Objective To study the changes of six sex hormones corresponding to the follicle growth during the normal menstrual cycle of Chinese women.Methods Thirty Chinese women with regular menstrual period and average age of (28.8±3.2) years were selected for the study by Peking Union Medical College Hospital in September,2010.Growth of follicles was monitored by using transvaginal sonography.Six sex hormones,including follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH),luteinizing hormone (LH),estradiol (E2),progesterone (P),testosterone (T),and prolactin (PRL) were measured by chemoluminescence immunoassay every day during a menstrual cycle.Nonparametric statistical analysis was used.ResultsMenstrual cycle of all the patients was in the range of 25 to 39 d,with mean of (29.5 ± 3.1) d.Length of follicular phase and luteal phase was 15.3 and 14.4 d,respectively.Number of days from antral follicle to emergence of dominant follicle,and from the latter to ovulation,was 6.2 and 8.9 d,respectively.Average diameter of preovulatory follicle was 19.33 mm.Both FSH and LH reached peak on the day before ovulation.P started to increase before ovulation and remained at a high plateau from 6th to 9th day after ovulation.Both PRL and T reached peak after ovulation,near the end of a menstrual cycle.Conclusions A small rise of LH and P emerges just 1 to 2 d before ovulation,indicating the maturing of follicle.PRL and T shows cyclic changes as follicle grows.Therefore,PRL and T levels should be measured in the early follicle phases in the clinical practice so that leading the impact of menstrual cycle minimal.

Objective To study the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs),and to explore any effect of EA in neurological rehabilitation and its mechanism.Methods Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was used to establish a model of cerebral infarction in 120 Wistar rats.They were then randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group,both of which were further subdivided into 1,3,7,14,21 and 28 day sub-groups with 10 in each sub-group.Bromodeoxyuridine (Brdu) was given at the 1st,2nd,6th,13th,20th and 27th day to detect any proliferation and differentiation of NSCs.After 7 days the motor function of the two groups was evaluated using a beam walking test.Rats were sacrificed at the different time points and Brdu labeled cells and nestin-positive cells were determined by immunohistochemistry.The level of basic fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) mRNA was determined by in-situ hybridization.The results were analyzed using a micro-image analysis system.Results The Brdu-labeled cell counts and nestin-positive cells were significantly different between the treatment and control groups at each time point.Motor function improved significantly in the treatment group with EA stimulation compared with the control group,but there was no significant difference between the 21 day and 28 day sub-groups in the treatment group.The expression levels of bFGF-2 mRNA were significantly different between the treatment and control groups at the early time points (up to the 14th day).Conclusions EA can promote proliferation of NSCs and increase the expression of FGF-2 mRNA,particularly early after cerebral infarction.It may be one of mechanisms of EA's effectiveness in treating ischemic stroke.

Objective To evaluate the relationship between endometriosis fertility index (EFI) and pregnancies after laparoscopic surgery in endometriosis-associated infertility.Methods From Jan.2005 to Jan.2010,medical documents of 350 infertile patients due to endometriosis undergoing laparoscopic surgery were studied retrospectively.Pregnancy outcomes were followed up by telephone.EFI was calculated by history factors,least function score and some aspects of the revised American Fertility Society (r-AFS) endometriosis stage.The cumulative pregnancy rate was calculated and compared by Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.Results Within 3 years after surgery,the cumulative pregnancy rates among patients with EFI score 8,9,10 were 62.5％,69.8％ and 81.1％,respectively.There was no significant difference in pregnancy rates among those three groups of patients ( P =0.24 ).The cumulative pregnancy rates among patients with EFI score 5,6,7 were 49.8％,43.9％ and 41.6％,respectively,which did not reach statistical difference ( P =0.83 ).The cumulative pregnancy rates of EFI score 8 - 10 was significantly higher than that of EFI score 5 -7 (71.8％ vs.44.4％,P =0.000).The patients with EFI score 0 -4 was quite small with only 33 cases,among which 15 cases were pregnant.Conclusions There is relationship between EFI and pregnancy in patients with endometriosis-associated infertility.EFI is meaningful to guide post surgical treatment.

Objective:To evaluate the oncologic outcomes of different laparoscopic radical hysterectomy.Methods:From January 2011 to December 2014, the laparoscopic operation cases of cervical cancer at stage Ⅰb1, Ⅰb2, Ⅱa1 and Ⅱa2, including the histologic subtypes of squamous-cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and adenosquamous carcinoma, were collected in five clinical centers. The data were divided into two groups according to the surgical procedures, that is, modified laparoscopic-vaginal radical hysterectomy (mLVRH) and total laparoscopic radical hysterectomy (TLRH). The overall survival rate (OS), disease-free survival rate (DFS) at 5 years were retrospectively analyzed in this study.Results:There were 674 cases in total, including 377 cases of mLVRH, 297 cases of TLRH. (1) The OS at 5 years: the mLVRH was 96.1% and the TLRH was 92.0%, and the mLVRH was higher than that of TLRH （ P=0.010）. Stratify analysis， including stage of disease （Ⅰb1 and Ⅱa1）， histologic subtypes （squamous-cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma）， lymph node metastasis， revealed that, ① Stage of disease: in stage Ⅰb1, the OS at five years of mLVRH was higher than that in TLRH group （98.6% vs 93.6%, P=0.012）. In stage Ⅱa1, there was significant difference between the two groups, the OS at five years of mLVRH and TLRH were 93.6% and 77.6% （ P=0.007）. ② Histologic subtypes: for the OS at five years of squamous-cell carcinoma, mLVRH and TLRH were 96.1% and 92.3%, and there was significant difference （ P=0.046）； for adenocarcinoma, the OS at five years were 91.0% and 88.6%， and there was no difference between two groups （ P=0.230）. ③ Lymph node metastasis： the mLVRH and TLRH with lymph node metastasis, the OS at five years were 98.6% and 96.4%; the mLVRH and TLRH without lymph node metastasis, the OS at five years were 89.3% and 80.8%. There were no significant differences between the two groups,respectively ( P=0.156， P=0.093）. (2) The DFS at 5 years: there was no significant difference between mLVRH and TLRH (94.1% vs 90.9%, P=0.220). Stratify analysis for stage of disease, the mLVRH group was higher than that in the TLRH group in stage Ⅰb1 (97.0% vs 92.8%, P=0.039). However, for stage Ⅱa1, there was no significant difference between mLVRH and TLRH group （88.2% vs 75.8%, P=0.074）. Conclusions:The results of this retrospective study indicated that different laparoscopy surgical procedures had diverse oncologic outcomes. The OS at 5 years of the mLVRH is superior to the TLRH. The DFS at 5 years in Ⅰb1 stage, the mLVRH is higher than the TLRH. Therefore, the modified laparoscopy is still an alternative surgery for early cervical cancer patients when following the principle of no-tumor-exposure.

Stem cells have been a hot spot in medical research for a long time and have unique advantages in tissue repair, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. With the development of regenerative medicine, stem cells have been widely studied and applied in reproductive medicine, such as improving ovarian function and repairing endometrial damage. These efforts are achieved primarily through the use of mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) from a variety of sources. However, the application of stem cells also faces problems such as low cell retention rate and medical ethics. This article focuses on the research progress and clinical application of MSCs (not involving embryonic stem cells) in the field of female reproductive medicine.
Humans ; Female ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells ; Regenerative Medicine ; Signal Transduction