Endometriosis is often associated with severe dysmenorrhea, pelvic pain and dyspareunia and has a high impact on daily life as well as sexuality. Quality of partnership positively influences the ...course of various diseases and ability to cope with emotional and physical distress. However, studies focusing on the male partners of endometriosis patients are rare, and even less is known about the reciprocal relationship in these couples. Therefore, this study aims to explore the interrelations in couples with endometriosis in matters of psychological distress, sexual and partnership satisfaction and social support.
The cross-sectional study was conducted in two university-affiliated fertility centres in Germany and Austria with n = 104 female/male couples affected by endometriosis. Participants completed a questionnaire regarding endometriosis, partnership, sexuality, stress, anxiety, depression and social support. Both women and men were asked about the impact of women's endometriosis-related pain (IEP) on their everyday life (e.g. leisure time). Data were analysed using the Actor-Partner-Interdependence Model.
Significant partner effects were evident: High depression, anxiety and stress scores in women were associated with a higher IEP in men (all p ≤ 0.01), reciprocally high stress and depression scores in men were correlated with a higher IEP in women (all p ≤ 0.05). Less sexual satisfaction in women was associated with a higher IEP in men (p = 0.040). There was a significant reciprocal association between the perceived lack of understanding from the social environment and a higher IEP, for both women (p = 0.022) and men (p = 0.027).
The male partner should be taken into account when counselling or treating women with endometriosis. Our study shows a high interdependence and reciprocal influence from both partners-positively and negatively-concerning psychological distress and sexual satisfaction. Furthermore, there ought to be more awareness for the psychosocial impact of endometriosis, especially in regard to social support and understanding. Talking about and improving sexual satisfaction as well as enhancing stress reducing techniques may hold great benefits for dealing with endometriosis. Registration number The study is registered with the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), number DRKS00014362.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Objective To study the possible transmission, to the next generation, of epigenetic defects associated with in vitro maturation (IVM) of human oocytes. Design Case–control study using epigenetic ...data. Setting Two collaborating university departments. Patient(s) Eleven IVM newborns and 19 controls, conceived by conventional assisted reproduction. Intervention(s) Chorionic villus and cord-blood sampling. Main Outcome Measure(s) Using bisulfite pyrosequencing, we have measured average methylation levels of 6 imprinted ( LIT1 , MEG , MEST , NESPas , PEG3 , and SNRPN ), 5 tumor-suppressor ( APC , ATM , BRCA1 , RAD51C , and TP53 ), 2 pluripotency ( NANOG and OCT4 ), and 2 metabolic ( LEP and NR3C1 ) genes, as well as 2 repetitive elements (ALU and LINE1) in 2 tissues of IVM and control neonates. Using deep bisulfite sequencing, we have determined methylation patterns of many individual DNA molecules to detect rare RAD51C epimutations (allele methylation errors). Result(s) No statistically significant impact was found of IVM on chorionic villus and cord-blood DNA methylation at the studied developmentally important genes and interspersed repeats. The RAD51C epimutation rate was low (0.5% ± 0.1%) in all analyzed samples. Conclusion(s) IVM-induced epigenetic changes in offspring, if any, are relatively small in magnitude and/or infrequent.
Objectives
Major complications affecting the central nervous system (CNS) present a challenge after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo‐SCT).
Methods
Incidence, risk factors, and outcome were ...retrospectively analyzed in 888 patients in a monocentric study.
Results
Cumulative incidence (CI) of major CNS complications at 1 year was 14.8% (95%CI 12.3%‐17.2%). Median follow‐up is 11 months. CNS complications were documented in 132 patients: in 36 cases, classified metabolic; 26, drug‐related neurotoxicity (14 attributed to cyclosporine A, 4 to antilymphocyte globulin); 11, cerebrovascular (ischemic n = 8, bleeding n = 3); 9, infections; 9, psychiatric; and 9, malignant. The cause of CNS symptoms remained unclear for 37 patients (28%). Multivariate analysis demonstrated an association of CNS complication with patient age (P < .001). The estimated OS of patients with any CNS complication was significantly lower than in patients without neurological complications (P < .001), and the CI of non‐relapse mortality (NRM) was higher for patients with CNS complication (P < .001). A significant negative impact on survival can only be demonstrated for metabolic CNS complications and CNS infections (NRM, P < .0001 and P = .0003, respectively), and relapse (P < .0001).
Conclusion
CNS complications after allo‐SCT are frequent events with a major contribution to morbidity and mortality. In particular, the situations of unclear neurological complications need to be clarified by intensive research.
Gaucher disease (GD) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder arising from bi-allelic variants in the
gene, encoding glucocerebrosidase. Deficiency of this enzyme leads to progressive accumulation of ...the sphingolipid glucosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb1). The international, multicenter, observational "Lyso-Gb1 as a Long-term Prognostic Biomarker in Gaucher Disease"-LYSO-PROOF study succeeded in enrolling a cohort of 160 treatment-naïve GD patients from diverse geographic regions and evaluated the potential of lyso-Gb1 as a specific biomarker for GD. Using genotypes based on established classifications for clinical presentation, patients were stratified into type 1 GD (
= 114) and further subdivided into mild (
= 66) and severe type 1 GD (
= 48). Due to having previously unreported genotypes, 46 patients could not be classified. Though lyso-Gb1 values at enrollment were widely distributed, they displayed a moderate and statistically highly significant correlation with disease severity measured by the GD-DS3 scoring system in all GD patients (r = 0.602,
< 0.0001). These findings support the utility of lyso-Gb1 as a sensitive biomarker for GD and indicate that it could help to predict the clinical course of patients with undescribed genotypes to improve personalized care in the future.
Objective To evaluate whether intravaginal application of seminal plasma at the time of follicle aspiration in IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment cycles has the potential to increase ...pregnancy rate. To calculate the number of patients needed to achieve significance in a multicenter trial. Design Double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized pilot study. Setting University department of gynecological endocrinology and reproductive medicine. Patient(s) One hundred sixty-eight patients undergoing IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment. Intervention(s) Cryopreserved seminal plasma from the patient's partner or sodium chloride (placebo) was injected into the cervix and the posterior fornix of the vagina just after follicle aspiration. Main Outcome Measure(s) Clinical-pregnancy rate. Result(s) One hundred sixty-eight patients agreed to participate in the study. Participation was limited to one treatment cycle. Thirty-one patients (18%) were excluded from the study, mainly as a result of canceled embryo transfers. Seventy patients received placebo, and 67 received seminal plasma. The clinical-pregnancy rate was 25.7% (18/70) in the placebo group. The clinical-pregnancy rate in the seminal plasma group reached 37.3% (25/67), corresponding to a relative increase of 45%. Conclusion(s) Even though significance was not reached in this pilot study, the data suggest that seminal plasma has the potential to improve pregnancy rate. It is estimated that around 450 patients need to be recruited to reach significance in a multicenter study.
Introduction Drought-induced embolism formation in conifers is associated with several tracheid and pit traits, which vary in parallel from stem apex to base. We tested whether this axial anatomical ...variability is associated with a progressive variation in embolism vulnerability along the stem from apex to base. Methods We assessed the tracheid hydraulic diameter ( Dh ), mean pit membrane area ( PMA ) and the xylem pressure at 50% loss of conductivity ( P50 ) on longitudinal stem segments extracted at different distances from the stem apex ( DFA ) in a Picea abies and an Abies alba tree. Results In both trees, Dh and PMA scaled with DFA 0.2 . P50 varied for more than 3 MPa from the treetop to the stem base, according to a scaling of - P50 with DFA -0.2 . The largest Dh , PMA and P50 variation occurred for DFA <1.5 m. PMA and Dh scaled more than isometrically (exponent b =1.2). Pit traits vary proportionally with tracheid lumen diameter. Discussion and conclusions Apex-to-base trends in tracheid and pit traits, along with variations in P50, suggest a strong structure-function relationship that is influenced by DFA . Although the effect of DFA on P50 has not been extensively explored previously, we propose that analyzing the relationship between P50 and DFA could be crucial for a comprehensive assessment of embolism vulnerability at the individual level.
Wood structure differs widely among tree species and species with faster growth, higher mortality and larger maximum size have been reported to have fewer but larger vessels and higher hydraulic ...conductivity (Kh). However, previous studies compiled data from various sources, often failed to control tree size and rarely controlled variation in other traits.
We measured wood density, tree size and vessel traits for 325 species from a wet forest in Panama, and compared wood and leaf traits to demographic traits using species-level data and phylogenetically independent contrasts.
Wood traits showed strong phylogenetic signal whereas pairwise relationships between traits were mostly phylogenetically independent. Trees with larger vessels had a lower fraction of the cross-sectional area occupied by vessel lumina, suggesting that the hydraulic efficiency of large vessels permits trees to dedicate a larger proportion of the wood to functions other than water transport.
Vessel traits were more strongly correlated with the size of individual trees than with maximal size of a species. When individual tree size was included in models, Kh scaled positively with maximal size and was the best predictor for both diameter and biomass growth rates, but was unrelated to mortality.
Xylem embolism is a limiting factor for woody species worldwide. Conifers at the alpine timberline are exposed to drought and freeze-thaw stress during winter, which induce potentially lethal ...embolism. Previous studies indicated that timberline trees survive by xylem refilling. In this study on Picea abies, refilling was monitored during winter and spring seasons and analyzed in the laboratory and in situ experiments, based on hydraulic, anatomical, and histochemical methods. Refilling started in late winter, when the soil. was frozen and soil water not available for the trees. Xylem embolism caused up to 86.2% ± 3.1% loss of conductivity and was correlated with the ratio of closed pits. Refilling of xylem as well as recovery in shoot conductance started in February and corresponded with starch accumulation in secondary phloem and in the mesophyll of needles, where we also observed increasing aquaporin densities in the phloem and endodermis. This indicates that active, cellular processes play a role for refilling even under winter conditions. As demonstrated by our experiments, water for refilling was thereby taken up via the branches, likely by foliar water uptake. Our results suggest that refilling is based on water shifts to embolized tracheids via intact xylem, phloem, and parenchyma, whereby aquaporins reduce resistances along the symplastic pathway and aspirated pits facilitate isolation of refilling tracheids. Refilling must be taken into account as a key process in plant hydraulics and in estimating future effects of climate change on forests and alpine tree ecosystems.
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