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  Introduction: The increasing use of EMF (electromagnetic field) generating apparatus (refrigerators, computers, TV, etc) caused an increasing interest in investigations of its adverse effects on human health. This study is done to investigate the effects of EFM on Balb/c mice.

  Materials and Methods: This is an experimental study in which at first a circuit generating low frequency electromagnetic field (50 Hz, 15G) was designed. Then adult virgin female mice were placed in coil and exposed to 15 gauss electromagnetic field for 4 day and 6 hour per day. Then their blood was examined to assay the level of hormones (FSH, LH, estradiol, progesterone). Also ovary and uterus sections were studied with light & electronic microscope.

  Results : Results showed that the weight and size of ovary was not significantly affected in females exposed to the low frequency electromagnetic field and their offspring. Our results also showed that the number of ovary follicles were significantly affected in exposed females (p<0.05). Also the study of micrographs showed hetrochromatinated oocytes and follicular cells and increasing polysomes, accumulation of mitochondria and cleft nucleus. Decreasing amount of FSH, LH and 50% decrease in couplation rate was also seen as compared with the control group.

  Conclusion: Results of this study is indicator of EFM effects on gonads^, structure and endocrine system and decreases fertility.

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Introduction: Infertility is an emotional crisis with physical, economic and psychosocial challenges, because it interferes with all personal life aspects. This event is a sever tension of life and produces strong emotional shock in the infertile couple. This study is done with the aim of comparison the psychiatric problems of infertile men and women referring to infertility clinic of Hamadan Fatemyeh Hospital. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional analytical study. Sample size was 400 infertile men and women which were selected by convenience sampling. Data was collected by a demographic questionnaire and SCL90, and analyzed through descriptive statistics and independent T test. Results: Our study indicates that infertile women experience mental problem significantly more than men. With p<0.05 infertile women in 9 categorize of SCL90 including depression, anxiety, phobia, psychosomatic, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, paranoid ideation and psychotics are significantly different from infertile men. Conclusion: It seems women experience more stress in personal, social and sexual life and women are more sensitive to infertility phenomena that probably is due to cultural problems, mental susceptibility and/or special forms of social communication

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Introduction: The reason of infertility can have a direct influence on the plan and outcome of management. In this paper we intend to show the effect of tuberculosis (TB) history on female infertility among infertile couples attending to Rooyan infertility management center. Materials and methods: In this case-control study our cases were those who were diagnosed as infertile female and controls were those women whose husbands were infertile due to some male factor. We used logestic regression for analyzing the association of history of Tuberculosis and female infertility with attributable risk estimation. Results: 308 cases were compared to 314 controls. Considering the odds ratio and its 95% confidence interval, there was a significant difference between the history of TB and infertility (OR=4.7, 95% CI: 1.01-29.91). The attributable risk of TB for female infertility was 0.023±0.01 (which is significant at 5% level). Conclusion: These figures show that at least 2% of female infertility can be prevented by prevention and proper treatment of tuberculosis.

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Introduction: Stirility is a problem throughout the world. Decreasing the growth and developmental rate of embryo and arresting in certain step of development like two cell block, could be the reason of infertility in some couples. Previous study show that arrest and retardation in embryo development can produced by low temperature exposure. We aimed to evaluate the effect of Ethanol on growth and development of mouse two-cell arrested embryo. Material and methods: The 4-6 week old female mice were coupled with male mice following superovulation and positive vaginal plaque mice were killed 48 hour after HCG injection by cervical dislocation method. Two cell embryo were collected in RPMI medium and divided and cultured (in M16 medium) in three groups. The 2nd and 3rd groups were exposed to 4°C for 24 hour in order to delay and arrest for cleavage and developmental rate. The 2nd group (2nd control) were incubated immediately, while the 3rd group (experiment) were exposed to % 0.1 Ethanole for 5 minutes and the 1st group (1st control) without any exposure to low temperature group were incubated . Results: The data analysis by one-way ANOWA show that the developmental rate of embryos exposed to low temperature (4°C) significantly decreased (P=0.001), retardation and arrest being produced. The mean of cleavage rate between groups were not significantly affected, but the mean percent of degenerated embryos between groups have significant differences (P=0.045). On the other hand the mean percent of morulla is significantly different between groups (P=0.005) similarly the mean percent of blastocyst and hatched blastocyst have significant differences between groups (P=0.014) (P=0.001) after 120 hr evaluation. Conclusion: Effect of %0.1 Ethyl-alchol on arrested two cell embryos can significantly increase the mean percent of morulla and development up to blastocyst and hatching blastocyst stage related to control group, without any significant effect on cleavage rate

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Background: Falcaria vulgaris has different properties and it used as dietary and medicinal herb in the west of Iran. Previously, we showed that this plant has protective and repairing effect on gastric ulcer were demonstrated .The aim of present work was to investigate the effects of F. vulgaris extract on female rat's fertility. Material and methods: In this Exprimental study Virgin female NMRI rats (160-190 gr) were used in three experiments. In each experiment, animal divided into two subgroups (n=8): control which received Distilled Water (DW) (2cc/kg) and case which received herb extract (150mg/kg) interaperitonealy. In first experiment, animals received single dose of extract or DW. In second experiment، female rat received extract or DW in perimplantation period (day 1 to 5 of pregnancy) and in third experiment ( day 5 to 7 of pergnancy). In both experiments implantation sites and neonates were counted in three experiments. Data were analyzed by T-Test test and p<0.05 were considered significant. Results: All three experiments showed significant differences between control and case groups in implantation sites and neonates number. This differences were more prominence in first and third experiment.

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Background: There is growing evidence that damage to spermatozoa by reactive oxygen species (ROS) plays a key role in male infertility. This study was done to review the role of oxidative stress in male infertility. Materials and Methods: In this review article, PubMed, Scopus, and EBSCO-CINAHL databases were used for finding the relevant studies. Results: Under physiological conditions, a certain level of ROS is necessary for normal sperm function. However, an excessive level of ROS produced by leucocytes and immature sperms can cause damages to spermatozoa. Oxidative stress develops when there is an imbalance between ROS production and antioxidant defense system in male reproductive tract. High levels of ROS have been detected in the semen samples of 25-40% of infertile men. Oxidative stress can induce detrimental effects on standard seminal parameters and fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa. Conclusion: Oxidative stress can induce impaired sperm function that results in poor pregnancy rate in natural conditions and assisted reproduction.

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Background: Doxorubicin (DOX) is a widely used anticancer drug, but its use in clinical chemotherapy is limited due to its side effects, including testicular toxicity. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of nano-zinc oxide (nZnO) on DOX-induced reproductive toxicity in male rats.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups, including one control and three experimental groups. They received saline, DOX (6 mg/kg), nZnO (5 mg/kg), and nZnO followed by DOX (i.p), respectively. Treatment was performed for 3 days. After 28 days, post-administration histological changes and reproductive indices were studied.

Results: Administration of DOX induced a significant reduction in seminiferous tubules diameter and thickness of germinal epithelium. Also, fertility and fecundity indices, number of litters and epididymal sperm concentration, decreased, whereas degenerated Leydig cells and deformed Sertoli cells increased.

Conclusion: Coadministration of nZnO significantly improved DOX-induced changes. These findings show the protective role of nZnO in DOX-induced reproductive toxicity.

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Background: Anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) is a reliable marker for ovarian reserve and fertility capacity. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in AMH between physically active and non-active women.

Materials and Methods: Eighty two reproductive age women (18-50 years) participated (42 active and 40 non-active) in this cross-sectional study. Physical activity level was estimated via the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Information on fertility parameters were obtained from medical records. Serum AMH was measured using ELISA assay.

Results: There was not a significant difference in mean age between the two groups (P>0.05). There was a significant difference between physically active and non-active women regarding basal concentration of serum exercise AMH (3.90±0.75 ng/ml versus 1.63±0.53 ng/ml, respectively) (P<0.03). Abortion rates differed significantly (P<0.05) between physically active (0.13±0.26) and non-active women (0.40±0.51).

Conclusion: These findings indicated that physical activity may improve fertility capacity in healthy women by maintaining AMH.

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Background: Human &beta-defensin 126 (12kDa) is a small cationic glycoprotein that is highly rich of cysteine. DEFB126 gene is located on the subtelomeric end of 20p1.3 in human. High expression of this protein is reported in epididymis. This polypeptide coats the plasma membrane of sperm during epididy‌mal transit. It is likely that &beta -defensin 126 might have role in unexplained male infertility since it involves in sperm maturation and capacitation. The current research designed to investigate if there is relation between &beta-defensin 126 gene mutation and unexplained male infertility.

Materials and Methods: In this case-control study we followed a two cytosine nucleotides deletion of &beta-defensin 126 gene in 35 Iranian men with unexplained infertility and 40 fertile men with normal spermogeram as control group. Standard PCR, SSCP(Single strand conformational polymorphism), and sequencing were used to detect genetic alteration of &beta-defensin 126. ELISA was performed for the assessment of the protein expression on sperm cells.

Results: Analysis of genetic data revealed 28.6% homozygote deletion in unexplained infertile men while this deletion was detected in 7.5% of controls. The deletion frequency was statistically higher in infertile patients than normal control group (p<0.05). The protein expression was less in men with del/del genotype compare to the other genotypes (p<0.005).

Conclusion: Our study shows that this common sequence variation of &beta-defensin 126 takes part in impairment of male reproductive function. Consequently, men with the del/del genotype are significantly less fertile than men who carry the wild type allele.

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Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex hormonal disorder affecting the reproductive and metabolic systems. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 8-week pilates training on anti-mullerian hormone level and cardiometabolic parameters in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental study with pretest–posttest design, twenty PCOS patients (aged 28.16±4.29 y) were randomly assigned to pilates training or non-exercising control groups. The training group took part in an eight-week progressive pilates exercise program, three times weekly while the control group were instructed to maintain their normal daily activities throughout the eight-week experimental period. Serum levels of anti-mullerian hormone, body composition and metabolic parameters were assessed before and after the training period.

Results: After an 8 week pilates training, insulin resistance index, total cholesterol, LDL- cholesterol, triglycerides and abdominal fat were significantly decreased (p<0.05). Furthermore, anti-mullerian hormone concentrations decreased significantly in response to pilates training (p<0.05).

Conclusion: These results suggest that pilates training can have beneficial effects on metabolic indices and ovarian reserve in women with polycystic ovary syndrome over a two-month period.

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Background: Infertility is a disease of the reproductive system defined by the failure to achieve a clinical pregnancy after 12 months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. Male infertility affecting 15% of couples. Environmental and genetic factors are involved in male infertility. Paraoxonase (PON) is an antioxidant enzyme which plays an important role in various diseases and is associated with oxidative stress and lipid metabolism. The PON gene family consists of 3 genes, PON1, PON2, and PON3, that located on the long arm of chromosome 7. In this study, the association of PON1 gene polymorphism at position 192 Q/R with idiopathic male infertility were investigated.

Materials and Methods: Blood Samples were collected from 120 patients diagnosed with idiopathic male infertility and 124 control subjects, and genotyped by PCR-RFLP method. To estimate the association between genotype and allele frequencies in cases and controls, P-values were assessed by Chi-square (&chi2) analysis.

Results: We observed a significant difference in genotype distributions of PON1 192 Q/R polymorphism between patients and controls (P= 0.0001). Our findings revealed individuals with the variant QR and RR had a significant decrease risk of idiopathic male infertility (RR: OR= 0.057, 95%CI=0.003-1.08, P= 0.05. QR: OR= 0.288, 95%CI= 0.132-0.394, P= 0.0001).

Conclusion: Our data indicate that the PON1 192 Q/R polymorphism maybe associated with decreased risk of idiopathic male infertility. Although more studies should be considered with larger number of patient and control subjects to confirm our results.

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Background: Nowadays, the decline in birth rate is one of the most important social problems in developing societies. Infertility is defined as a failure to conceive in a couple trying to reproduce after one year of regular intercourse without contraception. Leptin have been implicated in maintaining normal female reproductive functions, including lactation, folliculogenesis, ovarian steroidogenesis, the maintenance of mammary gland morphology, the development of dominant follicles and oocytes, the maturation of the uterus endometrium, and menstrual cycle regulation. Sinyle-nucleotide polymorphism T>C found in exon 3 leads to substitution of Arg>Trp at codon 1.5 (R105W). In this case-control study, we aimed to evaluate the association of this polymorphism and the risk of female infertility in the population of Guilan.

Materials and Methods: Blood Samples were collected from 86 patients diagnosed with female infertility and 60 control subjects, and genotyped by allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR). To estimate the association between genotype and allele frequencies in cases and controls, Chi-Square analysis was used.

Results: Analysis revealed no significant differences were found in genotype and allele distributions of LEP Arg105Trp between infertility cases and controls (p=0.21, p=0.2) in this population.

Conclusion: Our findings indicated no significant association between the Arg105Trp polymorphism and female infertility risk (p=0.21). While, more studies are needed to confirm the results.

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  Background: Approximately, 50% of male infertility causes have remained unknown. It seems that genetic disorders may lead to many cases of idiopathic infertility. XRCC1 ( X-ray Repair Cross Complementing group 1) acts as a scaffolding protein in the base excision repair (BER) and single strand break repair (SSBR). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of XRCC1 may influence DNA repair capacity. Thus, they had been considered as a risk factor for infertility. XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism was located on p rotected domain , BRCT1 . The aim of this study was to explore the p ossibility of association between XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism and susceptibility to idiopathic male infertility.

  Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, the genotype and allele frequencies of Arg399Gln polymorphism were examined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) on a Guilanian population consisting of 144 men with idiopathic infertility and 166 healthy men. Statistical analysis was performed using the MedCalc 12 software.

  Results: According to our results, compared with Arg/Arg genotype, the Arg/Gln , Gln/Gln and Arg/Gln + Gln/Gln genotypes showed a significant association with an increased risk of idiopathic male infertility ( OR=4.19 95%CI 2.37-7.41, p<0.0001 ), (OR=3.42 95%CI 1.50-7.81, p<0.0034), (OR=4.06 95%CI 2.32-7.09, P<0.0001) , respectively. In addition, the Gln allele frequency in patients was significantly higher than that in controls(p=0.0004).

  Conclusion: In total, Arg399Gln polymorphism of XRCC1 gene can be associated with male infertility and Gln allele might be a risk factor of idiopathic male infertility in in this sample population. Larger population and different ethnicities should be studied to achieve a definitive conclusion.

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Background: Infertility is a multifactorial disorder with genetic and non-genomic factors. It is estimated that female infertility factors accounts for more than 40%. Estrogen is one of the effective hormons  in fertility. Its crucial actions on target tissues are mediated via binding to estrogen receptors(ESR). The ESR1 gene is located on chromosome 6q25.1 and encodes α estrogen receptor. The aim of this study was to analysis of ESR1 rs104893956 polymorphism in female infertility.

Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, of 60 infertiles and 55 healthy controls, blood samples were attained. After the extraction of genomic DNA from peripheral blood leukocytes, Allele Specific-PCR (AS-PCR) method was applied for determining the codon polymorphism. Statistical analysis was performed using the MedCalc software (Version 12.1).

Results: The frecuency of T allele was significantly higher in patients (58%) than the controls (44%). There was higher frequency of TT genotype of the polymorphism in patients (18.33%) compared with controls (1.8%). Our findings revealed that the patients carrying the TT genotype had a significant increased risk of infertility.

Conclusion: The results of this study suggests that ESR1 rs104893956 polymorphism may affect the increased susceptibility to female infertility in Guilan province. The results may be different in other genetic pools or large-studied population.

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Background: Adoption has a significant role for strengthening families without children and also resolution of psychological confilicts of unsupervised children. The goal of this study is to assess the psychological status of adoption applicant couples.

Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive- analytic study that is done with cooperation of welfare organization and Arak University of Medical Sciences in 2014. All adoption applicant couples referred to welfare organization for 1 year participated in the study. Data were gathered by using demographic questionnaire and MMPI-II. Data were showed by descriptive statistic and were analyzed by using mean, average and covariance analysis indices.

Results: Mean and standard deviation of all clinical scales and reliability of MMPI-II in all samples and also different subgroups of statistical population were under 65. All applicants had good mental health and psychologically were eligible for adoption. A group of applicants have pretended themselves better than what they are because of the fear of rejection that led to significant difference in k scale(p=0.019).

Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, applicants had good mental health and didn’t have any psychopathologic damage, but sometimes they have pretended themselves better than what they are. Investigation of other diagnostic tools in future studies is recommended.

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Background: The prediction models for infertility treatment success have presented since 25 years ago. There are scientific principles for designing and applying the prediction models that is also used to predict the success rate of infertility treatment. The purpose of this study is to provide basic principles for designing the model to predic infertility treatment success.

Materials and Methods: In this paper, the principles for developing predictive models are explained and then the design of such models in infertility treatments is described in more details by explaining one sample.

Results: The important principles for models that firstly are described are: identifying and defining the purpose, expected function of model, input data that will be used to develop a model: type of intervention or diagnostic procedures that can lead to changes in the samples and output definition or expected result of model function. Further, characteristics of predictive factors in final model, drawing the information flowchart, internal and external validation and attention to the analysis programme of results are the important subjects that have been described.

Conclusion: If predictive models are used properly, can help treatment team and patients to achive best treatment in ART.

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Background and Aim: Recently, there is increasing concern about the declining of male reproductive health. Oxidative stress has been proposed as a possible mechanism contributed in reproductive system failure. Dorema aucheri that is being used in Persian folk medicine has been supposed to have male fertility-enhancing properties. Present study was done to evaluate the impacts of Dorema aucheri on oxidative status and reproductive parameters in male rats. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, healthy adult male Wistar rats were treated with 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of ethanolic D. aucheri leaves extract via gavage for 70 days. Blood samples were collected for analysis of testosterone, LH and FSH serum levels. Reproductive organs weight, density, motility and morphology of spermatozoa, seminiferous tubules diameter, germinal epithelium height and also testicular levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were evaluated. Findings: Significant (p<0.05) increases were seen in the testis and epididymis weights of male rats treated with 200 and 400 mg/kg D. aucheri extract. In rats treated with D. aucheri extract sperm density and percent of morphologically normal sperm were significantly (p<0.05) higher. No significant differences were seen in serum testosterone, FSH and LH levels between D. aucheri extract-treated groups and controls. D. aucheri significantly (p<0.05) reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and also increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity in testicular tissue of rats. Conclusion: Present study indicates that D. aucheri leaves extract has beneficial effects on reproductive parameters in male rats which might be a consequence of its antioxidant properties.

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Background and Aim: Reducing the fertility rates in Iran and use of multiple contraceptive methods in recent decades have been affected by many social, economic and demographic factors. Therefore, this study was conducted to study the fertility pattern and common preventive fertility methods at Arak city in 2017 year. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 384 married women referred to Arak remedial centers in 2017 year. The participants were randomly selected from Vali Asr, Taleghani and Amir Kabir hospitals. The participants information was collected using questionnaire and  subsequently analyzed using Stata software version 12. Ethical Considerations: This study with research ethics code IR.ARAKMU.REC.1396.4 has been approved by research ethics committee at Arak University of Medical Sciences. Findings: Our results showed that the mean age and average duration of marriage of women were 40.03 ± 11.19 and 21.08 ± 12.73 respectively, as well, 281 (73.2%) of women used the natural fertility prevention methods. Most of the participated women were post-graduate diploma with lacked income and housekeeping. Other contraceptive methods such as pills, condoms, IUDs, one-month menses and three-month injections were 8.9, 3.28, 6.38, 1.7 and 2.6, respectively. Conclusion: The most common method for preventing fertility is natural method. Condoms and pills are used more than the other contraceptive methods. There is a lack of awareness of modern contraceptive methods. Therefore, it is recommended that married women be educated about educational materials and counseling for familiarizing them with contraceptives.

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Background and Aim: Fertility pattern is one of the most important determinants of population fluctuations. Various individual and social factors affect this pattern. This study aimed to determine the factors affecting the fertility pattern using the structural equation model.
Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study, 384 women were randomly selected from married women of childbearing age who referred to Taleghani, Valiasr, and Amir Al-Momenin hospitals in Arak as patients. After obtaining verbal consent to participate in the study, a researcher-made and valid questionnaire was completed for them. Structural equation modeling was used to measure the effect of important individual and social variables on fertility patterns. Data analysis and analysis were performed with AMOUS software version 11 and SPSS V. 22.
Ethical Considerations: This study was registered with the ethics code IR.ARAKMU.REC.1396.4 by the Research Ethics Committee of Arak University of Medical Sciences.
Results: The Mean±SD age of the participants in the study was 40.03±11.19. The variables affecting the fertility pattern using the structural equation model included, respectively, the type of individual exercise, the method of contraception, the type of infertility treatment, and the duration of use of the contraceptive method.
Conclusion: The results showed that physical activity, contraceptive method, and duration of use of this method and the type of infertility treatment were related to fertility pattern. By recognizing the factors affecting the fertility pattern and increasing the awareness of young couples, it is possible to help improve the fertility pattern.