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Abstract Background: Approximately 15-20% of pregnancies terminate to abortion. More than 50% of spontaneous abortions in 8-15 weeks pregnant mothers are related to genetically abnormalities. So, approximately 95% of them are related to numerical and 5% structural chromosome aberrations. Until now, neither of known human chromosomal abnormalities are treatable, and only way against these diseases limit to prenatal diagnosis and abortion of affected fetuses. The purpose of this study was determined the chromosome aberrations with cytogenetically methods. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional analytic study, 56 aborted fetuses were studied to detection of abnormalities frequency. Amnion-chorine culture, placenta, fetal tissue and aborted products from metaphase cells for gathering metaphase cells were used. Results: After cell culture, chromosome typing and GTG-banding Technique, trisomy 21 with highest frequency (12.5%) and isochromosomy 21, X and monosomy X with lowest frequency (1.8% for each them) was resulted. Conclusion: Not only chromosomal aberrations have important role in recurrent miscarriages, but also frequency rates of chromosomal aberrations in our country are similarity with other countries. Also cytogenetically diagnostic methods such as GTG-banding are a powerful and reliable technique for investigation of parents with recurrent abortion.

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Background: Brucellosis, especially if caused by Brucella melitensis, remains one of the most common zoonotic diseases worldwide with more than 500,000 human cases reported annually. In Iran, brucellosis was first recognized in 1932 and control of small ruminant brucellosis began in 1963. The aim of this study is to give an overview of the National Sheep and Goat Brucellosis Control Program in Iran. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from Iran Veterinary Organization over a period of 45 years. The national control program was based on kid and lamb vaccination and testing and slaughtering infected animals. Results: B.melitensis biotype I in sheep, goat, and man was the predominant local infective biotype. This disease was reported in sheep, goat, cattle, horse, camel, and human. In addition, the prevalence of small ruminant brucellosis was estimated around 2.1%. Conclusion: Prevention of brucellosis is dependent upon increasing public awareness of ranchers through health education programs and more active co-operation between health and veterinary medicine organizations as well as animal movement control in the borders.

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Background: Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease which is endemic in Iran. Infection with brucella species during pregnancy can have negative impacts on the outcome of pregnancy however, there is no consensus on its leading to abortion or other severe complications. The aim of the present study is to determine the role of brucellosis in pregnancy and to characterize the risk factors, clinical presentations, and immunology of brucellosis based on the existing reports. Materials and Methods: In this review article, we studied papers on Pubmed, Elsevier, Cohrane, SID, Ovid, ISC, and IranMedex through such keywords as brucellosis, abortion, intra-uterine fatal diseases, and preterm labor. Results: Among the original research papers, 51 were found to be related to the title of this study and dealt with the outcome of brucellosis on pregnant women and had discussed the complications of pregnant patients suffering from brucellosis. Conclusion: According to the investigations made in this study, brucellosis in pregnancy can manifest as normal delivery, increased incidence of spontaneous abortion, intra-uterine fatal diseases, and premature delivery. Therefore, in endemic areas, especially those with inhabitants of low socioeconomic class, educating girls and women of childbearing age about brucellosis and its dangers and risk factors and isolating pregnant women may help prevent the disease and its complications in pregnancy. Moreover, further immunological investigation on the role of immunological reactions following brucellosis infection in pregnant women is required.

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Background: The present study aimed to investigate the immunomodulatory activity of molecules secreted by decidual cells on dendritic cells (DCs) function in abortion-prone compared with non-abortion-prone mice.

Materials and Methods: The decidual cell supernatants (DS) were obtained from abortion and non-abortion mouse models. DCs were purified from CBA/J mice spleens and treated with antigen and DS. Treated DCs were injected into mice palms. After 5 days, draining lymph nodes were removed, cultured in the presence of cognate antigen, and proliferation of lymphocyte cells was measured by 3H-thymidin incorporation.

Results: Our results showed that immunosuppressive activity of DS from non-abortion-prone mice significantly decrease dendritic cells' ability to stimulate lymphocytes proliferation compared with DS from abortion-prone mice (Simulation index (SI) of 4.93 ± 0.34 versus 11.84 ± 0.79).We, also found that DS prepared from non-resorption sites compared with DS from resorption sites in abortion-prone mice had increased immunosuppressive activity on DC function (SI of 7.31 ± 1.02 versus 2.67 ± 0.49).

Conclusion: Due to our results, we concluded that immunomodulatory activity of molecules secreted within decidual tissue is different between abortion-prone and non-abortion-prone mice. Based on the key role of DCs in inducing fetomaternal tolerance, we claimed that these molecules, through modulation of DCs function, play crucial role on pregnancy outcome.

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Background: Missed abortion refers to pregnancy products remain dead with age less than 20 weeks in the womb for several weeks. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of castor oil on cervical ripening in the treatment of abortion.

Materials and Methods: This triple blind clinical trial was done on 72 women with missed abortion who were divided into two groups of 36 patients based on odd or even numberd of cases. The case groups received 800 mg vaginal misoprostol and 60 ml castor oil mixed with fruit juice and control groups received 800 mg vaginal misoprostol and 60 ml placebo with fruit juice, respectively. In both groups, if needed, 3 doses of vaginal suppository 800 mg were repeated with at least 24 hours. After the disposal of pregnancy products, sonography and curettage were performed if necessary.

Results: During the intervening period, the time of the opening of the cervix in the intervention group was shorter than control group and there was a statistically significant difference (p=0.032). Also, the control group required a higher frequency of administration of misoprostol than intervention group and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.037).

Conclusion: It seems that the castor oil can be effective on cervical ripening for treatment of abortion.

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Background: Listeria monocytogenes is one of the most important causes of abortion and postpartum infection in newborns. Because of the importance of L . monocytogenes in the health of pregnant women and newborn babies, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of these bacteria in pregnant women and to compare the level of prevalence between women with a history of abortion and with no a history of abortion.

Materials and Methods: In this study, 540 samples of pregnant women were provided from Arak Taleghani hospital. The samples were cultured in enrichment media, then L .monocytogenesis was isolated in specific media.

Results: Of clinical samples, 14 cases had Listeria monocytogenes. Of these samples, 8 cases in women had a history of abortion, while women with no history of abortion were 6 Most cases of positive culture were related to the age of 25 to 34 years, including 7 cases, the lowest cases were 35 to 44 years old including 3 women and 4 women were between 17 and 24 years old.

Conclusion: The study showed that Listeria monocytogenes can cause infection in pregnant women. The use of Phenotypic methods and specific media can apparently isolate listeria monocytogenes from healthy pregnant women.

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Background and Aim: Abortion has always posed challenges in the areas of ethics, law, religion, philosophy, and reproductive health. Some countries have had different approaches to abortion at different times. Today, abortion is a major challenge in Iran. Social developments and increasing level of health literacy, awareness and participation of women in social and economic fields have led to incompatibility of theoretical and practical aspects in these areas. Women sometimes have abortions without attention to the national law. In Iran, the reasons for legal abortion are the life-threatening conditions of the mother and the fetus. During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, some countries have revised their abortion laws and regulations. In some countries, such as France and Finland, these revisions are permanent; in countries such Portugal and Norway, the changes are temporary; and in other countries such as Germany and Belgium, it is unclear whether the changes are permanent or temporary. In this study, we aim to review the abortion laws and regulations in Europe and Iran. Then, by discussing the new guidelines for the COVID-19 pandemic, we evaluate the effects and consequences of this pandemic on abortion. 
Methods & Materials: The search was conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google Scholar as well as national databases such as SID, MagIran, and IranMedex on studies published from 2002 to 2020 using the following keywords:Abortion, illegal abortion, induced abortion, and COVID-19. Due to the onset of SARS-COV1 epidemic in 2002, all articles published between these two outbreaks were searched.
Ethical Considerations: All ethical principles were observed in this article.
Results: During the COVID-19 pandemic, some European countries revised the abortion laws and regulations, mostly due to realize the reproductive health right. It seems that, this revision has not yet been taken place in Iran.
Conclusion: With the emergence of COVID-19, some countries had revised their abortion laws and regulations to reduce unsafe abortions. It seems that during the Covid19 pandemic, due to changes in lifestyle such as social distancing and economic and social lockdowns, it needs to revise medical laws and regulations in health-oriented and time-dependent areas (such as abortion) so that the principles of medical ethics such as beneficence and maleficent, can be applied. Having COVID-19 and consequently abortion during the pandemic is one of the most challenging issues that should be addressed in terms of ethical, jurisprudential and legal aspects. Development of regulations based on ethical principles during the COVID-19 pandemic is necessary to prevent illegal and unsafe abortions.