] positive). We calculated overall, feature-specific, and subject-specific correlation coefficients to describe how strongly the intensity of overlapping metabolic features were associated between the serum and follicular fluid and between the 1st-2nd, 1st-3rd, and 2nd-3rd follicles. Feature-specific correlations were adjusted for age, body mass index, infertility diagnosis, ovarian stimulation protocol, and year. RESULT(S) From the C18-negative column and the high-resolution mass spectrometry, 7,830 serum features and 10,790 follicular fluid features were detected in ≥20% of samples. After screening retention times and checking for 1:1 matching, 1,928 features overlapped between the 2 metabolomes. From the HILIC-positive column and the high-resolution mass spectrometry, after applying the same exclusion criteria, there were 9,074 serum features, 5,542 follicular fluid features, and 1,149 features that overlapped. When comparing the feature intensity of overlapping metabolites in the serum and the follicular fluid, the overall (C18, 0.45; HILIC, 0.63), median feature-specific (C18, 0.35; HILIC, 0.37), and median subject-specific (C18, 0.42; HILIC, 0.59) correlations were low to moderate. In contrast, among the overlapping features across all 3 follicles, the overall (C18, all 0.99; HILIC, all 0.99), median feature-specific (C18, 0.74-0.81; HILIC, 0.79-0.85), and median subject-specific (C18, 0.88-0.89; HILIC, 0.90-0.91) correlations between follicular fluid metabolomics features within a woman were high. CONCLUSION(S) We observed minimal overlap and weak-to-moderate correlation between metabolomic features in the serum and follicular fluid but a large overlap and strong correlation between metabolomic features across follicles within a woman. The follicular fluid appears to represent a novel matrix, distinct from serum, which may be a rich source of biologic predictors of female fertility and reproductive outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert B Hood
- Department of Epidemiology, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia.
| | - Donghai Liang
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Youran Tan
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Jennifer Ford
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Irene Souter
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Dean P Jones
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, & Critical Care Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Russ Hauser
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Audrey J Gaskins
- Department of Epidemiology, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia
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25
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Hammer KC, Jiang VS, Kanakasabapathy MK, Thirumalaraju P, Kandula H, Dimitriadis I, Souter I, Bormann CL, Shafiee H. Using artificial intelligence to avoid human error in identifying embryos: a retrospective cohort study. J Assist Reprod Genet 2022; 39:2343-2348. [PMID: 35962845 PMCID: PMC9596636 DOI: 10.1007/s10815-022-02585-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To determine whether convolutional neural networks (CNN) can be used to accurately ascertain the patient identity (ID) of cleavage and blastocyst stage embryos based on image data alone. METHODS A CNN model was trained and validated over three replicates on a retrospective cohort of 4889 time-lapse embryo images. The algorithm processed embryo images for each patient and produced a unique identification key that was associated with the patient ID at a timepoint on day 3 (~ 65 hours post-insemination (hpi)) and day 5 (~ 105 hpi) forming our data library. When the algorithm evaluated embryos at a later timepoint on day 3 (~ 70 hpi) and day 5 (~ 110 hpi), it generates another key that was matched with the patient's unique key available in the library. This approach was tested using 400 patient embryo cohorts on day 3 and day 5 and number of correct embryo identifications with the CNN algorithm was measured. RESULTS CNN technology matched the patient identification within random pools of 8 patient embryo cohorts on day 3 with 100% accuracy (n = 400 patients; 3 replicates). For day 5 embryo cohorts, the accuracy within random pools of 8 patients was 100% (n = 400 patients; 3 replicates). CONCLUSIONS This study describes an artificial intelligence-based approach for embryo identification. This technology offers a robust witnessing step based on unique morphological features of each embryo. This technology can be integrated with existing imaging systems and laboratory protocols to improve specimen tracking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karissa C. Hammer
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA 02114 USA
| | - Victoria S. Jiang
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA 02114 USA
| | - Manoj Kumar Kanakasabapathy
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
| | - Prudhvi Thirumalaraju
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
| | - Hemanth Kandula
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
| | - Irene Dimitriadis
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA 02114 USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA 02114 USA
| | - Charles L. Bormann
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Suite 10A, Boston, MA 02114 USA
| | - Hadi Shafiee
- Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
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26
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Naert MN, Jiang VS, Dimitriadis I, Souter I, Bormann CL. EXTERNAL VALIDATION STUDY OF THE ULTRAFAST BLASTOCYST WARMING TECHNIQUE –OPTIMIZING EFFICIENCY WITHOUT COMPROMISING OUTCOMES. Fertil Steril 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2022.08.379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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27
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Lu Y, Cherouveim P, Jiang VS, Hammer KC, Dimitriadis I, Bormann CL, James KE, Souter I. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTRAUTERINE INSEMINATION (IUI) WITH OR WITHOUT OVARIAN STIMULATION (OS) IN WOMEN WITH “OVERT” OR “AT RISK” FOR TUBAL-FACTOR INFERTILITY (TFI). Fertil Steril 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2022.08.593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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28
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Zhang Y, Mustieles V, Williams PL, Souter I, Calafat AM, Demokritou M, Lee A, Vagios S, Hauser R, Messerlian C. Association of preconception mixtures of phenol and phthalate metabolites with birthweight among subfertile couples. Environ Epidemiol 2022; 6:e222. [PMID: 36249269 PMCID: PMC9555928 DOI: 10.1097/ee9.0000000000000222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Although parental preconception exposure to some phenols and phthalates have been associated with reduced birthweight, few studies have examined these chemicals as complex mixtures.
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29
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Mínguez-Alarcón L, Frueh L, Williams PL, James-Todd T, Souter I, Ford JB, Rexrode KM, Calafat AM, Hauser R, Chavarro JE. Pregnancy urinary concentrations of bisphenol A, parabens and other phenols in relation to serum levels of lipid biomarkers: Results from the EARTH study. Sci Total Environ 2022; 833:155191. [PMID: 35421480 PMCID: PMC9662174 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The epidemiologic literature on associations between urinary phenol concentrations and lipid profiles during pregnancy is limited. We examined whether urinary concentrations of phenol and phenol replacement biomarkers were associated with serum lipid levels among pregnant women. This cross-sectional study included 175 women attending the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center who enrolled in the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study between 2005 and 2017 and had data available on urinary phenol biomarkers and serum lipids during pregnancy. We used linear regression models to assess the relationship between groups of urinary phenol and phenol replacement biomarkers and serum lipid levels [total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), non-HDL, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides], while adjusting for age at sample collection, pre-pregnancy BMI, education, race, infertility diagnosis, cycle type, number of fetuses, trimester and specific gravity. In adjusted models, pregnant women with urinary propylparaben concentrations in the highest tertile had 10% [22 (95% CI = 5, 40) mg/dL], 12% [19 (95% CI = 2, 36) mg/dL] and 16% [19 (95% CI = 3, 35) mg/dL] higher mean total, non-HDL and LDL cholesterol, respectively, compared to women with concentrations in the lowest tertile. Similar elevations were observed for urinary bisphenol A concentrations. Urinary bisphenol S, benzophenone-3, triclosan, methylparaben, ethylparaben, and butylparaben were unrelated to serum lipids. Among pregnant women, urinary concentrations of bisphenol A and propylparaben were associated with higher serum levels of total, non-HDL and LDL cholesterol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA; Department of Environmental Health Epidemiology, Boston, USA.
| | - Lisa Frueh
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA; Department of Environmental Health Epidemiology, Boston, USA
| | - Paige L Williams
- Department of Biostatistics, Boston, USA; Departments of Nutrition, Boston, USA
| | - Tamarra James-Todd
- Department of Environmental Health Epidemiology, Boston, USA; Department of Biostatistics, Boston, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jennifer B Ford
- Department of Environmental Health Epidemiology, Boston, USA
| | - Kathryn M Rexrode
- Division of Women's Health, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Antonia M Calafat
- National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Russ Hauser
- Department of Environmental Health Epidemiology, Boston, USA; Department of Biostatistics, Boston, USA; Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA; Department of Biostatistics, Boston, USA; Departments of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, USA
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30
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Martin L, Zhang Y, Mustieles V, Souter I, Petrozza J, Messerlian C. Reproductive medicine in the face of climate change: a call for prevention through leadership. Fertil Steril 2022; 118:239-246. [PMID: 35787921 DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2022.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Climate change has led to a multitude of ecological disruptions and downstream reproductive health consequences that impair our reproductive capacity and, in turn, harm the health and survival of future generations. Atmospheric changes, driven by anthropogenic emissions, expose global populations to droughts, heat waves, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events-posing major threats to public health and exacerbating environmental health disparities. Existing evidence demonstrates the potential for climate-driven events to impact reproductive health outcomes, yet very few studies have explored this relationship. Recently, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics released position statements regarding reproductive health and environmental exposures. Unfortunately, such initiatives have yielded little action within the health care system. To address this stagnation, health care workers must meld research findings into actionable preventive medicine strategies and transition to a more action-oriented approach to address the climate crisis. The objective of this article is to elucidate the urgency of the climate crisis in relation to reproductive health and push the health care workers to recognize their intrinsic opportunity as leaders in climate action at local, state, national, and international levels. We call on health care organizations and health care workers to leverage their inherent positions as climate action leaders to increase climate resilience and mitigate climate-related adverse reproductive health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leah Martin
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Heath, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Yu Zhang
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Heath, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Vicente Mustieles
- University of Granada, Center for Biomedical Research, Granada, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada, Granada, Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health, Granada, Spain
| | - Irene Souter
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - John Petrozza
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Carmen Messerlian
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Heath, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
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Jiang V, Dimitriadis I, Souter I, Bormann C. P-557 Fresh Transfer with Supernumerary PGT-A Biopsy: The Best of Both Worlds. Hum Reprod 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deac107.515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Study question
What is difference in time to pregnancy for patients between 35-40 years who undergo fresh versus frozen-thawed embryo transfers with or without PGT-A?
Summary answer
Patients undergoing fresh embryo transfer (ET) had a shorter time to pregnancy within the same cycle compared to patients electing for freeze-all cycles.
What is known already
When comparing clinical pregnancy rates following fresh versus frozen-thawed embryo transfers, multiple studies have shown a higher clinical pregnancy rate among frozen-thawed embryo transfers compared to fresh embryo transfers. Particularly for patients over 35 years, there has been a growing national trend towards elective freeze-all cycles, for reasons such as to pursue preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A). While PGT-A testing can be effective in reducing miscarriage in patients age 38-40, there is limited studies evaluating time to pregnancy within this population, especially in the context of each passing month’s effect on fertility.
Study design, size, duration
Retrospective review was performed for 697 IVF cycles and 881 transfers from January 2016 – December 2021 at a single academic fertility center in Boston, Massachusetts. Two-tailed t-tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare differences, with p-value less than 0.05 set for statistical significance. All PGT-A testing as performed using a modified FAST-SeqS next generation sequencing method (Invitae, San Francisco, CA).
Participants/materials, setting, methods
Cycle characteristic of patients between 35-40 were categorized to four groups: Fresh ET with PGT-A of supernumerary embryos (82 transfers), Fresh ET without PGT-A (526 transfers), Freeze-all cycle with PGT-A (223 transfers), and Freeze-all cycle without PGT-A (50 transfers). All averages were calculated within one IVF cycle with a single cohort of embryos. Time to pregnancy was calculated in days from day of retrieval to positive serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (bHCG).
Main results and the role of chance
Among the 881 transfers, 478 had fresh ETs and 403 had frozen-thawed ETs with or without PGT-A respectively. When comparing fresh and freeze-all cycles, there was no difference in average numbers of transfers performed to achieve a clinical pregnancy (1.27 fresh vs 1.25 freeze-all, p = 0.56). For patients who didn’t elect for PGT-A, there was no difference in number of embryos transferred (1.86 for fresh versus 2.06 for freeze-all, p = 0.54). For patients who elected for PGT-A, the average number of embryos transferred was higher for patients that opted for fresh transfer over freeze-all (1.67 for fresh ET with PGT-A of supernumerary embryos versus 1.24 for freeze-all PGT-A, p = 0.0025). Average days from oocyte retrieval to pregnancy was significantly lower for all fresh ETs (28.8 days for fresh ET without biopsy, 26.6 days for fresh ET with biopsy of supernumerary embryos, p < 0.0001) compared to all freeze-all transfers (110.9 days for freeze-all ET without biopsy, 119.5 days for freeze-all ET with biopsy, p < 0.0001). This delay in time to pregnancy is partially attributed to pending genetic testing results, however, these results usually return in 2-3 weeks, which does not account for the near 3-month delay in time to pregnancy among freeze-all cycles.
Limitations, reasons for caution
These retrospective findings were of all women who achieved pregnancy from one retrieval. These results are not reflective of the patients who needed to undergo multiple cycles to achieve pregnancy, or patients who never achieved pregnancy.
Wider implications of the findings
These findings suggest that PGT-A may be offered to patients > 35 to minimize the number of embryos for transfer. Patients opting for a fresh transfer of an untested embryo and biopsy of supernumerary embryos had a nearly 3-month shorter time to pregnancy than those electing for a freeze-all cycle
Trial registration number
not applicable
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Affiliation(s)
- V Jiang
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology , Boston, U.S.A
| | - I Dimitriadis
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology , Boston, U.S.A
| | - I Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology , Boston, U.S.A
| | - C.L Bormann
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology , Boston, U.S.A
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Cherouveim P, Vagios S, Hammer K, Fitz V, Jiang V, James K, Dimitriadis I, Bormann C, Souter I. O-184 The impact of cryopreserved sperm on Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) outcomes: Is frozen as good as fresh? Hum Reprod 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deac105.098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Study question
Are the outcomes of IUI cycles [with or without ovarian stimulation (OS)] comparable when frozen instead of fresh-ejaculated sperm is utilized?
Summary answer
Overall, clinical outcomes did not differ significantly between frozen and fresh sperm IUI cycles, although specific subgroups might benefit from fresh sperm utilization.
What is known already
At present, data from animal studies point towards less favorable outcomes with frozen sperm utilization, implicating cryopreservation-induced damages to the cytoskeleton, DNA, and acrosome leading to adverse effects on spermatozoa’s motility, viability, and ability to fuse with the oocyte. Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) data, mostly focusing on severe male factor infertility diagnoses, suggest no major differences between in-vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) cycles utilizing frozen over fresh sperm, often surgically extracted. Nevertheless, contemporary data from IUI(±OS) cycles are still scarce.
Study design, size, duration
Data from 5335 IUI(±OS) cycles (time-period: 01/2004-12/2021) from a large academic fertility center were retrospectively reviewed. Cycles were stratified in two groups based on utilization of frozen instead of fresh-ejaculated sperm for the IUI [FROZEN (n = 1871, all infertility diagnoses), and FRESH (n = 3464, idiopathic infertility diagnosis only), respectively]. Cycle outcomes were compared between groups.
Participants/materials, setting, methods
Participants: women seeking IUI (±OS) treatments.
Outcome Measures: HCG-positivity, clinical pregnancy (CP), spontaneous abortion (SAB) rates. Initial analysis included all cycles irrespective of OS regimen. Cycles were then stratified by OS regimen into three subgroups [injectable gonadotropins, oral medications (OM): clomiphene-citrate and letrozole, and unstimulated/natural]. Odds ratios (OR) for all relevant outcomes were calculated utilizing logistic regression and adjusted for maternal age, day-3 FSH, and OS regimen. Time-to-pregnancy and first-cycle only analyses were also performed.
Main results and the role of chance
Unadjusted HCG-positivity, and CP were lower in the FROZEN compared to the FRESH group (12.2% vs. 15.6%, p < 0.001; 9.4% vs. 13.0%, p<.001, respectively), which persisted only among OM after stratification (9.9% vs. 14.2% HCG-positivity, p=.030; 8.1% vs. 11.8% CPR, p=.041, for FROZEN compared to FRESH, respectively).
Among all cycles, adjOR(95%CI) for HCG-positivity and CP were respectively: 0.75(0.56-1.02), and 0.77(0.57-1.03), ref: FRESH). Following stratification by OS regimen, adjOR(95%CI) for HCG-positivity and CP showed no difference between groups among gonadotropin and natural cycles but favored the FRESH group in OM cycles [HCG-positivity: 0.55(0.30-0.99); CP: 0.49(0.25-0.95), ref.: FRESH]. SAB odds did not differ between groups among OM and natural cycles but were lower in the FROZEN compared to FRESH group among gonadotropin cycles [adjOR(95%CI): 0.13(0.02-0.98), ref.: FRESH]. However, regarding the latter comparison, numbers were small and the 95%CI wide. When analysis was limited to first-cycles only and further stratified by OS regimen, the previously noted differences in CP and SAB odds no longer existed within the OS subgroups.
Nevetheless, time-to-conception was slightly longer in the FROZEN compared to the FRESH group (3.84 vs. 2.58 cycles, p<.001).
Limitations, reasons for caution
Study is limited by its retrospective nature. The two groups differed somewhat in age, infertility diagnosis, utilized OS regimen, and as expected in total motile sperm counts. Despite the less favorable characteristics of the FROZEN group, no detrimental effect of sperm cryopreservation on IUI outcomes was noted.
Wider implications of the findings
Our study, the largest to date, showed no significant difference in IUI outcomes between cycles utilizing frozen instead of fresh-ejaculated sperm. Although, specific subgroups might benefit from fresh sperm utilization and time-to-pregnancy might be shorter with fresh over frozen sperm, patients should be counselled about the non-inferiority of frozen sperm.
Trial registration number
Not applicable
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Affiliation(s)
- P Cherouveim
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA , U.S.A
| | - S Vagios
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA , U.S.A
| | - K Hammer
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA , U.S.A
| | - V Fitz
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA , U.S.A
| | - V Jiang
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA , U.S.A
| | - K James
- Deborah Kelly Center for Outcomes Research - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - I Dimitriadis
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA , U.S.A
| | - C Bormann
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA , U.S.A
| | - I Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA , U.S.A
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Mitsunami M, Mínguez-Alarcón L, Souter I, Hauser R, Chavarro J. P-647 Intake of soy foods and soy isoflavones in relation to ovarian reserve among women presenting to a fertility center. Hum Reprod 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deac107.596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Study question
Are soy food and isoflavone intakes associated with ovarian reserve as measured by antral follicle count (AFC)?
Summary answer
Within the observed range of intake, soy food or isoflavone consumptions are not associated with AFC.
What is known already
Phytoestrogens are structurally similar to 17β-estradiol, and bind to ER-α and ER-β in vitro resulting in weak estrogenic activity. Previous work in ruminants, felines and rodents has shown that exposure to phytoestrogens can have major adverse impacts on reproduction. However, findings of studies in humans suggest that soy foods and soy phytoestrogens may not have major deleterious impacts on reproductive hormone levels or reproductive outcomes, and could even be beneficial in couples undergoing infertility treatment.
Study design, size, duration
Women presenting to a large academic fertility center between April 2007 and December 2019 were invited to participate in the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study, a prospective cohort study. Intake of 15 soy-based foods during the previous three months was obtained at baseline and intake of soy phytoestrogens was estimated from these reports. AFC was assessed with transvaginal ultrasound performed as part of diagnostic evaluation for infertility.
Participants/materials, setting, methods
We included 667 women who reported their soy food intake and had an AFC assessment. Women were divided in groups of increasing soy food and soy isoflavone intake with women who reported not consuming soy-based foods serving as the reference group. We evaluated the association of soy foods and soy isoflavones intake with AFC using Poisson regression models adjusting for confounders. Analyses were also stratified by age, BMI, and smoking status.
Main results and the role of chance
Women had median baseline age of 35.0 years and BMI of 23.4 kg/m2. Mean (range) intake of soy foods was 0.1 (0-7.4) servings/day, and mean (range) intake of isoflavones was 6 (0-166) mg/day, which is comparable to that of women in the general population of the USA. Intakes of soy foods or isoflavones were not related to AFC. The median (IQR) AFC for women who did not consume soy foods and women in the highest category of soy intake (>0.45 servings/day, median 0.88 servings/day) were 12 (9, 18) and 13 (9, 19). After adjustment for potential confounders, the mean difference in AFC between women in the highest category of soy intake and women who did not consume soy was -0.5% (-6.6%, 6.1%). Soy food intake remained unrelated to AFC when intake was categorized using different cutoff values when intake was modeled as a continuous variable when departures from a linear association were considered, and when we excluded from analysis 76 women whose AFC ultrasound scan was performed before they completed the diet assessment. Soy intake was also unrelated to AFC within categories of age, BMI and smoking status. Findings for soy isoflavones mirrored those for soy-food intake.
Limitations, reasons for caution
Self-reported soy intake may have resulted in measurement error leading to attenuation of observed relations towards the null. Also, all participants were women presenting to a fertility center and therefore, findings may not be generalizable to women in the general population.
Wider implications of the findings
Our findings suggest soy food and isoflavone intakes within the ranges observed among women in the general population of the USA is unlikely to influence ovarian reserve in any meaningful way.
Trial registration number
Not applicable
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Affiliation(s)
- M Mitsunami
- Harvard T.H. School of Public Health , Nutrition, Boston, U.S.A
| | - L Mínguez-Alarcón
- Harvard T.H. School of Public Health, Environmental Health , Boston, U.S.A
| | - I Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Fertility Center- Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Boston, U.S.A
| | - R Hauser
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Channing Division of Network Medicine- Department of Medicine , Boston, U.S.A
| | - J Chavarro
- Harvard T.H. School of Public Health , Nutrition, Boston, U.S.A
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Lu Y, Cherouveim P, Jiang V, Dimitriadis I, Bormann C, James K, Souter I. P-342 The impact of Clomiphene Citrate (CC) on the endometrium in comparison to gonadotropins (Gn) in intrauterine-insemination treatments (IUI): Is it thinner and does it matter? Hum Reprod 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deac107.326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Study question
Utilizing patients as their own controls, does endometrial thickness (EMT) differ between CC/IUI and Gn/IUI? Does EMT differ between CC-cycles with and without associated conception?
Summary answer
Within-patient, CC resulted in thinner EMT compared to Gn. CC-cycles associated with conception compared to the ones without it, had thicker endometria.
What is known already
CC, unlike gonadotropins, may have an anti-estrogenic effect on the endometrium. Concerns exist that the thinning of the endometrium might be associated with altered endometrial development and receptivity. However, available data in CC cycles remain inconsistent, probably due to patient and protocol heterogeneity. Currently, it remains unclear whether CC treatments produce a thinner endometrium, compared to gonadotropins, in the same patient. Furthermore, it is uncertain whether such a difference, if one exists, has a consequential effect on IUI cycle outcomes.
Study design, size, duration
Design: retrospective.
Duration: 1/2004-9/2021
Cohort 1 utilized women as their own controls to evaluate CC’s impact on the endometrium and included all cycles from women who sought fertility treatments and initially underwent CC/IUI (CC1, n = 1252) followed by Gn/IUI (Gn1, n = 1307).
Cohort 2 included all cycles from women seeking fertility treatments at the same center that conceived following CC/IUI treatments (CC2, n = 686).
EMT was compared between groups (CC1 vs. Gn1, CC1 vs. CC2).
Participants/materials, setting, methods
Outcome measures:
Primary: EMT (mm).
Secondary: HCG-positivity (pos-HCGR), clinical pregnancy (CPR), and spontaneous abortion rates (SABR).
Statistics:
Regression analysis was used to calculate Odds Ratios (OR) with associated 95% confidence intervals (95%CI), adjusting for potential confounders [maternal age, Body Mass Index (BMI), prior parity, day of EMT measurement relative to trigger). Generalized estimating equations (GEE) model were utilized to account for multiple cycles per patient. P < 0.05 was considered significant.
Main results and the role of chance
In cohort 1, despite CC1 exhibiting non-inferior ovarian response compared to Gn1 (as assessed by preovulatory follicular number), EMT was significantly thinner in CC1 compared to Gn1 [Median(IQR): 7.0(5.7-8.3) vs. 8.9(7.4-10.0), p<.001]. When CC1 was compared to CC2 (CC conceiving), EMT was also thinner [Median(IQR): 7.0(5.7-8.3) vs. 7.5(6.2-9.0), for CC1 vs. CC2, respectively, p<.001]. A higher percentage of CC1 compared to Gn1 cycles resulted in EMT≤7mm (48.9% vs. 16.7% , for CC1 vs. Gn, respectively; p<.001). Most subsequent Gn cycles (82.8%), in the same women, resulted in thicker EMT compared to CC1. AdjOR, in generalized linear mixed models, suggested that CC2 when compared to CC1 cycles had thicker EMT [adjOR(95%CI): 1.81, (1.41,2.35), p<.001].
Interestingly, clinical pregnancies were observed even when EMT was ≤4mm in both CC2 and Gn1 groups and SABR did not differ between cycles with EMT≤4mm and the ones with thicker EMT (2.5% vs. 11.5%, p=.258, in CC2; 0% and 12.3%, p=.544, in Gn1; SABR EMT ≤4 vs. 4 mm, respectively). GEE models suggested an association between EMT and CPR in CC cycles (CC1&CC2), [adjOR(95%CI): 1.12(1.07,1.18), p<.001)] while in Gn1, no such association was observed.
Limitations, reasons for caution
Our study was limited by its retrospective design. Reflecting our selection criterion, in cohort 1, most CC cycles did not result in pregnancy, restricting relevant comparisons. Number of cycles resulting in EMT ≤7mm, and particularly ≤4mm, was limited, and consequently respective results should be interpreted cautiously.
Wider implications of the findings
Utilizing patients as their own controls, we showed that CC compared to gonadotropins resulted in thinner endometrium. Given comparable follicular response, and potentially estradiol levels, thinner endometrium might have resulted from CC’s anti-estrogenic effect. Furthermore, patients conceiving on CC had a thicker endometrium compared to the ones that did not.
Trial registration number
NA
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Lu
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston, Armenia
| | - P Cherouveim
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston, Armenia
| | - V Jiang
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston, Armenia
| | - I Dimitriadis
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston, Armenia
| | - C Bormann
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston, Armenia
| | - K James
- Deborah Kelly Center for Outcomes Research - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology , Boston, Armenia
| | - I Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston, Armenia
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Fitz V, Cherouveim P, Hammer K, Jiang V, Sacha C, Dimitriadis I, Bormann C, James K, Roberts D, Souter I. P-434 Is there an association between pre-ovulatory estradiol levels and placental pathology of singleton livebirths conceived with gonadotropins/intrauterine insemination (Gn/IUI) treatments? Hum Reprod 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deac107.409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Study question
Is pre-ovulatory estradiol level associated with placental weight (PW) and abnormality rates (PAR) in singleton livebirths resulting from gonadotropins/intrauterine insemination (Gn/IUI) treatments?
Summary answer
In Gn/IUI-conceived, singleton-livebirths with available placental pathology, an association was noted between preovulatory estradiol levels and PW, but not between estradiol and PAR.
What is known already
Data suggest an association between ART and placental-mediated pregnancy complications, as well as increased rates of placental pathology. Supraphysiologic levels of preovulatory estradiol have been implicated in abnormal placentation. Whether such an effect is noted in Gn/IUI treatments, where levels of estradiol are lower, nevertheless supraphysiologic, remains unknown.
Study design, size, duration
We retrospectively reviewed data from 560 Gn/IUI-conceived, singleton-livebirths (1/2004-1/2021) recruited from a large academic fertility center. Placental pathology information was available from 218 cycles. These cycles were stratified by pre-ovulatory estradiol levels in quartiles [Q1(lower)-Q4 (higher)]. PW [grams & percentiles (%iles)], and rates of placental abnormalities (classified as anatomic, inflammatory, infectious, and vascular/thrombotic) were compared between groups.
Participants/materials, setting, methods
Participants: Women with Gn/IUI-conceived, singleton-livebirths with available placental pathology.
Outcome Measures: PW and PAR.
Statistics: Regression analysis was utilized to estimate the association of pre-ovulatory estradiol %iles with PW and PAR, adjusting for potential confounders (PW: maternal and gestational age, BMI, infertility diagnosis, medical complications, infant gender; PAR: maternal and gestational age, BMI, race). Adjusted Odds Ratios (OR) with 95%CI were calculated for the latter.
Main results and the role of chance
Mean PW(±SD) in grams were 477.3(±124.1), 445.9(±107.4), 451.2(±113.9), and 438.9(±107.0) in Q1 through Q4 (p=.368). Small placentas (≤10thPW %ile) accounted for more than a third of the total in all estradiol quartiles (37.5%, 49.2%, 37.5%, and 42.2%, p=.539, Q1-Q4, respectively). Similarly, increasingly higher percentages of placentas ≤25th PW %ile were noted with increasing estradiol quartiles (47.9%, 57.6%, 62.5% and 64.5%, in Q1-Q4 respectively, p=.347). After adjusting for potential confounders, we noted a mean 13.7 grams decrease in PW between each subsequent estradiol quartile [ adjβ-coeff (95%CI): -13.7(-27.7-0.3), p=.055]. When estradiol levels were analyzed as a continuous variable, an inverse association with PW [ adjβ-coeff (95%CI): -0.08 (-0.16-(-0.01)), p=.026] was noted. Adjusted ORs for small placenta did not differ between estradiol quartiles or when estradiol was analyzed as a continuous variable [adjORs(95%CI): 1.73(0.74-4.07), 1.10(0.47-2.55), 1.81(0.69-4.72), for Q2-Q4, Q1 as ref.; 1.001(1.000-1.003), p=.167; respectively].
There was no significant association between placental abnormality rates (PAR) and estradiol, either before or after adjustment [adjORs(95%CI): i) Anatomic : 1.16(0.49-2.74), 1.52(0.65-3.59), and 1.17(0.45-3.02); ii) Inflammatory : 0.40(0.13-1.25), 0.79(0.28-2.17), and 1.25(0.42-3.73); iii) Infectious : 0.89(0.35-2.25), 1.67(0.68-4.13), and 0.58(0.20-1.67); iv) Vascular/thrombotic : 0.88(0.37-2.08), 1.87(0.80-4.41), and 0.95(0.36-2.49); for Q2-Q4 vs. Q1].
Limitations, reasons for caution
There are several limitations, including the retrospective design, possible selection bias resulting from the decision to obtain placental pathology. Nonetheless, birth weights did not differ between those with and without placental pathology. Estradiol levels, albeit supraphysiologic, are much lower than those in ART and differences might be masked.
Wider implications of the findings
In Gn/IUI-conceived, singleton-livebirths with available placental pathology, an association was noted between preovulatory estradiol levels and placental weight, but not between estradiol and the rate of specific placental abnormalities (PAR). Since estradiol levels are lower than those observed in ART, an association might have been missed.
Trial registration number
not applicable
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Affiliation(s)
- V Fitz
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - P Cherouveim
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - K Hammer
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - V Jiang
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - C Sacha
- University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Dept of OB/GYN - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Worcester MA, U.S.A
| | - I Dimitriadis
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - C Bormann
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - K James
- Deborah Kelly Center for Outcomes Research - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - D Roberts
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Pathology , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - I Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
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Jiang V, Bormann C, Souter I, Dimitriadis I, Kanakasabapathy M, Thirumalaraju P, Shafiee H. P-294 Use of Artificial Intelligence to Assess the Effects of Assisted Hatching on Embryo Development and Implantation Potential. Hum Reprod 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deac107.282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Study question
Does the use of laser-assisted hatching (AH) on cleavage stage embryos affect in vitro preimplantation embryo development or implantation potential?
Summary answer
There is no difference in blastocyst conversion rate or implantation potential of embryos following AH at the cleavage stage for patients under age 35 years.
What is known already
Laser-AH is the process of creating an opening within the zona pellucida on cleavage stage embryos to facilitate biopsy of trophectoderm cells for preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). Studies have shown that PGT for aneuploidy (PGT-A) in patients under 35 years have reduced pregnancy rates compared to those not undergoing biopsy. This is attributed to the additional micromanipulation events involved with PGT-A may decrease the viability of embryos and compromise their implantation potential. We aimed to objectively compare the impact of AH on embryo development using an artificial intelligence (AI)-algorithm trained to assess embryo quality and predict developmental fate.
Study design, size, duration
A retrospective dataset from patients under 35 years was generated from two timepoints: cleavage stage embryos immediately before AH between 60-64 hours post insemination (hpi); and blastocyst stage embryos between 110-115 hpi prior to transfer or vitrification. Time-lapse imaging was obtained using the EmbryoScope (Vitrolife). Cleavage stage embryo images were used to train a convolutional neural networks (CNN) to predict and classify the development and implantation potential of cleavage and blastocyst stage embryos.
Participants/materials, setting, methods
Time-lapse images were collected for 1444 cleavage stage embryos spanning 189 in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles between January 2014 – December 2021 at a single academic fertility center in Boston. Embryos were categorized into two groups: Day 3 embryos with AH (D3+AH) and without AH (D3-No AH). Each patient had a single blastocyst embryo transfer with a known outcome. Two-tailed t-tests were used to compare differences, with p-value less than 0.05 set for statistical significance.
Main results and the role of chance
The dataset included 1035 embryos with AH (D3+AH) and 409 embryos without AH (D3-No AH). There were no differences in AI-predicted blastocyst development between Day 3 embryos with AH and without AH (64.1% vs 64.1%) or AI-predicted high quality blastocyst development rate between these two groups (43.8% vs 40.8%), respectively. On Day 5 there were no differences in the AI-categorization of embryos at the blastocyst stage between embryos with or without AH (62.3% vs 62.5%) or AI-categorization of high-quality blastocyst development (45.2% vs 41.8%), respectively. AI predicted a similar implantation potential between embryos with and without AH at the cleavage stage (61.1% vs 69.9%). When stratifying to only the embryos transferred, there were no differences in the AI-predicted blastocyst development between Day 3 embryos with AH and without AH (96.0% vs 97.1%) or in the AI-predicted high quality blastocyst development rate between these two groups (72.0% vs 82.7%). AI predicted a similar implantation potential between embryos with and without AH at the cleavage stage (72.0% vs 69.0%). These results correspond with the true clinical pregnancy rate between the AH and Non-AH groups (68.0% vs 61.9%, p = 0.44).
Limitations, reasons for caution
These retrospective findings were of patients who had time-lapse imaging of cleavage stage and blastocysts available. Additionally, we focused on high prognosis patients that were eligible for single blastocyst stage embryo transfer. Clinical pregnancy rate was examined, not spontaneous abortion or live birth rates.
Wider implications of the findings
Utilization of AI technology allows for more objective and standardized methods for examining the impact of laboratory procedures on the developmental fate of embryos. This study demonstrated the safety of utilizing laser-assisted hatching on embryo development within this study population.
Trial registration number
None
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Affiliation(s)
- V Jiang
- Massachusetts General Hospital , Ob/Gyn, Boston, U.S.A
| | - C Bormann
- Massachusetts General Hospital , Ob/Gyn, Boston, U.S.A
| | - I Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital , Ob/Gyn, Boston, U.S.A
| | - I Dimitriadis
- Massachusetts General Hospital , Ob/Gyn, Boston, U.S.A
| | | | | | - H Shafiee
- Brigham and Women's Hospital , Medicine, Boston, U.S.A
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Souter I, Cherouveim P, Fitz V, Hammer K, Jiang V, Sacha C, Dimitriadis I, Bormann C, James K, Roberts D. P-426 Placental pathology following Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) with or without Ovarian Stimulation (OS). Hum Reprod 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deac107.403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Study question
Do placental weight percentiles (PW %iles) and abnormality rates (PAR) differ in singleton-livebirths following IUI with or without OS [oral medications (OM), and injectable gonadotropins]?
Summary answer
Following singleton-livebirths, PW did not differ between groups, albeit over half of placentas were ≤25th%ile. Placental anatomic abnormalities were more often seen in OM cycles.
What is known already
ART data suggest a possible association between stimulation-induced supraphysiologic estradiol levels and increased risk of placental abnormalities, as well as subsequent placental-mediated pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia. Whether there is an association between OS protocols for IUI and placental pathology remains unknown.
Study design, size, duration
Data from 975 IUI(±OS) cycles resulting in singleton livebirths at a large academic fertility center between 01/2004 and 01/2021, were retrospectively reviewed. In 386 cycles a full placental pathologic examination was available. Placentas were stratified by OS regimen into three groups: gonadotropins (n = 222), OM [Clomiphene Citrate (CC)/Letrozole (LTZ); n = 129], and unstimulated / natural (n = 35). PW and PAR were compared between groups.
Participants/materials, setting, methods
Participants: Women delivering a singleton liveborn following IUI(±OS) treatments with placental pathology available.
Outcome Measures: PW (grs & %iles), and PAR (classified as anatomic, inflammatory, infectious, and vascular/thrombotic).
Statistics: Regression analysis was utilized to compare PW and PAR between groups, adjusting for potential confounders (PW: maternal and gestational age, BMI, infertility diagnosis, medical complications, infant gender; PAR: maternal and gestational age, BMI, race). Adjusted Odds Ratios (adjOR, 95%CI) were calculated for the latter.
Main results and the role of chance
Mean(±STDEV) PW (grs) were 451.7(±113.3), 449.2(±102.4), and 481.8(±99.8), for the gonadotropins, OM, and natural groups, respectively. Interestingly, over half of the placentas in all three groups were ≤25th %ile (58.6%, 56.1%, and 52.9%, for gonadotropins, OM, and natural, respectively, p=.249), while 41.8%, 46.4%, and 38.2% were below the 10th %ile (for gonadotropins, OM, and natural, respectively, p=.598). Adjusted PW differences, and adjOR for small placenta (≤10th %ile) did not differ between groups [PW OR(95%CI): 5.6(-17.9-29.2), -28.1(-71.4-15.2), -11.7(-52.6-29.3); small placenta OR(95%CI): 1.04(0.62-1.76); 1.27(0.40-4.01), and 0.96(0.34-2.74) for OM vs. gonadotropins, OM vs. natural, and gonadotropins vs. natural, latter as ref. ].
Regarding PAR, anatomic(43.7%, 52.7%, and 40%, p=.192), inflammatory(20.7%, 27.1%, and 20%, p=.354), infectious(32.9%, 33.3%, and 31.4%, p=.978), and vascular/thrombotic(42.3%, 41.9%, and 42.9%, p=.993) abnormalities rates did not differ between gonadotropins, OM, and natural, respectively. AdjORs(95%CI) for inflammatory, infectious, and vascular/thrombotic abnormalities did not differ significantly between groups. However, anatomic abnormalities were more frequent among OM compared to gonadotropin and natural cycles [adjOR(95%CI): 1.76(1.06-2.91), p=.028, gonadotropins as ref.; 2.52(1.05-6.05), p=.038, natural as ref.].
Limitations, reasons for caution
This study is limited by its retrospective nature. Unfortunately, placental pathology was available only in conceptions clearly identified as resulting from IUI(±OS) treatments. However, birth weights did not differ between those with and without available placental pathology. Natural/IUI cycles were limited in numbers not allowing meaningful conclusions.
Wider implications of the findings
Between IUI-conceived, singleton-livebirths with available placental pathology, mean PW did not differ significantly. However, a higher-than-expected percent of placentas were below the expected %iles, suggesting that IUI(±OS) might be associated with altered placental growth. Placental anatomic abnormalities were more common among OM cycles, compared to gonadotropins, and n atural IUI cycles.
Trial registration number
Not applicable
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Affiliation(s)
- I Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - P Cherouveim
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - V Fitz
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - K Hammer
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - V Jiang
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - C Sacha
- University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Dept of OB/GYN - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Worcester MA, U.S.A
| | - I Dimitriadis
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - C Bormann
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology - Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - K James
- Deborah Kelly Center for Outcomes Research - Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology , Boston MA, U.S.A
| | - D Roberts
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Department of Pathology , Boston MA, U.S.A
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Vagios S, Sacha CR, Hammer KC, Fitz VW, Dimitriadis I, Souter I, Bormann CL. The effect of semen collection at home on intrauterine insemination outcomes. Andrology 2022; 10:863-870. [PMID: 35332697 DOI: 10.1111/andr.13176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2021] [Revised: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The WHO 2010 guidelines recognize at-home semen collection as an acceptable alternative to standard collection at the clinic in "exceptional circumstances". There is lack of sufficient data to determine the need for revisiting these recommendations for treatment purposes. OBJECTIVES To determine whether at home semen collection has any effect on intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycle outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS This is a retrospective cohort study of 729 IUI treatment cycles (382 patients) performed at an academic fertility center from 9/19/2019 to 12/31/2020. Semen collected at the "clinic" was used for 343 cycles before the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (09/19/2019-3/21/2020), and "at-home" collected specimens were used for 386 cycles following revised protocols with COVID-19 driven changes (5/30/2020-12/31/2020). Logistic regression models were performed to evaluate the effect of "at-home" semen collection on achieving a positive pregnancy test (PPT) and a clinical pregnancy (CP). RESULTS Male and female partners' age, ovarian reserve biomarkers, and stimulation regimens used were similar in the "clinic" and "at-home" groups. In unadjusted models, "at-home" collection had no significant effect on the odds for a PPT [OR (95%CI): 0.733(0.503-1.069)] or CP [0.816(0.543-1.226)]. These results persisted even when adjusting for maternal age and anti-Müllerian Hormone: PPT [0.739(0.505-1.081)] and CP [0.826(0.547-1.248)]. Of the semen analysis parameters under evaluation, only motility appeared to significantly impact the odds of achieving a PPT [1.014(1.004-1.025)] and a CP [1.017(1.006-1.029)]. This effect was slightly attenuated for samples collected "at-home" [1.012(0.997-1.027) and 1.015(0.999-1.031), respectively for PPT and CP]. DISCUSSION This study adds important information to the limited literature regarding the effect of at-home semen collection on IUI outcomes. Under adequate protocols, at-home semen collection should be considered a safe alternative. Additional research is needed to optimize such protocols. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that at-home semen collection does not negatively impact IUI pregnancy outcomes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stylianos Vagios
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Caitlin R Sacha
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Karissa C Hammer
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Victoria W Fitz
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Irene Dimitriadis
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Charles L Bormann
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Division of Endocrinology and Infertility, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
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Bian H, Mínguez-Alarcón L, Salas-Huetos A, Bauer D, Williams PL, Souter I, Attaman J, Chavarro JE. Male waist circumference in relation to semen quality and partner infertility treatment outcomes among couples undergoing infertility treatment with assisted reproductive technologies. Am J Clin Nutr 2022; 115:833-842. [PMID: 34734234 PMCID: PMC8895222 DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/nqab364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Male obesity has been related to poor semen quality and may also have a negative effect on assisted reproductive technologies (ART) outcomes. Whether male waist circumference (WC), as a measure of central obesity, impacts a couple's fertility independently of BMI is unclear. OBJECTIVES To examine the associations of male WC with semen quality and couples' outcomes of infertility treatment with ART. METHODS Couples presenting to the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center were invited to participate in the study. Between 2009 and 2019, 269 males provided 671 semen samples and 176 couples underwent 317 ART cycles. Height, weight, and WC were measured on site. We analyzed the association of male WC with semen quality and pregnancy outcomes using cluster-weighted regression models to account for repeated observations while adjusting for potential confounders. Models were also stratified by male BMI (<25 kg/m2 compared with ≥25 kg/m2). RESULTS The median male age, WC, and BMI were 36.1 years, 96.0 cm, and 26.8 kg/m2, respectively. A 5-cm increase in WC was associated with a 6.3% (95% CI, 2.1-10.5%) lower sperm concentration after adjustment for potential confounders, including BMI. Male WC was also inversely related to the probability of achieving a live birth. For each 5-cm increase in male WC, the odds of a live birth per initiated cycle decreased by 9.0% (95% CI, 1.1%-16.4%) after accounting for several anthropometric and demographic characteristics of both partners. These associations were stronger among males in the normal BMI category (<25 kg/m2) than among overweight or obese males. CONCLUSIONS A higher male WC may be an additional risk factor for poor outcomes of infertility treatment, even after accounting for male and female partner BMIs, particularly in couples where the male partner has a normal BMI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haiyang Bian
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Institute of Reproductive and Child Health and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Peking University School of Public Health, Beijing, China
| | - Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Albert Salas-Huetos
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David Bauer
- Harvard Extension School, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Paige L Williams
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Jill Attaman
- Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
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Salas-Huetos A, Mínguez-Alarcón L, Mitsunami M, Arvizu M, Ford JB, Souter I, Yeste M, Chavarro JE. Paternal adherence to healthy dietary patterns in relation to sperm parameters and outcomes of assisted reproductive technologies. Fertil Steril 2022; 117:298-312. [PMID: 34920872 PMCID: PMC8821200 DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.10.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To investigate whether men's adherence to dietary patterns promoted for the prevention of cardiovascular disease is associated with semen parameters and couples' assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. SETTING Fertility center at an academic medical center. PATIENT(S) A total of 245 men and their female partners who underwent 438 ART cycles between 2007 and 2020. INTERVENTION(S) Male pretreatment dietary intake was assessed with a 131-item food frequency questionnaire from which we calculated eight a priori defined scores: Trichopoulou Mediterranean, Alternate Mediterranean, Panagiotakos Mediterranean, Healthy Eating Index, Alternative Healthy Eating Index, American Heart Association, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, and Plant-based. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) The primary outcome was live births per treatment cycle. The secondary outcomes were fertilization, implantation, and clinical pregnancy and seminogram parameters. RESULT(S) There was an inverse association between greater adherence by men to the Panagiotakos Mediterranean diet and the American Heart Association dietary pattern and lower fertilization rate. However, there were no significant associations between men's adherence to any of the analyzed dietary patterns and the probabilities of implantation, clinical pregnancy, or live birth in multivariable-adjusted models. No significant differences in any of the semen parameters were found between participants of the lowest quartile and those of the highest quartile of the eight dietary patterns. CONCLUSION(S) These findings suggest that men's adherence to several a priori defined dietary scores with documented cardiovascular benefits is not related to major outcomes of infertility treatment with ART or semen quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Salas-Huetos
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Makiko Mitsunami
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mariel Arvizu
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jennifer B. Ford
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marc Yeste
- Biotechnology of Animal and Human Reproduction (TechnoSperm), Institute of Food and Agricultural Technology, University of Girona, Girona, Spain.,Unit of Cell Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Girona, Girona, Spain
| | - Jorge E. Chavarro
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.,Corresponding author: Jorge E. Chavarro, Department of Nutrition and Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
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Souter I, Sun F, Zhang H, Diamond MP, Legro RS, Wild RA, Hansen KR, Santoro N. A personalized medicine approach to ovulation induction/ovarian stimulation: development of a predictive model and online calculator from level-I evidence. Fertil Steril 2022; 117:408-418. [PMID: 35125179 PMCID: PMC8985501 DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.10.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Revised: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To estimate the probability of clinical or multiple pregnancy during ovulation induction (OI)/ovarian stimulation (OS). DESIGN Secondary analysis of two multicenter randomized clinical trials (combined). SETTING Multicenter. PATIENTS A total of 750 women with polycystic ovary syndrome and 900 women with unexplained infertility. INTERVENTIONS Ovulation induction/OS with either timed intercourse (polycystic ovary syndrome) or intrauterine insemination. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Clinical and multiple pregnancy rates/cycle, cumulative pregnancy rates. Age, body mass index, parity, diagnosis, medication, markers of ovarian reserve, and ovarian response were considered in multivariable regression models for clinical, multiple, and cumulative pregnancy rates. Receiver operating characteristic curves were created for clinical and multiple pregnancy rates. RESULTS Younger patient and partner age, treatment type, lower body mass index, and medication dose were all associated with clinical pregnancy. Variables associated with multiple pregnancy included the abovementioned variables (except age), in addition to diagnosis, parity, higher antral follicle count, antimüllerian hormone levels, and ovarian response. Gonadotropin use was associated with multiple pregnancy, with progressively increasing odds ratios (cycles 1-4). Receiver operating characteristic curves indicated the model's predictive power to be fair for clinical pregnancy (areas under the curve [95% confidence interval {CI}]: 0.78 [0.75-0.81] for cycle 1 and 0.70 [0.64-0.75] for cycle 4) and good-to-excellent for multiple pregnancy (areas under the curve [95% CI]: 0.78 [0.72-0.84] for cycle 1 and 0.86 [0.78-0.93] for cycle 4). Partner age, lower medication dose, parity, antimüllerian hormone levels, and diagnosis were associated with cumulative pregnancy rates. CONCLUSIONS Using the majority of the factors known to predict the outcome of OI/OS cycles, we constructed an easy-to-use formula that may predict individualized chances of clinical and multiple pregnancy for commonly used fertility treatments (https://pregnancyprediction.medicine.yale.edu/CalDirect.html). CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS Assessing Multiple Intrauterine Gestations after Ovulation Stimulation NCT01044862; PPCOSII NCT00719186.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Souter
- Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
| | - Fangbai Sun
- Collaborative Center for Statistics, Department of Biostatistics, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Heping Zhang
- Collaborative Center for Statistics, Department of Biostatistics, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Michael P Diamond
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia
| | - Richard S Legro
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, Pennsylvania
| | - Robert A Wild
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oklahoma Health Schiences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
| | - Karl R Hansen
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oklahoma Health Schiences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
| | - Nanette Santoro
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado
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Sacha CR, Mortimer RM, James K, Harris AL, Yeh J, Toth TL, Souter I, Roberts DJ. Placental pathology of term singleton live births conceived with fresh embryo transfer compared with those conceived without assisted reproductive technology. Fertil Steril 2022; 117:758-768. [PMID: 35105450 DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To compare placental pathology from term singleton live births conceived with fresh embryo transfer vs. those conceived without assisted reproductive technology (ART). DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Academic fertility center. PATIENT(S) Women with a term singleton live birth who conceived after fresh autologous in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles (ART group) and those who conceived without ART. INTERVENTION(S) An experienced placental pathologist categorized placental pathology as anatomic, inflammatory, or vascular. Patient characteristics were compared by chi-squared tests, Student's t-test, or nonparametric tests. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to compare placental pathology between pregnancies conceived with and without ART. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Incidence of anatomic, inflammatory, and vascular placental pathology. RESULT(S) There was a higher incidence of placental pathology in the ART group (n = 511) than in the non-ART group (n = 121), specifically anatomic (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.50, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.42-4.40) and vascular (aOR 2.00, 95% CI 1.13-3.53) pathology. These findings were driven primarily by the significantly higher odds of anatomic (aOR 2.97, 95% CI 1.55-5.66) and vascular (aOR 1.98, 95% CI 1.04-3.75) pathology observed in ICSI pregnancies. Single blastocyst transfers remained associated with increased anatomic pathology (ART: aOR 4.89, 95% CI 2.28-10.49; ICSI: aOR 3.38, 95% CI 1.49-7.71). CONCLUSION(S) Fresh embryo transfer is associated with increased anatomic and vascular placental pathology in term singleton live births compared with conception without ART. This finding should be investigated prospectively in a larger cohort of patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin R Sacha
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
| | - Roisin M Mortimer
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Kaitlyn James
- Center for Outcomes Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Amy L Harris
- Department of Women's Health, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio
| | - John Yeh
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, Massachusetts
| | - Thomas L Toth
- Boston In Vitro Fertilization, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Irene Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Drucilla J Roberts
- Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
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Yland JJ, Zhang Y, Williams PL, Mustieles V, Vagios S, Souter I, Calafat AM, Hauser R, Messerlian C. Phthalate and DINCH urinary concentrations across pregnancy and risk of preterm birth. Environ Pollut 2022; 292:118476. [PMID: 34763012 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Revised: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Preconception and prenatal exposure to phthalates has been associated with an increased risk of preterm birth. However, it is unclear whether there are periods of heightened susceptibility during pregnancy. This prospective cohort study included 386 women undergoing fertility treatment who gave birth to a singleton infant during 2005 through 2018. Eleven phthalate metabolites were measured in spot urine samples collected at each trimester. In approximately 50% of participants, two metabolites of 1,2-cyclohexane dicarboxylic acid diisononyl ester (DINCH), a phthalate substitute, were also measured. The molar sum of four di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate metabolites (∑DEHP) was calculated. We evaluated the associations of mean maternal biomarker concentrations with risk of preterm birth using modified log-binomial models and utilized multiple informant models to compare trimester-specific associations. We examined the relative biomarker concentration across gestation comparing women with preterm birth to women with term delivery using quadratic mixed model. The risk ratio for preterm birth associated with a one-unit increase in the natural log-transformed urinary concentrations of ∑DEHP (mean during pregnancy) was 1.21 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.84, 1.72). In multiple informant models, these associations were strongest in the third trimester (RR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.17, 1.95). Estimated mean ∑DEHP concentrations were higher among women with preterm than term delivery, especially late in gestation. Associations with preterm birth were also observed for each of the four individual DEHP metabolites. Detection of cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid monocarboxyisooctyl ester (MCOCH), a metabolite of DINCH, appeared to be positively related to preterm birth. In this prospective cohort of subfertile couples, maternal ∑DEHP metabolite concentrations during pregnancy were associated with an increased risk of preterm birth, particularly during late gestation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer J Yland
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yu Zhang
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Paige L Williams
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Vicente Mustieles
- University of Granada, Center for Biomedical Research (CIBM), Spain. Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria Ibs GRANADA, Spain; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), 18100, Spain
| | - Stylianos Vagios
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Antonia M Calafat
- National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Russ Hauser
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Carmen Messerlian
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Boston, MA, USA.
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Kadir M, Hood RB, Minguez-Alarcon L, Maldonado-Cárceles AB, Ford JB, Souter I, Chavarro JE, Gaskins AJ. Folate intake and ovarian reserve among women attending a fertility center. Fertil Steril 2022; 117:171-180. [PMID: 34809974 PMCID: PMC8714696 DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.09.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Revised: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To examine the association between dietary folate intake and antral follicle count (AFC) among women seeing treatment for infertility. DESIGN Cohort study. SETTING Academic fertility center. PATIENTS A total of 552 women attending the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center (2007-2019) who participated in the Environment and Reproductive Health Study. INTERVENTIONS None. Folate intake was measured with a validated food frequency questionnaire at study entry. Multivariable Poisson regression models with robust standard errors were used to estimate the association of folate intake with AFC adjusting for calorie intake, age, body mass index, physical activity, education, smoking status, year of AFC, and intakes of vitamin B12, iron, and vitamin D. Nonlinearity was assessed with restricted cubic splines. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE AFC as measured by transvaginal ultrasonography as part of routine care. RESULTS Among the 552 women (median age, 35.0 years; median folate intake, 1,005 μg/d), total and supplemental folate intake had a significant nonlinear relationship with AFC. There was a positive linear association with AFC up to approximately 1,200 μg/d for total folate intake and up to 800 μg/d for supplemental folate intake; however, there was no additional benefit of higher folate intakes. The magnitude of the association was modest; for example, the predicted adjusted difference in AFC between a woman consuming 400 vs. 800 μg/d of supplemental folate was approximately 1.5 follicles. CONCLUSION Higher intake of folate, particularly from supplements, was associated with modestly higher ovarian reserve as measured by AFC among women attending a fertility center. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00011713.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mumta Kadir
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public
Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Robert B. Hood
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public
Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Lidia Minguez-Alarcon
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan
School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | | | - Jennifer B. Ford
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan
School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Irene Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center and Harvard
Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Jorge E. Chavarro
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of
Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of
Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston,
MA, 02115, USA
| | - Audrey J. Gaskins
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public
Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
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Souter I, Bormann CL. Private equity comes knocking on your practice's door: a "fairy godmother" or the "big bad wolf?". Fertil Steril 2021; 117:131-132. [PMID: 34961612 DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Irene Souter
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Charles L Bormann
- Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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Mitsunami M, Salas-Huetos A, Mínguez-Alarcón L, Attaman JA, Ford JB, Kathrins M, Souter I, Chavarro JE. A dietary score representing the overall relation of men's diet with semen quality in relation to outcomes of infertility treatment with assisted reproduction. F S Rep 2021; 2:396-404. [PMID: 34934979 PMCID: PMC8655432 DOI: 10.1016/j.xfre.2021.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Revised: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective To examine the impact of men's diet on outcomes of infertility treatment with assisted reproductive technology (ART) using an empirical score representing the relation of diet with semen quality. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Fertility center at an academic medical center. Patients We included 296 men (688 semen samples) to identify an empirical dietary pattern and 231 couples (406 ART cycles) to investigate the association of this diet pattern with ART outcomes. Interventions Men's diet was assessed at baseline using a validated questionnaire. An empirical dietary pattern reflecting the overall relation of diet with semen quality was identified using reduced rank regression. Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome was live birth per treatment cycle. The secondary outcomes were fertilization, implantation, and clinical pregnancy. Results Men had a median baseline age and body mass index of 36.8 years and 26.9 kg/m2, respectively. Although the empirical diet pattern was significantly associated with all semen parameters, the empirical diet score was not related to any clinical outcome of infertility treatment after ART. The adjusted probabilities of relevant clinical outcomes in the lowest and highest quartiles of the empirical score were 0.62 (0.50-0.73) and 0.55 (0.45-0.66) for implantation, 0.57 (0.46-0.69) and 0.50 (0.40-0.61) for clinical pregnancy, and 0.49 (0.37-0.62) and 0.36 (0.25-0.48) for live birth. Analyses excluding couples with a diagnosis of male factor infertility and, separately, excluding intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles yielded similar results. Conclusions A dietary score representing the overall association of diet with semen quality parameters was not associated with ART outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Makiko Mitsunami
- Master of Medical Sciences in Clinical Investigation Program, Harvard Medical School.,Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
| | | | - Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
| | - Jill A Attaman
- Fertility Center, Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
| | - Jennifer B Ford
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
| | - Martin Kathrins
- Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
| | - Irene Souter
- Fertility Center, Vincent Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
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Sacha CR, Souter I, Williams PL, Chavarro JE, Ford J, Mahalingaiah S, Donahoe PK, Hauser R, Pépin D, Mínguez-Alarcón L. Urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations are negatively associated with follicular fluid anti-müllerian hormone concentrations in women undergoing fertility treatment. Environ Int 2021; 157:106809. [PMID: 34375942 PMCID: PMC9675335 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2021] [Revised: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to phthalates, endocrine-disrupting chemicals commonly used as plasticizers and in consumer products, has been associated with infertility and premature ovarian failure. Our objective was to investigate whether urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations were associated with pre-ovulatory follicular fluid (FF) anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations in women undergoing fertility treatment. This cross-sectional analysis included 138 women with urinary phthalate data available in the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study (2010-2016) in whom FF AMH concentrations were quantified using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We also quantified 8 phthalate metabolite concentrations using tandem mass spectrometry in 1-2 urine samples per cycle (total 331 urines) and calculated the cycle-specific geometric mean for each metabolite. We applied cluster-weighted generalized estimating equation models (CWGEE) to evaluate the associations of tertiles of urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations with log-transformed FF AMH concentrations adjusting for potential confounders. Study participants had median age of 34.0 years (IQR 32.0, 37.0), 83% were white, and median BMI of 23.1 kg/m2 (IQR 21.2, 26.1). The following stimulation protocols were used: luteal phase agonist (70%), antagonist (14%), or flare (16%). Urinary concentrations of select phthalate metabolites were negatively associated with FF AMH. For example, women whose urinary mEOHP was in the lowest tertile (range 0.30-4.04 ng/ml) had an adjusted mean FF AMH of 0.72 ng/mL (95% CI = 0.36, 1.44), compared to women in the highest tertile (range 9.90-235), who had an adjusted mean of 0.24 ng/mL (95% CI = 0.12-0.48, p < 0.05). The negative association between urinary concentrations of certain phthalate metabolites with FF AMH concentrations may have implications for antral follicle recruitment and fertility treatment outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin R Sacha
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, MA, United States; Massachusetts General Hospital Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
| | - Irene Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Paige L Williams
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Jorge E Chavarro
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Nutrition and Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, United States
| | - Jennifer Ford
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Shruthi Mahalingaiah
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Patricia K Donahoe
- Massachusetts General Hospital Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Russ Hauser
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - David Pépin
- Massachusetts General Hospital Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School & Brigham and Women's Hospital, United States
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48
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Mortimer R, James K, Bormann CL, Harris AL, Yeh J, Toth TL, Souter I, Roberts DJ, Sacha CR. Male factor infertility and placental pathology in singleton live births conceived with in vitro fertilization. J Assist Reprod Genet 2021; 38:3223-3232. [PMID: 34704166 PMCID: PMC8666390 DOI: 10.1007/s10815-021-02344-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE We sought to determine whether pregnancies conceived in those with male factor infertility have unique placental pathology profiles compared to those undergoing infertility treatments for other indications. METHODS This was a retrospective cohort study of placental pathology from 464 live births conceived from autologous fresh IVF cycles at an academic fertility center from 2004 to 2017. Placental pathology was compared between live births arising from patients with male factor infertility alone and those with another infertility diagnosis. Placental outcomes were compared with parametric or non-parametric tests; logistic regression was performed to account for potential confounders. RESULTS Compared to cycles performed for a non-male factor diagnosis, male factor infertility cycles had a higher mean paternal age (38.2 years vs. 36.5 years, p < 0.001), a higher female mean BMI (24.3 vs. 23.3 kg/m2, p = 0.01), and a lower day 3 follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) level (6.8 vs. 7.3 IU/mL, p = 0.02). The mean numbers of embryos transferred, and day of transfer were similar between groups, and more cycles used ICSI in the male factor infertility group (90.6% vs. 22.5%, p < 0.001). Placental pathology in our adjusted model was similar between the male factor and non-male factor groups. In our unadjusted subgroup analysis, cycles for male factor using ICSI appeared to lead to more small placentas by weight compared to cycles performed with conventional insemination (45.8% < 10th percentile vs. 18.8%, p = 0.04). CONCLUSION Male factor infertility is not associated with significantly different placental pathology compared to other infertility diagnoses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roisin Mortimer
- Department of OB/GYN, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
| | - K James
- Center for Outcomes Research, Department of OB/GYN, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - C L Bormann
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - A L Harris
- Department of Women's Health, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Wright Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH, USA
- Department of OB/GYN, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA
| | - J Yeh
- Division of Reprod Endo & Infertil, UMass Medical, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - T L Toth
- Boston IVF, Department of OB/GYN, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - I Souter
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - D J Roberts
- Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General, Boston Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - C R Sacha
- Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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Hosseinzadeh P, Peck JD, Burks HR, Souter I, Craig LB, Diamond MP, Hansen KR. FOLLICULAR PHASE LENGTH (FPL) AND PREGNANCY OUTCOME IN WOMEN WITH UNEXPLAINED INFERTILITY UNDERGOING OVARIAN STIMULATION WITH INTRAUTERINE INSEMINATION (OS-IUI) CYCLES IN A MULTICENTER TRIAL. Fertil Steril 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.07.171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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50
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Dimitriadis I, Kanakasabapathy MK, Thirumalaraju P, Vagios S, Souter I, Shafiee H, Bormann CL. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ASSISTANCE FOR THE QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF EMBRYO VITRIFICATION, WARMING AND TRANSFERS IN THE IVF LABORATORY. Fertil Steril 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.07.437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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