There is ongoing interest in immune-suppressant corticosteroid drugs such as prednisolone to treat infertility in women with repeated IVF failure and recurrent miscarriage. The rationale draws on the pervasive but flawed view that immune activation is inconsistent with normal pregnancy. This ignores clear evidence that controlled inflammation and activation of the immune response is essential for embryo implantation. Generally, the immune response actively promotes reproductive success - by facilitating endometrial receptivity and tolerance of the foreign embryo, and promoting vascular adaptation to support placental morphogenesis. The peri-conception immune response also establishes developmental trajectories that can impact on fetal growth and gestational age at birth. Here, we describe immune changes accompanying conception that could be impeded by inappropriate corticosteroid administration. While women with specific clinical conditions may benefit from the anti-inflammatory and immune-deviating actions of prednisolone and related drugs, it is incorrect to assume a 'one-size-fits-all' approach. Better diagnostics and more preclinical studies are essential to define patient groups, build evidence for efficacy and fine-tune treatments so as not to inhibit essential actions of immune cells. We argue that unless overt immune pathology is evident, utilization of corticosteroids is not warranted and may be harmful. In most women, perturbing immune adaptation at implantation is expected to adversely influence placental development and impair immune-mediated quality control mechanisms, potentially elevating risk of altered fetal growth and developmental programming, congenital anomalies and preterm birth.

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Objective This study aimed to determine the effects of diet‐induced paternal obesity on cognitive function in mice offspring. Methods Male mice (F0) were randomized to receive either a control diet (10 kcal% fat) or a high‐fat diet (HFD; 60 kcal% fat) for 10 weeks before being mated with normal females to generate F1 offspring. Male F1 offspring were mated with normal females to generate F2 offspring. Behavioral tests were used to assess cognitive functions in F1 and F2 offspring. Reduced representation bisulfite sequencing was used to the explore mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance. Results HFD‐induced paternal obesity resulted in cognitive impairments in F1 offspring, potentially due, at least in part, to increased methylation of the BDNF gene promoter, which was inherited from F0 spermatozoa. BDNF/tyrosine receptor kinase B signaling was associated with cognitive impairments in HFD‐fed F1 offspring. However, there were no significant changes in F2 offspring. Conclusions The findings provide evidence of intergenerational effects of paternal obesity on cognitive function in offspring occurring via epigenetic spermatozoan modifications.

This work presents a detailed study on the chemical composition and bond structures of CeO2/La2O3 stacked gate dielectrics based on x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements at different depths. The chemical bonding structures in the interfacial layers were revealed by Gaussian decompositions of Ce 3d, La 3d, Si 2s, and O 1s photoemission spectra at different depths. We found that La atoms can diffuse into the CeO2 layer and a cerium-lanthanum complex oxide was formed in between the CeO2 and La2O3 films. Ce3+ and Ce4+ states always coexist in the as-deposited CeO2 film. Quantitative analyses were also conducted. The amount of CeO2 phase decreases by about 8% as approaching the CeO2/La2O3 interface. In addition, as compared with the single layer La2O3 sample, the CeO2/La2O3 stack exhibits a larger extent of silicon oxidation at the La2O3/Si interface. For the CeO2/La2O3 gate stack, the out-diffused lanthanum atoms can promote the reduction of CeO2 which produce more atomic oxygen. This result confirms the significant improvement of electrical properties of CeO2/La2O3 gated devices as the excess oxygen would help to reduce the oxygen vacancies in the film and would suppress the formation of interfacial La-silicide also.