Active clinical trials for "Infertility"

The goal of this prospective cohort study is to learn about the overall and seasonal prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and its determinants in a population of women with infertility who will go through in vitro fertilization in Sweden. The main questions it aims to answer are: What is the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency? What are the determinants of this insufficiency? Participants will be asked to complete a questionnaire validated for dietary assessment of vitamin D intake and sun exposure habits and they will leave a blood sample for measurement of 25(OH)D concentration. Researchers will compare the in vitro fertilization outcomes between women with vitamin D insufficiency and sufficiency to see if there is any difference.

The purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of infertility in women with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). In this study the study team will compare the differences in ovarian reserve (the ability to provide egg cells that are capable of fertilization), the frequency of ovulation and the number of pregnancies between women with and without RA. It is possible that RA activity and medications limit ovarian reserve and ovulation, which may increase infertility among women with RA. There are several suspected causes for infertility in RA, including age-related fertility decline, inflammatory changes that impact endometrial receptivity and discourage implantation, accelerated ovarian decline due to certain arthritis medications and increased frequency of anovulation (a menstrual cycle during which ovaries do not release an egg) due to RA activity. This study is the first step toward our long term goal of increasing the ability of all women with RA to build the family they desire.

While practicing the different assisted reproductive techniques, the investigators are faced daily by the problem of poor responder females, and the debate about predicting its results based on the outcome of the different ORTs used. Due to the cost of AMH as an indicator for ovarian response, the need to re-assess its role was essential in our community, which led us to conduct this prospective multi-center IVF study.

The aim of the post doc project is investigate which genes regulate implantation in order to analyze specific proteins and microRNA in the spent culture media with the long-term goal of developing a non-invasive method of embryo assessment and selection. This will be achieved by conducting a targeted NGS analysis, based on list obtained from a non-published pilot study. When further validated by q-PCR, the expression of specific microRNAs known to influence the final list of genes will be analyzed in the spent culture media and the protein products of the genes recovered from the media will be quantified. The level of specific microRNAs and proteins will be related to aneuploidy and implantation potential. If the level of specific microRNA and/or proteins correlates with pregnancy, the study will form the basis for developing a clinical applicable precise method of improved embryo selection and thus improved IVF treatment.

Monitoring the LH pulsatility during the Luteal phase in GnRH antagonist IVF cycles triggered by GnRH agonist for final oocyte maturation.

Has the maternal KIR haplotype an impact in pregnancy, miscarriage and live birth rates per embryo transfer in donor oocytes -ART by paternal and oocyte donor HLA-C?

The human endometrium is an extremely sensitive target. LLLT can enhance the proliferation rate of various cell lines, it produces higher rates of ATP, RNA, and DNA synthesis in stem cells and other cell lines. Thus, LLLT improves the proliferation of the cells without causing any cytotoxic effects. The aim of this work is to assess the ability of low level laser therapy in enhancing endometrial proliferation and increasing endometrial receptivity. A number of 120 human endometrial samples will be studied, and will be collected from 40 infertile women attending the infertility clinic at NRC. Each human endometrial sample will be divided into 3 plates, in order to establish 3 main groups of 40 culture plates for single laser exposure group versus 40 culture plates for multiple laser exposure group and 40 tissue culture plates for control samples, thus a total of 120 tissue culture plates will be studied, the study groups will be exposed to low level laser therapy and compared to their matched controls.. Assessment of number and size of cells after LLLT as a marker of normal proliferation and b) The expression of Integrin aVB3 "alpha v B3", MUC-1 and LIFand the development of pinopodes on the surface of epithelial cells as markers of endometrial receptivity and the detection of PTEN tumor suppressor gene as a marker of abnormal proliferation or premalignant condition will be performed to assess the effect of LLLT on the endometrial cell culture. This study might offer a new therapeutic modality which might increase endometrial thickness and enhance receptivity .

The need for non-invasive biomarkers of oocyte competency has become urgent as women increasingly delay attempts at childbearing. The aging process is complex and includes impaired mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, diminished metabolic activity, and activity of several cell-signaling systems. Cumulus cells form an intimate association with the oocyte in the follicle, and they can have a significant impact on oocyte meiotic and developmental competence. In the IVF lab, the clump of cumulus cells is typically cut away from the oocyte immediately after an oocyte retrieval procedure, and then the cumulus cells are discarded. Measuring the mitochondrial respiratory activity of cumulus cells may serve as a non-invasive biomarker for oocyte competency and a predictor of reproductive success in IVF patients in the future.

The purpose of this study is to find out more about tests used to estimate the number of eggs a woman has remaining in her ovaries (her 'ovarian reserve'). It is thought that women who have a greater number of eggs or ovarian reserve may have a better chance of successful in vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment than those who have a smaller number of eggs. Accurately predicting the likely outcomes of IVF would be of great benefit for counselling patients before they go through expensive and demanding treatments such as IVF and IVF with Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVFICSI). Over the past two decades, many endocrine and ultrasound markers have been designed and are now used as indicators of ovarian reserve. A number of screening tests are utilized to measure these markers, either by ultrasound scanning techniques or taking blood samples. However it is not yet known which, if any, best predict the outcome of IVF treatment. We would like to investigate these various measures of ovarian reserve to determine which are most accurate, particularly for predicting live birth rates, as up to now only poor to moderate quality evidence has been available for this outcome. This will be a prospective cohort study of 300 women who already intend to undergo IVF/IVF-ICSI treatment. Study participants will have one extra blood sample and ultrasound examination, for the purposes of measuring markers of their ovarian reserve, at the start of their IVF/IVFICSI treatment cycle. No other interventions will be required and their treatment cycle will not be affected by their participation in the study.

Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist is sufficient for triggering final oocyte maturation in GnRH antagonist protocol and can significantly reduce incidence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in high-risk patients. However, lower oocyte yield was reported in patients with lower luteinizing hormone (LH) level post trigger with single injection of GnRH agonist, which might be related to the shorter duration and lower amount of LH induced by GnRH agonist. Our aim is to study dual trigger with GnRH agonist and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) for preventing OHSS and maintaining clinical outcome in high risk patients who receive controlled ovarian stimulation in GnRH antagonist protocol.