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Editor-in-chief
Maria Stella Graziani

Deputy Director
Martina Zaninotto

Associate Editors
Ferruccio Ceriotti
Davide Giavarina
Bruna Lo Sasso
Giampaolo Merlini
Martina Montagnana
Andrea Mosca
Paola Pezzati
Rossella Tomaiuolo
Matteo Vidali

EIC Assistant
Francesco Busardò

International Advisory Board Khosrow Adeli Canada
Sergio Bernardini Italy
Marcello Ciaccio Italy
Eleftherios Diamandis Canada
Philippe Gillery France
Kjell Grankvist Sweden
Hans Jacobs The Netherlands
Eric Kilpatrick UK
Magdalena Krintus Poland
Giuseppe Lippi Italy
Mario Plebani Italy
Sverre Sandberg Norway
Ana-Maria Simundic Croatia
Tommaso Trenti Italy
Cas Weykamp The Netherlands
Maria Willrich USA
Paul Yip Canada


Publisher
Biomedia srl
Via L. Temolo 4, 20126 Milano

Responsible Editor
Giuseppe Agosta

Editorial Secretary
Chiara Riva
Biomedia srl
Via L. Temolo 4, 20126 Milano
Tel. 0245498282
email: biochimica.clinica@sibioc.it

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ISSN print: 0393 – 0564
ISSN digital: 0392- 7091



BC: Articoli scritti da C. Alviggi

1H NMR-based metabolomics study on follicular fluid from patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
<p>Among reproductive-age women, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder often associated with infertility and insulin resistance. Metabolomics studies on follicular fluid (FF) have shown to provide information about changes in the physiological state of patients as well as biomarkers for oocyte quality. In this context, we performed an exploratory NMR-based metabolomic study on FF samples provided from PCOS women that were undergoing an <em>in vitro</em> fertilization (IVF) therapy. We found that the hyperinsulinemia in PCOS patients is responsible for a different FF metabolic profile. In particular, hyperinsulinemia seems to be associated with impaired carbohydrate/glucose metabolism. Interestingly, plasma concentrations of Anti-M&uuml;llerian hormone (AMH) turned out to be positively correlated with glucose and negatively correlated with lactate, pyruvate and alanine. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that attempts to correlate AMH values with the FF metabolites. Although the data reported here are preliminary, this study paves the way to a better comprehension of the relationships among hormones and metabolites in FF.</p>
Biochimica Clinica ; 42(1) 26-31
Contributi scientifici - Scientific papers
 
Individualization of treatment in controlled ovarian stimulation: myth or reality?
<p>Variability in the infertile population excludes the possibility of a single approach to controlled ovarian stimulation. The modern technology has led to the development of new drugs, treatment options and quantitative methods that allow an individualized approach to <em>in vitro</em> fertilization. The personalization of treatments requires a comprehensive evaluation of several important aspects. Age still remains the best predictive factor of gametes euploidy rate. It was estimated that the percentage of abnormal embryos/oocytes increased dramatically in women &gt;35 years old. Strategies to improve the number of vital and euploid embryos in those women represents the most intriguing challenge nowadays, considering that more and more women seeking assisted reproductive technologies are in advanced age. On the other hand, ovarian reserve markers, namely follicle stimulating hormone, anti-Mullerian hormone and antral follicle count are also considered the most accurate predictor of ovarian reserve and could be successfully used to guide controlled ovarian stimulation. Finally, there is an emerging evidence in literature which suggests that the ovarian sensitivity to exogenous gonadotropins could be also influenced by specific genotypes characteristics. If these data will be confirmed, a genetic screening might allow in the future a pharmacogenomic approach to better control ovarian stimulation.</p>
Biochimica Clinica ; 41(4) 294-305
Rassegne - Reviews
 
Oncofertilità: dove siamo?
An update about oncofertility
<p>Over the last years we are experiencing an increased incidence of cancer in young population. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy often result in reduced fertility in these patients. With increasing survival rates, fertility is becoming an important quality-of-life concern for young cancer patients. They may be interested in parenthood, but the number of patients who access fertility preservation techniques before treatment is low. There is a need for improvements in clinical care to ensure patients about infertility risks and fertility preservation options and to support them in their reproductive decision-making before cancer treatment. Nowadays, many opportunities exist for fertility preservation. Sperm cryopreservation is a well-established method in male. In female, there are several strategies such as ovarian suppression with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues, ovarian tissue cryopreservation, <em>in vitro</em> maturation or<em> in vitro</em> fertilization after ovulation induction. Recently, developed ovarian stimulation protocols using tamoxifen and letrozole have been applied to increase the margin of safety in breast cancer patients. This review is focused on the effect of cancer treatments on fertility and on the assisted-reproduction innovations devoted to the cancer survivors.</p>
Biochimica Clinica ; 41(4) 322-334
Rassegne - Reviews
 
The improvement of oocyte selection for social freezing application
<p>Lifestyle, educational opportunities, career choices and new unions lead to pregnancy in more advanced age, increasing the emerging preventive solution to freeze oocytes at a young age for later use. In this scenario, the oocyte selection has a great importance in order to choose the best ones capable of a good subsequent embryo development and implantation. The aim of this study was to develop a decision support system, able to classify oocytes according to a score based on morphological features and patients&rsquo; clinical data. The approach would offer a more effective selection method because it is not dependent on the doctor&rsquo;s experience or on an &ldquo;at-first-sight&rdquo; impression. As a first step, a prototype system able to support embryologists in oocyte selection was presented and an experimental evaluation on a real set of data provided. The developed pipeline included the identification of main morphological features influencing oocyte quality and the assignment of a weight and of a better way of measuring them. After that, a standard data format collecting in an organized way all morphological features of oocytes, zigote and embryos and patients&rsquo; clinical data was developed. More than 150 oocytes images, taken in standard and comparable conditions, from 35 women were collected. Morphological features were extracted manually and automatically. A preliminary version of the scoring algorithm was tested on these data.</p>
Biochimica Clinica ; 41(4) 353-357
Contributi scientifici - Scientific papers