Leydig cell ovarian tumors constitute not only a medical problem for clinicians but also a social problem – which is why women with symptoms of hirsutism relatively quickly contact physicians for medical consultation. Leydig cell ovarian tumor is a rare sex cord-gonadal stromal tumor which...

In this work, the HR MAS NMR (high-resolution magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy technique was combined with standard histological examinations to investigate the metabolic features of high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) with a special focus on the relation between a metabolic profile and a cancer cell fraction. The studied group consisted of 44 patients with HGSOC and 18 patients with benign ovarian tumors. Normal ovarian tissue was also excised from 13 control patients. The metabolic profiles of 138 tissue specimens were acquired on a Bruker Avance III 400 MHz spectrometer. The NMR spectra of the HGSOC samples could be discriminated from those acquired from the non-transformed tissue and were shown to depend on tumor purity. The most important features that differentiate the samples with a high fraction of cancer cells from the samples containing mainly fibrotic stroma are the increased intensities in the spectral regions corresponding to phosphocholine/glycerophosphocholine, phosphoethanolamine/serine, threonine, uridine nucleotides and/or uridine diphosphate (UDP) nucleotide sugars. Higher levels of glutamine, glutamate, acetate, lysine, alanine, leucine and isoleucine were detected in the desmoplastic stroma within the HGSOC lesions compared to the stroma of benign tumors. The HR MAS NMR analysis of the metabolic composition of the epithelial and stromal compartments within HGSOC contributes to a better understanding of the disease’s biology.

The COVID-19 pandemic undoubtedly had significant effects on women’s health and the course of pregnancy. The aim of this single-center study was to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adult pregnant and postpartum women’s mental health, as well as to identify factors associated with depressive symptoms, anxiety and fear of delivery. The 465 women included in this questionnaire-based cohort study were divided into two groups: one (controls) of women who gave birth before (n = 190), and the second who were pregnant and delivered during the pandemic (n = 275). The COVID-19 pandemic affected the severity of self-reported anxiety regarding childbirth (mean scores 2.7 vs. 2.36, p = 0.01). The depression (19.84 ± 13.23) and anxiety (16.71 ± 12.53) scores were higher in pregnant women during the COVID 19 pandemic, compared to women who gave birth before the pandemic (8.21 ± 7.38 and 11.67 ± 9.23, respectively). These findings demonstrate the magnitude of the pandemic’s impact on women’s mental health, and actions to improve the mental health of pregnant women in Poland may be crucial for maternal and fetal well-being.

Not required for Clinical Vignette. Not required for Clinical Vignette.

Objectives: In this pilot study the proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹H NMR)-based metabolomics was applied to explore the serum metabolomes of the patients with high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) and the patients with benign gynaecological disease and to identify the characteristic biomarkers. Material and methods: We analyzed serum samples from 17 HGSOC patients and 14 control patients with benign gynecological conditions. Serum metabolites were profiled using 1H NMR spectroscopy, and multivariate data analyses, including Orthogonal Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA), were performed to identify discriminating metabolites. Results: The multivariate analysis revealed the lower levels of the lipid compounds, choline, branched-chain amino acids, 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB), acetoacetate, and the higher level of lactate in the sera of the HGSOC patients compared to the control group. Conclusions: NMR-based metabolomic analysis can serve as a supporting method for the detection of ovarian cancer and may be useful as an adjunct to molecular diagnostics. Keywords: high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma metabolomics nuclear magnetic resonance

Thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura (TTP) is a rare, life-threatening disease with an incidence of approximately 2 persons per million per year [1]. It occurs more often in women. In adults, the condition is most often immune-mediated. TTP is a thrombotic microangiopathy characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, severe thrombocytopenia, and ischemic end-organ failure due to microvascular platelet-rich thrombi. TTP results from a severe deficiency of the specific von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease [a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 motifs (ADAMTS13)], mostly caused by anti-ADAMTS13 autoantibodies [2]. The intrauterine device (IUD) is one of the most common methods of long-acting reversible contraception. The IUDs have a plastic frame covered with copper or release progestin to enhance the contraceptive action of the device. The contraceptive efficacy of