To investigate whether recombinant AMH (rAMH) is able to decrease cellular proliferation/apoptosis in luteinized granulosa cells (GCs) through hormonal regulation, a primary culture of GCs was ...established from GCs obtained at time of oocyte retrieval from follicular fluid of 3 patients. Cells were seeded in well cell culture plates at a density of 100,000 cells/well in medium and treated with rAMH 20 ng/ml (rAMH group), or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS-control group), for 24 h. Total RNA was extracted from all cells, followed by cDNA synthesis and real-time RT-PCR to quantify the expression levels of AMH, AMH-R2, FSH-R, inhibin B, cell proliferation (Ki67), and apoptosis (Caspase 3). We used independent sample t test (SPSS v25) and a p < 0.05 significance. Cellular expressions of AMH, AMH-R2, FSH-R, and inhibin B were reduced greater than 50% in the rAMH group, compared with that of the the control group (p ≤ 0.005 for all). Ki67 and Caspase3 were also reduced greater than 30% in the rAMH group (p ≤ 0.001 for both). Our findings show a direct inhibitory effect of AMH on luteinized GCs' expression of the major regulatory hormones, in addition to a significant decrease in markers of cell proliferation and apoptosis. These results confirm the inhibitory effects of AMH on follicular development.
The purpose of this study is to describe the clinical history leading up to and the outcomes after vaginal mesh removal surgery at an academic hospital.
A retrospective case series of patients who ...underwent vaginal mesh removal from 2008 to 2015 was conducted. Demographics, clinical history, physical examination, pre- and postoperative symptoms, and number and type of reoperations were abstracted.
Between February 2008 and November 2015, 83 patients underwent vaginal mesh removal surgery at our hospital. The median time interval from initial mesh placement to removal was 58 months (range, 0.4-154 months). The most common preoperative symptoms were vaginal pain (n = 52, 62%), dyspareunia (n = 46, 55%), and pelvic pain (n = 42, 50%). Intraoperative complications were infrequent (n = 3, 4%). Of patients presenting for follow-up within 4 to 6 weeks postoperatively, the most common symptoms were urinary incontinence (n = 15, 28%), vaginal pain (n = 7, 13%), buttock pain (n = 5, 9%), and urinary tract infection (n = 5, 9%). There were no identifiable risk factors to predict which patients would have persistent postoperative symptoms or who would require more than 1 mesh removal surgery. After vaginal mesh removal, 29 patients (35%) required 1 or more reoperations, with 3 being the highest number of reoperations per patient. The total number of reoperations was 43, with a total of 63 individual procedures performed. Forty-four percent (n = 28) of the procedures were graft removals, 40% (n = 25) were pelvic organ prolapse surgeries (only native tissue repairs), and 16% (n = 10) were stress incontinence surgeries. More than 1 procedure was performed in 49% (n = 21) of the reoperations.
Vaginal mesh removal surgery is safe; however, some patients require more than 1 procedure, and the risk factors for reoperations are unclear.