Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) significantly increase the chance of successful pregnancy and live birth in infertile couples. The different procedures for ART, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), intrauterine insemination (IUI), and gamete intrafallopian tube transfer (GIFT), are widely used to overcome infertility-related problems. In spite of its inarguable usefulness, concerns about the health consequences of ART-conceived babies have been raised. There are reports about the association of ART with birth defects and health complications, e.g., malignancies, high blood pressure, generalized vascular functional disorders, asthma and metabolic disorders in later life. It has been suggested that hormonal treatment of the mother, and the artificial environment during the manipulation of gametes and embryos may cause genomic and epigenetic alterations and subsequent complications in the health status of ART-conceived babies. In the current study, we aimed to review the possible long-term consequences of different ART procedures on the subsequent health status of ART-conceived offspring, considering the confounding factors that might account for/contribute to the long-term consequences.

The receptive phase of the uterus is marked by structural and functional maturation of the endometrium. During this limited time span, the blastocyst competency is superimposed on the receptive endometrium. It is a well-known fact that lipid signalling in early-stage pregnancy has a crucial role in successful embryogenesis. In our study, CD-1 mouse uteri after normal and in vitro fertilization (IVF) were investigated at 6.5, 8.5, and 10.5 days of pregnancy. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight imaging mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography coupled tandem mass spectrometry were used for identification of phosphatidylcholine (PC) lipid structures. In the embryonal tissues, PC 32:0 and PC 34:0 were increased, while in the antemesometrial (AM) decidua the two 20:4-containing PCs, PC 36:4 and PC 38:4 were increased. In transferred uterus samples, higher expressions of PC 34:0, PC 34:1, PC 34:2, PC 36:1, and PC 36:2 in mesometrial decidua were seen, whereas the two 20:4-containing PCs, PC 36:4 and PC 38:4 showed increased expression in the AM and lateral decidua. This paper shows a significant spatio-temporal change in lipid metabolism during IVF procedures for the first time.

Background: Due to the difficulty of identifying the window of receptivity, a molecular understanding of endometrial changes after fertilization is essential for improving the effectiveness of in vitro fertilization (IVF). This multi-level study examines the compo-sition of cytokines and extracellular vesicles (EVs) in uterine lavage samples obtainable via a noninvasive procedure in mice. The goal is to offer a new perspective on the tim-ing of embryo transfer. Methods: We performed flow cytometric analyses of inflamma-tory cytokines and EVs in uterine lavage samples collected from CD1 mice at the pre-receptive stage (2.5 days post coitum [dpc]) and the receptive stage (4.5 dpc). We also assessed endometrial progesterone receptor expression via immunohistochemistry and evaluated the expression of adhesion molecules related to implantation by RT-PCR. Re-sults: Significant differences were found in the concentrations of inflammatory cyto-kines (IL-6, IFN-γ, and MCP-1), the EV pattern in uterine lavage fluid, and the expres-sion of some genes related to implantation (CD44, CD81, and CD29). These results re-veal uterine lavage fluid markers associated with endometrial receptivity. Using these noninvasive markers can improve the effectiveness of IVF by enabling more precise timing of embryo transfer.