Purpose To clarify the associations of the maternal age, history of miscarriage, and embryonic/fetal size at miscarriage with the frequencies and profiles of cytogenetic abnormalities detected in spontaneous early miscarriages. Methods Miscarriages before 12 weeks of gestation, whose karyotypes were evaluated by G-banding between May 1, 2005, and May 31, 2017, were included in this study. The relationships between their karyotypes and clinical findings were assessed using trend or chi-square/Fisher's exact tests and multivariate logistic analyses. Results Three hundred of 364 miscarriage specimens (82.4%) had abnormal karyotypes. An older maternal age was significantly associated with the frequency of abnormal karyotype (p trend < 0.001), particularly autosomal non-viable and viable trisomies (p trend 0.001 and 0.025, respectively). Women with ≥ 2 previous miscarriages had a significantly lower possibility of miscarriages with abnormal karyotype than women with < 2 previous miscarriages (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.48; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.27-0.85). Although viable trisomy was observed more frequently in proportion to the increase in embryonic/fetal size at miscarriage (p trend < 0.001), non-viable trisomy was observed more frequently in miscarriages with an embryonic/fetal size < 10 mm (aOR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.27-4.58), but less frequently in miscarriages with an embryonic/fetal size ≥ 20 mm (aOR, 0.01; 95% CI, 0.00-0.07) than in anembryonic miscarriages. Conclusions The maternal age, history of miscarriage, and embryonic/fetal size at miscarriage may be independently associated with the frequencies or profiles of cytogenetic abnormalities in early miscarriages.

Women were significantly more distressed than men. Poor quality of the marital relationship was significantly associated with impaired psychological adjustment among women, but not among men. These gender discrepancies may foster a mutual worsening of psychological adjustment and marital relationships in RPL couples. The need to seek help not only in women but also in a substantial portion of men suggests the importance of couple-based psychological care in the management of RPL.

Stress-induced downregulation of spermatogenesis remains poorly understood. This study examined the induction of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), a carbon monoxide-generating inducible enzyme, in modulation of spermatogenesis. Rats were exposed to cadmium chloride (CdCl 2 ), a stressor causing oligozoospermia, and HO-1-induction was monitored by following HO isozyme expression. CdCl 2 -treated testes increased HO-1 activity and suppressed microsomal cytochromes P450, which are required for steroidogenesis. CdCl 2 -elicited HO-1 occurred mostly in Leydig cells and coincided with CO generation, as judged by bilirubin-IXα immunoreactivity. Under these circumstances, germ cells in peripheral regions of seminiferous tubules exhibited apoptosis; laser flow cytometry revealed that these apoptotic cells involve diploid and tetraploid germ cells, suggesting involvement of spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes in CdCl 2 -elicited apoptosis. Pretreatment with zinc protoporphyrin-IX, an HO inhibitor, but not copper protoporphyrin-IX, which does not block the enzyme, attenuated the CdCl 2 -induced apoptosis. Such antiapoptotic effects of zinc protoporphyrin-IX were repressed by supplementation of dichloromethane, a CO donor. Upon CdCl 2 -treatment, both Sertoli cells and the germ cells upregulated Fas ligand; this event was also suppressed by zinc protoporphyrin-IX and restored by dichloromethane. Thus, Leydig cells appear to use HO-1-derived CO to trigger apoptosis of premeiotic germ cells and thereby modulate spermatogenesis under conditions of stress.

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Information concerning the prognosis of subsequent pregnancies in patients with reciprocal translocations is limited. This study was performed to determine the percentage success rate with first pregnancies after ascertainment of a carrier status. A total of 2,382 couples with a history of two or more consecutive miscarriages were studied in multicenters. The prevalence of an abnormal chromosome in either partner was examined, and subsequent success rates were compared between cases with and without an abnormal karyotype in either partner. A total of 129 couples (5.4%) had an abnormal karyotype in one partner excluding inversion 9 in 44 men and in 85 women. Thus, 2,253 couples had a normal karyotype in both partner. Eighty-five (3.6%) had translocations, 13 being Robertsonian translocations. Twenty-nine of the 46 cases (63.0%) who became pregnant with reciprocal translocations in either partner experienced a live birth with natural conception. In contrast, 950 of 1,207 cases (78.7%) with normal chromosomes had successful live births, the difference being significant (P = 0.019). No infant with an unbalanced translocation was found in 29 cases of successful pregnancy following recurrent miscarriage. Pregnancy prognosis was worsened with either maternal or paternal reciprocal translocations. Explanation of the success rate with natural conception should be provided before the subsequent pregnancy after ascertainment of carrier status.