The junctional zone (JZ), also called as the endometrial-myometrial junction, is related to peristaltic-like movements in the non-pregnant uterus. Hyperperistalsis and dysperistalsis of uterus constructions might underlie many important disorders such as dysmenorrhea, infertility, endometriosis, implantation failure. The major proteins for uterine contraction of the non-pregnant uterus may be Oxytocin (OT) and oxytocin receptor (OTR). The objective of this study was to inspect the expression of OTR in isthmic and mid-fundal parts of the uterine junctional zone at different stages of the follicular cycle in patients with and without endometriosis. Uterine biopsies containing endometrium and junctional zone were collected from the isthmic and mid-fundal parts of the anterior wall after hysterectomy. The OTR expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. In the control uterus, OTR expression in the isthmic region was significantly higher than in the fundal region in the proliferative phase (p < 0.05) but significantly lower in the secretory phase (p < 0.05). And the expression of OTR in the proliferative phase was significantly higher than that in the secretory phase in both isthmic and fundal regions (p = 0.000 and 0.049, respectively). However, in endometriosis uteri, OTR expression in the isthmic region showed no significant difference with that in the fundal region in both proliferative and secretory phases (p = 0.597 and 0.736, respectively). In both isthmic and fundal regions, OTR expression was not significantly different between the proliferative phase and secretory phase (p = 0.084 and 0.222, respectively). OTR expression in fundal regions of revised ASRM I and II endometriosis were lower than that of revised ASRM III and IV (p = 0.049). In the fundal region of JZ, the expression of OTR in ovarian endometriosis was significantly lower than that in deep infiltrating endometriosis (p = 0.046). The expression level of OTR in the funds region is positively associated with the severity of dysmenorrhea in endometriosis group (r = 0.870, p < 0.05). Comparing to normal uteri, the expression of OTR in the secretory phase was significantly higher in the endometriosis uteri (p < 0.05). In the fundus of endometriosis uteri, OTR expression was significantly higher in both the proliferative and secretory phases (p = 0.045 and 0.028, respectively). OTR expression in the JZ of women with endometriosis changes significantly, which may result in abnormal uterine contractile activity, reducing the endometriosis-related fertility and dysmenorrhea.

There is growing concern that chemotherapy drugs can damage Leydig cells and inhibit the production of testosterone. Increasing evidence shows that melatonin benefits the reproductive process. This study mainly explores the protective effect and possible molecular mechanism of melatonin regarding cisplatin-induced oxidative stress in testicular tissue and Leydig cells. We found that there were only Leydig and Sertoli cells in the testes of gastrointestinal tumor patients with azoospermia caused by platinum chemotherapeutic drugs. Melatonin (Mel) receptor 1/melatonin receptor 2 (MT1/MT2) was mainly expressed in human and mouse Leydig cells of the testes. We also observed that the melatonin level in the peripheral blood decreased and oxidative stress occurred in mice treated with cisplatin or gastrointestinal tumor patients treated with platinum-based chemotherapeutic drugs. iTRAQ proteomics showed that SIRT1/Nrf2 signaling and MT1 proteins were downregulated in cisplatin-treated mouse testes. The STRING database predicted that MT1 might be able to regulate the SIRT1/Nrf2 signaling pathway. Melatonin reduced oxidative stress and upregulated SIRT1/Nrf2 signaling in cisplatin-treated mouse testes and Leydig cells. Most importantly, after inhibiting MT1/MT2, melatonin could not upregulate SIRT1/Nrf2 signaling in cisplatin-treated Leydig cells. The MT1/MT2 inhibitor aggravated the cisplatin-induced downregulation of SIRT1/Nrf2 signaling and increased the apoptosis of Leydig cells. We believe that melatonin stimulates SIRT1/Nrf2 signaling by activating MT1/MT2 to prevent the cisplatin-induced apoptosis of Leydig cells.

To evaluate the predictive value of the symptoms of an intrauterine hematoma (IUH) for adverse pregnancy outcomes. A literature review was performed with the search terms, including intrauterine/subchorionic/retroplacental/subplacental hematoma/hemorrhage/bleeding/collection/fluid, covering the period from January, 1981 to January, 2014. We just focused on the pregnancy outcomes associated with different symptoms of an IUH. It is generally agreed that a retroplacental, posterior or subchorionic in the fundus of uterus, and/or persistent IUH is associated with adverse outcomes in the ongoing pregnancy. However, the prognosis value of both volume and gestational age at diagnosis of IUH still remains controversial. Some researchers argue that a large IUH is associated with an increased risk of adverse events during pregnancy while others refuted. It is believed by some that the earlier an IUH was detected, the higher the risk for adverse outcomes would be, while no or weak association were reported by other studies. The prognostic value of the simultaneous presence of vaginal bleeding on pregnancy outcome is also controversial. Both the position relative to the placenta or uterus and duration of IUH have strong predictive value on the prognosis in the ongoing pregnancy. However, the prognostic values of the IUH volume, gestational age at diagnosis and the simultaneous presence of vaginal bleeding remain controversial up to now. Moreover, most of previous reports are small, uncontrolled studies with incomplete information. Prospective, large sample, cohorts studies which take all detailed symptoms of an IUH into consideration are needed when we evaluate its clinical significance in the prognosis of pregnancy.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common condition estimated to affect 5.61% of Chinese women of reproductive age, but little is known about the prevalence and predictors in Chinese PCOS patients. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and predictors of the metabolic abnormalities in Chinese women with and without PCOS.