Effect of semen washing methods on diminishing the transmission of viral infections in artificial reproductive technology

Seminal infections were considered to be an etiologic factor of male infertility. Semen washing is used as an appropriate technique in artificial reproductive technology (ART) for serodiscordant couples when the partner of male is contaminated. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of semen washing methods in reducing the transmission of viral infections in ART. In this narrative review we investigated accessible information from Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, IranMedex, Irandoc, Magiran, SID, MEDLIB and Scientific Information Database until 2019. The MeSH terms of semen washing, HIV, assisted reproduction, serodiscordant, and virus transmission were used. According to the search strategy, 89 articles were discovered. After checking the titles, abstracts and manuscripts, a collection of 45 papers were chosen pursuant to the suitability indexes. The studies were performed around different categories of semen washing (swim up, density gradient) in serodiscordant couples. Some studies highlighted that semen washings can completely prevent viral transmission, but a few do not believe this claim. However, scientific researchers have revealed that sperm washing may diminish the possibility of infection in serodiscordant couples where the male partner is infected. Swim up in combination with density gradient is a suitable method to diminish the transmission of infections.

Association between Artificial Reproductive Technology and Retinopathy of Prematurity

BACKGROUND: Infertility is an increasingly common health problem which affects approximately 10% of the women in reproductive age. Artificial reproductive technology (ART), which is the modern solution to infertility, unfortunately has been linked to increased prevalence of prematurity and low birth weight (BW) in the newborn. That’s why ART infants make up a considerable portion of the retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening burden, which is likely to increase, as ART becomes increasingly available and utilized. AIM: The aim of the study was to assess the association between ART and the development of ROP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of preterm infants screened for ROP at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the University Hospital â€oeProf. Dr. Stoyan Kirkovich” Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, by single factor and multifactor logistic regression models. RESULTS: During a 4-year period (2016–2019), 419 infants, meeting the screening criteria, were admitted in the ward. Out of them, 265 were conceived naturally and 154 through ART. Thirty-two (7.6%) children required laser treatment for ROP, among which 15 (46.87%) were conceived naturally and 17 (53.12%) by ART. Multifactor analyses proves BW (odds ratio [OR] 0.99; confidence interval [CI], 0.98–0.99; p = 0.008) and gestational age (GA) (OR 0.296; 95% CI 0.09–0.88; p = 0.029) as significant risk factors for severe ROP, requiring treatment. CONCLUSION: ART is a risk factor for ROP due to its association with lower BW and GA of the newborn infants, rather than directly increasing the possibility for it. Nevertheless, there is a pronounced trend for more severe ROP to develop in ART children, when compared to naturally conceive in the same weight group.

‘These were made-to-order babies’: Reterritorialised Kinship, Neoliberal Eugenics and Artificial Reproductive Technology in Kishwar Desai’s Origins of Love

This essay examines Kishwar Desai’s Origins of Love (2012) in order to foreground how the novel is complexly reflective of the biomedical technologies strategically deployed by medical practitioners and prospective parents for the purpose of reinforcing caste-based bionormative notion of family that artificial reproductive technology is assumed to have problematised. The essay also demonstrates how the use of bioenhancement facilities has led to the revival of neoliberal eugenics enmeshed with state-led biopolitics. The essay draws on the concept of renaturalisation discussed by Tamar Sharon in order to examine how the schizophrenic or deterritorialising potential of reproductive technology is reconfigured and domesticated by the medicolegal practitioners in order to reterritorialise the normative structures of kinship and family formation within a capitalist consumerist culture.

Artificial Reproductive Technology – A Risk Factor for Retinopathy of Prematurity

BACKGROUND: Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is a potentially blinding vasoproliferative disease in premature babies. The presentation and course of ROP are determined by a complex interaction of a series of risk factors, including artificial reproductive technology (ART). AIM: To analyse and combine the information relating ART as an independent risk factor for retinopathy of prematurity. METHODS AND MATERIAL: The article is systematic review and meta-analysis using RevMan 5. Pubmed, Scopus and Medline were searched for articles from 1990 to 2018. RESULTS: Studies suggest that ROP is observed more frequently in ART children. They are more likely to be premature and of low birth weight than those conceived naturally. Results vary from just a tendency to a five-fold increase in risk to develop ROP in ART babies. At the same time, they might develop ROP later, and more mature newborns might be affected. CONCLUSION: The data relating ART as a risk factor for ROP is inconclusive, but most studies show at least a tendency. The ART newborns need to be considered as a risk group for ROP and observed with greater suspicion. Even more mature ART newborns might need to be screened in order not to miss any significant pathology.

Is Artificial Reproductive Technology a Risk Factor for Retinopathy of Prematurity Independent of the Generation of Multiple Births?

Purpose There is some debate regarding whether artificial reproductive technology (ART) constitutes an independent risk factor for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). We wanted to assess the prevalence of ART in multiple birth infants seen for ROP screening and whether or not ROP was identified or treated, in order to evaluate whether ART contributes a risk factor for ROP independent of the generation of multiple births. Methods A retrospective audit was performed of all multiple birth babies admitted to a tertiary neonatal unit who met the UK ROP screening criteria (<32 weeks gestational age [GA] and/or <1,501 g birthweight [BW]). Results A total of 205 babies met our criteria, of whom 87.3% were twins. A total of 39.5% were born following ART. A total of 30.5% of the non-ART group developed ROP vs 34% of the ART group (p = 0.837). Stage 3 ROP developed in 5.1% of non-ART babies and 6% of ART babies. A total of 8.5% of non-ART babies and 10% of ART babies required treatment for ROP. Logistic regression demonstrated that ART was not independently associated with development of ROP. Conclusions Artificial reproductive technology multiple birth babies make up a considerable proportion of the ROP screening burden and their number is likely to increase as ART is increasingly available and utilized. We found no significant difference between the numbers of babies developing ROP in the ART vs non-ART groups, but the numbers are small. The estimated odds of developing ROP are slightly higher in the ART babies, so our data do not rule out a possible association.