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Biomedical subjects

A W Rogers

Publications and source records attributed to A W Rogers.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Effect of culture in vitro and organ culture on the dry mass of preimplantation mouse embryos.

The dry mass of mouse embryos cultured in vitro in medium alone or in an organ culture system were measured by means of the Vickers M86 scanning microinterferometer. The data were compared with previous data on the dry mass of preimplantation embryos in vivo. The metabolism of embryos cultured in vitro differs from that of fresh embryos. In cultured embryos, dry mass decreases throughout the 2-cell stage whereas the dry mass is increasing at this stage in vivo. Embryos in an organ culture system regain a dry mass profile, similar to that observed in vivo at the late cleavage stage. These results support the view that conditions for embryo metabolism are suboptimal in vitro and that, although the oviduct may confer some advantage on developing embryos in vitro, it is unable fully to support the pattern of metabolism, as assessed by dry mass, observed in vivo.

Animals↗

Variation in the dry mass of mouse embryos throughout the preimplantation period.

Information on the net balance of embryonic metabolism during the preimplantation period is provided by measurements of embryo dry mass. The dry mass of mouse embryos at 10 defined stages of preimplantation development was measured using the Vickers M86 scanning microinterferometer. The results demonstrate that there is an overall loss of dry mass from the unfertilized ovum (39.10 +/- 0.6 ng) to the late blastocyst stage (32.80 +/- 0.53 ng) with these differences being highly significant. However, there is a significant increase in embryonic dry mass from the 1-cell (36.88 +/- 0.34 ng) to 2-cell stage (40.48 +/- 0.40 ng). These results suggest that protein synthesis exceeds degradation during the 2-cell stage but that from the 4-cell to morula stage the reverse is true. In addition, the variation in dry mass between embryos at the same developmental stage is extremely small, suggesting that this may be a useful indicator of embryonic viability.

Animals↗

An endometrial factor in unexplained infertility.

OBJECTIVE: To study a group of women with unexplained infertility to see whether they have a defect that is intrinsic to the endometrium. DESIGN: Evaluation of the functional response of the endometrium by examining endometrial biopsy specimens using immunohistochemical methods in a group of women with unexplained infertility and in a control group of women with normal fertility. PATIENTS: 27 Women with unexplained infertility (average age 33.2); median duration of infertility five years. A control group of 44 women with normal fertility (average age 33.8) who were requesting sterilisation or reversal of sterilisation. SETTING: Infertility clinic, Jessop Hospital for Women, Sheffield. INTERVENTION: Secretory phase endometrial biopsy specimens were taken, with informed consent, as an outpatient procedure. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Immunohistochemistry with monoclonal antibody D9B1, was used to assess the production and secretion of an oligosaccharide epitope produced by endometrial gland cells between two and seven days after the luteinising hormone surge. A reflected light measuring system was used to assess the amount of epitope within the gland cells, and in the gland lumen. RESULTS: In the control group of women, mean reflected light measurements at the cell base and cell apex peaked at three and five days after the luteinising hormone surge respectively, and in the gland lumen the epitope accumulated rapidly from three days, reaching a peak at seven days. In the women with infertility the peaks of epitope at the cell base and cell apex were lower, broader, and delayed in onset, and the build up of epitope in the gland lumen was retarded. The synthesis and secretion of the epitope in the women with infertility was therefore significantly reduced and delayed, even in the presence of normal concentrations of circulating progesterone. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that a primary dysfunction of the endometrium might be associated with hitherto unexplained infertility.

Adult↗

A morphometric study of the human endometrial stroma during the peri-implantation period.

In this study we have examined the human endometrial stromal cell population in well-timed biopsies during the peri-implantation period, using traditional stereological techniques. This paper reports data obtained from 16 women of known fertility who underwent endometrial biopsies at known times after the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge (four each at LH + 2, LH + 4, LH + 6 and LH + 8). The average stromal cell nuclear diameter increased in size throughout the period of study (P less than 0.01), with a significant decrease (P less than 0.05) in the nuclear profile axial ratio. This suggests that the nuclei were increasing in size and becoming more rounded. There was a dramatic increase (P less than 0.01) in the packing density between LH + 2 and LH + 6; this is likely to be due, at least in part, to the glands filling up with secretory products and so compressing the intervening stroma. A substantial decrease (P less than 0.01) was seen in the packing density between LH + 6 and LH + 8. This corresponds to the time when stromal oedema is thought to be maximal.

Adult↗

A morphometric study of the human endometrial stroma during the peri-implantation period.

In this study we have examined the human endometrial stromal cell population in well-timed biopsies during the peri-implantation period, using traditional stereological techniques. This paper reports data obtained from 16 women of known fertility who underwent endometrial biopsies at known times after the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge (four each at LH + 2, LH + 4, LH + 6 and LH + 8). The average stromal cell nuclear diameter increased in size throughout the period of study (P less than 0.01), with a significant decrease (P less than 0.05) in the nuclear profile axial ratio. This suggests that the nuclei were increasing in size and becoming more rounded. There was a dramatic increase (P less than 0.01) in the rounded. There was a dramatic increase (P less than 0.01) in the packing density between LH + 2 and LH + 6; this is likely to be due, at least in part, to the glands filling up with secretory products and so compressing the intervening stroma. A substantial decrease (P less than 0.01) was seen in the packing density between LH + 6 and LH + 8. This corresponds to the time when stromal oedema is thought to be maximal.

Adult↗

A quantitative study of endometrial development in the luteal phase: comparison between women with unexplained infertility and normal fertility.

This study compared endometrial development in the luteal phase of women with unexplained infertility (n = 30) with that in women with normal fertility (n = 70) by the use of quantitative histological techniques (morphometric analysis) on endometrial specimens which were precisely timed from the luteinizing hormone surge. When overall endometrial development (histological dating) was considered, the proportion of women with unexplained infertility who had retarded endometrial development (20%) was found to be significantly higher than for women with normal fertility (3%) (P less than 0.01). When individual histological features were considered, women with unexplained infertility were found to have significant deviation from the normal range established from fertile women in only five of the 14 histological features measured. All of these five features related to the glandular but not to the stromal component of the endometrium; four of these five features are related to glandular secretory activity.

Adult↗

Rural hospitals: still on the critical list.

"Survive 'til '95." This rural hospital battle cry may prove to be prophetic. The next five years will determine how health care is delivered in the United States. Time is critical for rural hospitals, and their responses to changes ahead will determine their future.

Facility Regulation and Control↗

How precise is histologic dating of endometrium using the standard dating criteria?

Sixty-three endometrial biopsies were dated histologically by using the standard criteria on two separate occasions by the same observer. Overall, it was found that exact agreement occurred in 15 (24%), but disagreement of more than 2 days occurred in 6 (10%). The proportion of exact agreement in the first half of the luteal phase (32%) was found to be significantly higher (P less than 0.05) than that in the second half of the luteal phase (9%). In a separate part of the study, 27 women had two endometrial biopsies, each performed in a separate cycle. The within-subject between-cycle variation of the results of endometrial dating (exact agreement: 4%, disagreement of more than 2 days: 41%) was found to be significantly different from intraobserver variation (P less than 0.01 for both). The amount of intraobserver variation suggests that the traditional dating criteria are not precise enough to quantify corpus luteum function in the second half of the luteal phase, whereas the amount of within-subject between-cycle variation implies that the result of endometrial dating in one cycle cannot be used reliably to predict that of another cycle.

Adult↗

The effects of steroids on the fine structure of the endometrium.

This brief review illustrates the lack of ultrastructural studies on human endometrium, particularly on well-dated material from normal, fertile women. The glandular epithelium, with its triad of unusual organelles in the early luteal phase, poses fascinating problems in cell biology and, probably for this reason, has attracted the most work. Many problems in reproductive biology, in uterine pathology and in the study of unexplained infertility are crying out for detailed study of the luminal epithelium, the stroma and the blood vessels. If this review, by highlighting the gaps in our knowledge, stimulates research into these areas, it will have been successful.

Endometrium↗

The endometrial cycle: the expression of a secretory component correlated with the luteinizing hormone peak.

This paper reports the pattern of production and secretion of a secretory phase epitope in the endometrium of 44 normal fertile women. Peroxidase immunochemistry was used to detect the monoclonal antibody D9B1, which binds to a peptide-associated sialylated oligosaccharide, in endometrial biopsies all chronologically dated from the luteinizing hormone (LH) peak. During the proliferative phase, the epitope was shown to be absent from tissue sections. It first made its appearance within gland cells 2 days after the LH peak. By LH+3 a rapid accumulation of the D9B1 epitope was noted in the base of the cell, below the nucleus. On subsequent days, increasing amounts of the antigen were detected in the apical cytoplasm, apparently in a more concentrated form than in the basal cell zone. On day LH+6, around the time of implantation, secretory vesicles in the cell apex were discharged into the gland lumen where the glycoconjugate finally accumulated. This immunohistochemical approach introduces a new parameter for evaluation of endometrial function and could be used to improve the accuracy of histological assessment of the endometrial cycle.

Adolescent↗

The relation between daily salivary progesterone profile and endometrial development in the luteal phase of fertile and infertile women.

This study analysed the relation between daily salivary progesterone profiles in the luteal phase and endometrial development as assessed by morphometric studies of endometrial biopsies that were timed by luteinizing hormone surge. Among 34 fertile women studied, a threshold relation was noted between cumulative salivary progesterone concentration and 11 of the 17 morphometric features measured, as well as the results of the histological dating. Above the observed threshold, a significant linear correlation was found between cumulative salivary progesterone and the results of histological dating. Among 55 women, progesterone profile in the first half of the luteal phase, but not the second half, was found to be significantly lower in those with retarded endometrial development than in those with normal development. Overall, 50% of retarded endometrial development was associated with a subnormal progesterone profile, but the other 50% was associated with a normal progesterone profile, in keeping with an abnormal response of the endometrium due to progesterone receptor deficiency. Retarded endometrial development was more likely to be associated with a subnormal progesterone profile in the first half of the luteal phase than in the second half.

Adult↗