Background: The introduction of the vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection creates the need for precise tools for the quality control of vaccination procedures, detection of poor humoral response, and estimation of the achieved protection against the disease. Thus, the study aimed to compare the results of the anti-SARS-CoV-2 tests to evaluate the application of the WHO standard unitage (the binding antibody units; BAU/mL) for a measurement of response to the vaccination. Methods: Patients undergoing vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 with Pfizer/BioNTech BNT162b2 (BNT162b2) (n = 79), referred for SARS-CoV-2 antibody measurement prior to vaccination and 21 days after dose 1, and 8, 14, and 30 days after dose 2 were included. The sera were tested with three assays: Elecsys SARS-CoV-2 S (Roche), LIAISON^® SARS-CoV-2 TrimericS IgG (DiaSorin), and SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant (Abbott). Results: The three assays showed varying correlations at different time points in the study. The overall agreement for all samples was moderate to high (ρ = 0.663–0.902). We observed the most uniform agreement for the day of dose 2 (ρ = 0.775–0.825), while it was least consistent for day 8 (ρ = −0.131–0.693) and 14 (ρ = −0.247–0.603) after dose 2. The dynamics of changes of the SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in patients without history of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection appears homogenous based on the Roche results, more heterogenous when considering the DiaSorin results, and in between for the Abbott results. Conclusions: The results highlight the need for further work on the international standard of measurement of SARS-CoV-2 Ig, especially in the era of vaccination. The serological assays can be useful to detect IgG/IgM antibodies to assess the response to the vaccination. However, they cannot be used interchangeably. In terms of the evaluation of the immune response to the BNT162b2 vaccine, Roche and Abbott kits appear to be more useful.

The blastocyst expresses paternally derived alloantigens and induces inflammation during implantation. However, it is necessary for the onset of pregnancy. An abnormal response might result in a pathological course of pregnancy or pregnancy failure. On the other hand, a state of maternal immune tolerance is necessary to ensure the normal development of pregnancy by suppressing inflammatory processes. This article discusses recognized mechanisms and the significance of inflammatory processes for embryo implantation and pregnancy establishment. We would also like to present disorders involving excessive inflammatory response and their influence on events occurring during embryo implantation. The chain of correlation between the processes responsible for embryo implantation and the subsequent physiological course of pregnancy is complicated. Many of those interrelationships are still yet to be discovered. Undoubtedly, their recognition will give hope to infertile couples for the emergence of new treatments that will increase the chance of giving birth to a healthy child.

Introduction. WNT5A (Wnt family member 5A) belongs to the WNT family of secreted signaling glycoproteins that play essential role in developmental, physiological and pathological processes. WNT5A was shown to take part in carcinogenesis process playing both oncogenic and suppressor functions in various types of human malignancies. This study aimed to assess the expression of the WNT5A gene at the mRNA and protein levels in the specimens derived from endometrial cancer (EC) or unchanged control endometrium. The associations between the WNT5A expression levels and clinicopathological characteristics and survival of EC patients were evaluated. Materials and methods. Total RNA was isolated in order to assess the relative amounts of WNT5A mRNA by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) in samples of unchanged endometrial control (n = 8) and tumor tissues of EC patients (n = 28). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to determine the presence of WNT5A protein in the sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens derived from unchanged endometrial controls (n = 6) and EC tumors (n = 19). Significance of differences in WNT5A expression levels between the studied groups of EC patients and correlations between the WNT5A and demographic data, pathological features, hematological parameters and overall survival of the patients were evaluated by statistical analysis. Results. The level of WNT5A mRNA was decreased in EC in comparison to unchanged endometrium. WNT5A expression and influenced by was associated with primary tumor invasion status, exhibiting reduced level of transcripts in EC that involved organs beyond the uterus when compared to the uterus-confined cancers. WNT5A immunoreactivity was visualized in the cytoplasm and nuclei of EC cells as well as in the luminal and glandular epithelial cells of unchanged endometrium. WNT5A mRNA expression levels correlated negatively with cytoplasmic, and positively with nuclear immunoreactivity of the WNT5A protein in the EC cells. In addition, the relationships between blood leucocyte count (in particular granulocytes and lymphocytes) of patients with EC and their WNT5A mRNA and protein expression levels were established. A positive correlation between the nuclear immunoexpression of WNT5A protein in the cancer cells in cell nuclei and mean platelet volume in blood was also found. Conclusions. The results of the first study of WNT5A expression at the transcript and protein levels indicate that it could be considered as a potential marker of molecular changes that take place during EC development. Introduction. WNT5A (Wnt family member 5A) belongs to the WNT family of secreted signaling glycoproteins that play essential role in developmental, physiological and pathological processes. WNT5A was shown to take part in carcinogenesis process playing both oncogenic and suppressor functions in various types of human malignancies. This study aimed to assess the expression of the WNT5A gene at the mRNA and protein levels in the specimens derived from endometrial cancer (EC) or unchanged control endometrium. The associations between the WNT5A expression levels and clinicopathological characteristics and survival of EC patients were evaluated. Materials and methods. Total RNA was isolated in order to assess the relative amounts of WNT5A mRNA by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) in samples of unchanged endometrial control (n = 8) and tumor tissues of EC patients (n = 28). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to determine the presence of WNT5A protein in the sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens derived from unchanged endometrial controls (n = 6) and EC tumors (n = 19). Significance of differences in WNT5A expression levels between the studied groups of EC patients and correlations between the WNT5A and demographic data, pathological features, hematological parameters and overall survival of the patients were evaluated by statistical analysis. Results. The level of WNT5A mRNA was decreased in EC in comparison to unchanged endometrium. WNT5A expression and influenced by was associated with primary tumor invasion status, exhibiting reduced level of transcripts in EC that involved organs beyond the uterus when compared to the uterus-confined cancers. WNT5A immunoreactivity was visualized in the cytoplasm and nuclei of EC cells as well as in the luminal and glandular epithelial cells of unchanged endometrium. WNT5A mRNA expression levels correlated negatively with cytoplasmic, and positively with nuclear immunoreactivity of the WNT5A protein in the EC cells. In addition, the relationships between blood leucocyte count (in particular granulocytes and lymphocytes) of patients with EC and their WNT5A mRNA and protein expression levels were established. A positive correlation between the nuclear immunoexpression of WNT5A protein in the cancer cells in cell nuclei and mean platelet volume in blood was also found. Conclusions. The results of the first study of WNT5A expression at the transcript and protein levels indicate that it could be considered as a potential marker of molecular changes that take place during EC development.

A retrospective case control study was undertaken at the molecular biology department of a private center for reproductive medicine in order to determine whether any correlation exists between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content of cleavage-stage preimplantation embryos and their developmental potential. A total of 69 couples underwent IVF treatment (averaged women age: 36.5, SD 4.9) and produced a total of 314 embryos. A single blastomere was biopsied from each embryo at the cleavage stage (day-3 post-fertilization) subjected to low-pass next generation sequencing (NGS), for the purpose of detecting aneuploidy. For each sample, the number of mtDNA reads obtained after analysis using NGS was divided by the number of reads attributable to the nuclear genome. The mtDNA copy number amount was found to be higher in aneuploid embryos than in those that were euploid (mean mtDNA ratio ± SD: 6.3 ± 7.5 versus 7.1 ± 5.8, p < 0.004; U Mann–Whitney test), whereas no statistically significant differences in mtDNA content were seen in relation to embryo morphology (6.6 ± 4.8 vs. 8.5 ± 13.6, p 0.09), sex (6.6 ± 4.1 vs. 6.2 ± 6.8, p 0.16), maternal age (6.9 ± 7.8 vs. 6.7 ± 4.5, p 0.14) or its ability to implant (7.4 ± 6.6 vs. 5.1 ± 4.6, p 0.18). The mtDNA content cannot serve as a useful biomarker at this point in development. However, further studies investigating both quantitative and qualitative aspects of mtDNA are still required to fully evaluate the relationship between mitochondrial DNA and human reproduction.