Purpose: This study aimed to conduct a scoping review to understand how the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected patients under infertility treatment. Methods: The 5 steps of the scoping review by Arksey and O’Malley were applied: (1) identifying the research question; (2) identifying relevant studies; (3) study selection; (4) charting the data; and (5) collating, summarizing, and reporting the results. Using 2 databases (PubMed and Cochrane Library), studies on COVID-19 and infertility treatment were searched, and 13 articles were selected for analysis. Results: The studies were conducted in North America (5 articles), Europe (3 articles), Asia (2 articles), and other regions (3 articles). The academic fields of the published journals were primarily reproductive medicine (10 articles), followed by psychiatry and psychology (2 articles), and complementary medicine (1 article). Regarding the research topic, studies on stress and anxiety were the most common (7 articles), followed by pregnancy rates (3 articles), and pregnancy planning or treatment decisions (3 articles). The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect on stress and anxiety of patients in 5 out of 7 articles, no changes in pregnancy rates in 3 out of 3 articles, and negative effects on pregnancy planning or treatment decisions in 2 out of 3 articles. Conclusion The results of this review suggest that evidence-based information on patients with infertility is needed to prevent unnecessary anxiety, stress, and treatment delays in the upcoming postpandemic transition period.

Weak D type 102 allele (RHD*01W.102) carrying a missense variant (c.73A＞T, p.Ile25Phe) in exon 1 of the RHD has not been reported in Koreans to date. This is the first report of the weak D type 102 allele in the Korean population. The proposita, a 35-year-old woman, showed a serological weak D phenotype in routine RhD typing. Sequencing of all 10 RHD exons and zygosity testing targeting the hybrid Rhesus box revealed this proposita to harbor the weak D type 102 allele, as well as an RHD deletion (RHD*01W.102/RHD*01N.01). Family studies showed that the weak D type 102 allele was also present in her father and older brother (both assumed to be RHD*01W.102/RHD*01) but not in her mother and oldest brother (both assumed to be RHD*01/RHD*01N.01). In silico analysis of the replacement of isoleucine by phenylalanine at position 25 was done with PolyPhen-2, SIFT, and PROVEAN. While PolyPhen-2 predicted the variant as benign, SIFT and PROVEAN predicted it as damaging and deleterious, respectively, suggesting RHD c.73A>T (I25F) as the cause of serologic weak D phenotype. This patient should be treated as D-negative, when transfusion is needed.

Cis-AB and B(A) alleles encode an ABO enzyme with dual A and B glycosyltransferase activity. Although globally rare, the cis-AB phenotype is found relatively often in Korean, Japanese, and Chinese populations. Cases of the B(A) allele have been reported mostly in the Chinese population. Forward typing performed in a Cambodian woman with an ABO discrepancy demonstrated a strong reaction with anti-A and anti-B reagents, while there was no reaction with lectin anti-A 1. The anti-A 1 antibody was detected in reverse typing. Through ABO gene sequence analyses of exons 6 and 7, one of the alleles was identified as ABO*B.01. In contrast, the other allele harboring a c.803G＞C substitution was either ABO*cisAB.05 or ABO*BA.06 allele. The ABO*cisAB.05 and ABO*BA.06 alleles remain indistinguishable despite routine serological testing and ABO genotyping. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first case report of these variants discovered in a Cambodian individual residing in Korea.

Cis-AB and B(A) alleles encode an ABO enzyme with dual A and B glycosyltransferase activity. Although globally rare, the cis-AB phenotype is found relatively often in Korean, Japanese, and Chinese populations. Cases of the B(A) allele have been reported mostly in the Chinese population. Forward typing performed in a Cambodian woman with an ABO discrepancy demonstrated a strong reaction with anti-A and anti-B reagents, while there was no reaction with lectin anti-A 1. The anti-A 1 antibody was detected in reverse typing. Through ABO gene sequence analyses of exons 6 and 7, one of the alleles was identified as ABO*B.01. In contrast, the other allele harboring a c.803G＞C substitution was either ABO*cisAB.05 or ABO*BA.06 allele. The ABO*cisAB.05 and ABO*BA.06 alleles remain indistinguishable despite routine serological testing and ABO genotyping. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first case report of these variants discovered in a Cambodian individual residing in Korea.

B₃ is a rare finding, but it is most common in the B subgroup, which been reported as being 0.025% of the total B group in Koreans. ABO*B3.01 is a specific allele for B₃, a missense mutation with a substituted thymine from cytosine of the 1,054th nucleotide of the ABO*B.01 allele, but rather unexpectedly, it has not been reported in Koreans. We report here the first Korean case of the serological A₁B₃ phenotype with ABO*B3.01, which was confirmed by sequencing of exons 6 and 7 of the ABO gene, found in a pregnant woman.

No abstract available.
Antibodies ; Hemodilution ; Humans ; Korea