• 대한한방부인과학회지
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• 제24권4호
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• pp.194-204
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• 2011

Purpose: Many infertile women are receiving in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). But side effects occur after IVF-ET and pregnancy rate is still low. So this study is to report the effect of herbal medicine on a woman receiving IVF-ET and herbal medicine's low risk on a pregnant woman. Methods: The patient was underwent artificial insemination five times and IVF-ET three times. In this study, the patient steadily took a herbal medicine before IVF-ET to birth. Results: The side effects of IVF-ET and the miscarriage symptoms ware decreased. And by taking a herbal medicine during IVF-ET, the patient was pregnant and gave birth when she was 33 weeks pregnant by cesarian section. Conclusions: This case study shows that herbal medicine is effective for reducing side effects of IVF-ET and increasing pregnancy rate. And in this case the patient gave birth to healthy babies, althogh steadily taking herbal medicine during pregnancy.

• 대한한방부인과학회지
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.94-104
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report the effect of Korean medicine treatments on a female and a male patient who were infertile and failed to in vitro fertilization(IVF) treatment. Methods: The patients are a 30-year-old female who had been diagnosed with the ovulation dysfunction caused by the depression of ovarian function, and a 33-year-old male who had been diagnosed with sperm defect. The female patient alone underwent Korean medicine treatment after the eighth failure in IVF treatment and the male patient received Korean medicine treatment along with his wife after he failed in the first IVF treatment. The Korean medicine applied include herb-medicine administration, acupuncture, moxibustion, Jwa-Hun, and Du-Han-Jok-Yeol treatment. Results: Through Korean medicine treatment the female patient had succeeded in the IVF treatment and she also recovered completely from allergic rhinitis. The male patient whose wife also received Korean medicine treatment with him got his wife pregnant naturally. Conclusions: This result concludes that Korean medicine treatment is effective in infertile patients. Therefore, there needs to be more of subsequent research on infertile patients that is based on Korean medicine treatment.

• 대한한방부인과학회지
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• 제28권1호
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• pp.128-137
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• 2015

Objectives: Spontaneous pregnancy is a rare event after repeated failure of in vitro fertilization (IVF) or Intrauterine insemination (IUI) treatment. So this paper is to report the natural pregnancy of Gamiseogagjihwang-tang treatments on two infertile patients who were repeatedly failed in IVF or IUI. Methods: One patient was a 35-year-old patient diagnosed with the adenomyosis and contralateral tubal obstruction, treated with 90 cc Gamiseogagjihwang-tang two times per day for 6 weeks after second failure of IVF. The other patient was a 34-year-old patient undergone induced abortion by three times, treated with 90 cc Gamiseogagjihwang-tang two times per day for 4 weeks after second failure of IUI. Results: Through taking Gamiseogagjihwang-tang without assisted reproduction techniques, two cases got pregnant naturally. Conclusions: These cases suggest that Gamiseogagjihwang-tang is effective in treating infertile female after failure in IVF or IUI and inducing spontaneous pregnancy. Therefore, there needs to be more trial on infertile patients treated with Seogagjihwang-tang.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제48권2호
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• pp.142-149
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• 2021

Objective: Bacteriospermia and urogenital infections are common problems in male infertility. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of bacteriospermia on sperm parameters and clinical outcomes in semen samples infected with two common bacteria (Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Escherichia coli) in northern Iran. Methods: Microbiological tests were performed to isolate and identify organisms from 435 semen samples from infertile couples. Semen samples were assessed according to the World Health Organization criteria. The protamine status, chromatin structure, chromatin condensation, and acrosome reaction of sperm and assisted reproductive outcomes were determined in couples with different male infertility factors. Results: Among the total cases, the two most prevalent pathogens were considered: S. saprophyticus (38.2%) and E. coli (52.9%). In the semen samples infected with E. coli, the spontaneous acrosome reaction and abnormal chromatin condensation were more common (p<0.05). Significant increases in abnormal chromatin condensation and deprotamination were seen in the presence of S. saprophyticus. In washed semen, tight adhesion between the sperm midpiece and S. saprophyticus was observed. There was also a significant decrease in the fertilization rate using semen samples infected with S. saprophyticus and E. coli during in vitro fertilization cycles (p<0.001). In addition, the presence of S. saprophyticus and E. coli in semen samples was associated with a lower likelihood of clinical pregnancy in couples with various factors of male infertility. Conclusion: Poor results of assisted reproductive techniques may be correlated with semen samples infected with two common bacteria in northern Iran.

• 한국환경농학회지
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.141-146
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• 2017

BACKGROUND: Phosphorus(P) is a vital factor for rice but excess input of phosphorus fertilizer can cause environmental risk and waste of fertilizer resources. We studied to assess the change of available phosphate, P balance, critical concentration of available phosphate under a rice single system. METHODS AND RESULTS: The changes of available phosphate of paddy soil were examined from long-term fertilization experiment which was started in 1954 at the National Academy of Agricultural Science. The treatments were no phosphate fertilization(No fert., and N), phosphate fertilization(NPK, NPKC, and NPKCLS). The available phosphorus concentrations in treatments without phosphate fertilizer (No fert. and N) were decreased continuously. But, after 47 years, available phosphate content in phosphate fertilizer treatment (NPK, NPKC, and NPKCLS) reached at the highest ($245{\sim}331mg\;kg^{-1}$), showing a tendency to decrease afterward. The mean annual P field balance in these treatments (NPK, NPKC, and NPKCLS) had positive values that varied from 16.6 to $17.5kg\;ha^{-1}year^{-1}$, and ratio of residual P were increased. These showed that phosphate fertilizer in soil were converted into the form of residual phosphorus which was not easily extracted by available phosphate extractant. Also, It was estimated that the critical value of available phosphate for rice cultivation was $120mg\;kg^{-1}$ using Cate-Nelson equation. CONCLUSION: We concluded that no more phosphate fertilizer should be applied in rice single system if soil available phosphate is higher than the critical P value.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제44권2호
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• pp.90-95
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• 2017

Objective: We investigated whether the insemination method (in vitro fertilization [IVF] or intracytoplasmic sperm injection [ICSI]) affected morphokinetic events and abnormal cleavage events in embryonic development. Methods: A total of 1,830 normal fertilized embryos were obtained from 272 IVF and ICSI cycles that underwent ovum retrieval culture using a time-lapse system (Embryoscope) from June 2013 to March 2015. All embryos were investigated by a detailed time-lapse analysis that measured the developmental events in the hours after IVF or ICSI insemination. Results: No significant differences were observed between the two groups regarding clinical outcomes (p>0.05). ICSI-derived embryos showed significantly faster morphokinetics than those derived from conventional IVF, from the time to pronuclear fading to the time to 6 cells (p<0.05). However, no significant differences were found from the time to 7 cells to the time to expanded blastocyst (p>0.05). There were no differences in abnormal cleavage events between the two groups (p>0.05); they showed the same rates of direct cleavage from 1 to 3 cells, 2 multinucleated cells, 2 uneven cells, and reverse cleavage. Conclusion: The morphokinetics of embryo development was found to vary between IVF- and ICSI-fertilized oocytes, at least until the 6-cell stage. However, these differences did not affect the clinical outcomes of the embryo. Additionally, no significant differences in abnormal cleavage events were found according to the fertilization method.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제44권2호
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• pp.85-89
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• 2017

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the effects of the insemination method on the outcomes of elective blastocyst culture. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of elective blastocyst culture performed between January 2011 and December 2014. Results: There were 2,003 cycles of conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) and 336 cycles of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), including 25,652 and 4,164 embryos that underwent sequential blastocyst culture, respectively. No significant differences were found in the female patients' age, basal follicle-stimulating hormone level, basal luteinizing hormone level, body mass index, number of oocytes, maturity rate, fertilization rate, or good-quality embryo rate. However, the blastocyst formation rate and embryo utilization rate were significantly higher in the conventional IVF group than in the ICSI group (54.70% vs. 50.94% and 51.09% vs. 47.65%, respectively, p<0.05). The implantation/pregnancy rate (IVF, 50.93%; ICSI, 55.10%), miscarriage rate (IVF, 12.57%; ICSI, 16.29%), and live birth rate (IVF, 42.12%; ICSI, 44.08%) were similar (p>0.05). No cycles were canceled due to the formation of no usable blastocysts. Conclusion: Although the fertilization method had no effect on clinical outcomes, the blastocyst formation rate and embryo utilization rate in the ICSI group were significantly lower than those observed in the conventional IVF group. Therefore, more care should be taken when choosing to perform blastocyst culture in ICSI patients.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제44권4호
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• pp.224-231
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• 2017

Objective: We studied the association between sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) and several clinical in vitro fertilization outcomes. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 169 consecutive fresh IVF cycles. Semen was collected on the day of oocyte retrieval, and we assessed standard semen parameters and the SDF level (by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling). Poor ovarian response (POR) was defined as the collection of three or fewer mature oocytes. Oocytes were inseminated by the conventional method or intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Results: SDF did not affect the fertilization or pregnancy rate, but did have a significant effect on the miscarriage rate. In the miscarriage group (n = 10), the SDF level was significantly higher (23.9% vs. 14.1%) and number of mature oocytes was significantly lower (4.3 vs. 7.6) than in the live birth group (n = 45). Multiple regression analysis showed that SDF was an independent predictor of miscarriage (odds ratio, 1.051; 95% confidence interval, 1.001-1.104). The cutoffs for the SDF level and number of mature oocytes that could predict miscarriage were > 13% and ${\leq}3$, respectively. In the low-SDF group (${\leq}13%$), the miscarriage rate was similar in POR patients and those with a normal ovarian response (NOR; 14.2% vs. 4.3%). In the high-SDF group ( > 13%), the miscarriage rate was significantly higher in the POR group than in the NOR group (60.0% vs. 13.3%, p= 0.045). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that a high SDF level ( > 13%) was associated with a high miscarriage rate, and that it mainly contributed to miscarriage in the POR group. The results suggest that SDF measurements should be considered in couples with POR in order to predict the prognosis of the pregnancy.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제42권3호
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• pp.111-117
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• 2015

Objective: In order to increase the number of mature oocytes usable for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), we aimed to investigate the effect of co-culturing granulosa cells (GCs) on human oocyte maturation in vitro, the fertilization rate, and embryo development. Methods: A total of 133 immature oocytes were retrieved and were randomly divided into two groups; oocytes that were cultured with GCs (group A) and oocytes that were cultured without GCs (group B). After in vitro maturation, only oocytes that displayed metaphase II (MII) underwent the ICSI procedure. The maturation and fertilization rates were analyzed, as well as the frequency of embryo development. Results: The mean age of the patients, their basal levels of follicle-stimulating hormone, and the number of oocytes recovered from the patients were all comparable between the two study groups. The number of oocytes that reached MII (mature oocytes) was 59 out of 70 (84.28%) in group A, compared to 41 out of 63 (65.07%) in group B (p=0.011). No significant difference between fertilization rates was found between the two study groups (p=0.702). The embryo development rate was higher in group A (33/59, 75%) than in group B (12/41, 42.85%; p=0.006). The proportion of highest-quality embryos and the blastocyst formation rate were significantly lower in group B than in group A (p=0.003 and p<0.001, respectively). Conclusion: The findings of the current study demonstrate that culturing immature human oocytes with GCs prior to ICSI improves the maturation rate and the likelihood of embryo development.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• 제42권4호
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• pp.156-162
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• 2015

Objective: To investigate fertilization and embryo quality of dysmorphic mature oocytes with specific morphological abnormalities obtained from intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Methods: The fertilization rate (FR) and embryo quality were compared among 58 dysmorphic and 42 normal form oocytes (control 1) obtained from 35 consecutive ICSI cycles, each of which yielded at least one dysmorphic mature oocyte, performed over a period of 5 years. The FR and embryo quality of 441 normal form oocytes from another 119 ICSI cycles that did not involve dysmorphic oocytes served as control 2. Dysmorphic oocytes were classified as having a dark cytoplasm, cytoplasmic granularity, cytoplasmic vacuoles, refractile bodies in the cytoplasm, smooth endoplasmic reticulum in the cytoplasm, an oval shape, an abnormal zona pellucida, a large perivitelline space, debris in the perivitelline space, or an abnormal polar body (PB). Results: The overall FR was significantly lower in dysmorphic oocytes than in normal form oocytes in both the control 1 and control 2 groups. However, embryo quality in the dysmorphic oocyte group and the normal form oocyte groups at day 3 was similar. The FR and embryo quality were similar in the oocyte groups with a single abnormality and multiple abnormalities. Specific abnormalities related with a higher percentage of top-quality embryos were dark cytoplasm (66.7%), abnormal PB (50%), and cytoplasmic vacuoles (25%). Conclusion: The fertilization potential of dysmorphic oocytes in our study was lower, but their subsequent embryonic development and embryo quality was relatively good. We were able to define several specific abnormalities related with good or poor embryo quality.