Background The ovarian function and therefore the ovarian reserve may be compromised by the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases of which, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is the most common in women of reproductive age. Furthermore, a prolonged reduction in thyroid hormone concentration results in a broad spectrum of reproductive alteration. Previous reports in the literature have been controversial regarding the impact of hypothyroidism and alterations in the ovarian reserve. Thus, this prospective and comparative study aimed to evaluate the association of hypothyroidism with low ovarian reserve. Materials and Methods A subset of 27 patients with primary autoimmune hypothyroidism were compared to healthy women. The ovarian reserve was assessed through the anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) and the antral follicle count (AFC). Results Overall, the two groups did not display significant differences in length of their menstrual cycles neither in the AMH serum levels nor the AFC. Conclusions No significant alteration was found in the ovarian reserve of women with HT.

Objective: To identify the effect of apoptotic sperm elimination with MACS in patients that require IVF. Methods: An experimental, cross-sectional, descriptive, prospective and non-blinded study of diagnostic tests performed in patients who required IVF and ICSI from July 2011 to July 2012. Ninety-two couples participated according to the treatment administered to the semen sample; in the control group: the samples were subjected only to density gradients before ICSI, in the study group: the same procedure was performed plus the addition of the MACS technique. Comparing the groups, we assessed the fertilization, division, viable embryos and clinical pregnancy rates in all cases. Results: We found significant differences when using MACS technique in sperm parameters. We found no differences between the total samples of the control and study groups. When separating the own and donated eggs in each group, we found an improvement in the fertilization rates ( p <0.001) of the own eggs. In both groups, the handling of donated eggs lead to a significant improvement in the immunological pregnancy test (IPT) and fetal heart rate (FHR) results. Only in the donated eggs group, where MACS was applied, could we see that all cases with positive IPT had a fetal heart rate, which shows a significant difference ( p <0.002) when compared with the control group, where the percentage decreased abruptly. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the use of annexins (MACS) in eliminating apoptotic sperm, and when the obtained sperm is applied to good-quality eggs.

Objective: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multisystem autoimmune disorder where the disease activity itself and the medications used for its treatment, may have adverse effects on ovarian function. This study aimed to assess the ovarian reserve (OR) in SLE patients. Materials and methods: The anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) and the antral follicle count (AFC), two markers to evaluate the OR was assessed in 64 SLE patients and compared to normal individuals. Additionally, we assessed whether the disease per se or the pharmacological treatments affect the OR. Results: Patients with SLE displayed alterations in the OR regardless of the presence of alterations of the menstrual cycle. The AFC and AMH were significantly lower in SLE patients with and without menstrual alterations when compared to control individuals (p<0.0001). However, the AFC and AMH levels were significantly correlated (p=0.006) in the SLE patients with menstrual alterations. Except for hydroxychloroquine that was statistically higher in SLE patients with menstrual alterations (p=0.04), the cumulative dose for cyclophosphamide, corticosteroid, and methotrexate was similar in SLE patients regardless of the occurrence of menstrual alterations. Conclusion: The monitoring of AMH and AFC in SLE patients should be used to detect the rapid and irreversible decline of the OR to provide a possibility of pregnancy to the SLE patients.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT‐A) on patient-important reproductive outcomes after in vitro fertilization (IVF). Methods: Randomized and non-randomized studies have been sought in Ovid, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials since each database’s inception through May 2021. Main keywords used for the search strategy included "Embryo transfer", "In vitro fertilization", "DNA sequencing", and "Comparative genome hybridization". Studies were screened independently and in duplicate. Results: Ten studies were finally analyzed, representing a total of 2630 embryo transfers. The pooled OR for live birth rates were 1.45 (95%CI 0.24-8.78, I2 96%) and 1.66 (95%PI 0.15-18.01, 95%CI 0.98-2.83, I2 81%) derived from the NRSIs and the RCTs, respectively, in which the miscarriage rate were 1.25 (95%CI 0.19-8.33, I2 70%) and 0.57 (95%PI 0.06-5.34, 95%CI 0.27-1.21, I2 53%), and clinical pregnancy rates were 3.08 (95%CI 2.22-4.29, I2 0%) and 1.43 (95%PI 0.38-5.42, 95%CI 0.96-2.13, I2 68%). Influence analyses showed a greater treatment effect when excluding studies without patients at advanced maternal age. Conclusion: There seems to be no significant difference in reproductive outcomes when using PGT-A in the general population; however, the procedure seems advantageous for patients at advanced maternal age. Nevertheless, this warrants caution when recommending the procedure to all couples seeking ART, as the current possible benefits may not justify the additional costs for all groups of patients.