Understanding Reproductive Health and Infertility: Molecular and Genetic Insights
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2025 | Viewed by 4732
Special Issue Editor
Interests: human infertility; assisted reproduction; endocrinology; diagnosis; treatment; embryo developmental potential; sperm quality; oocyte quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Reproductive health is a very complex issue that cannot be understood without applying deep molecular and genetic insights. In brief, the success or failure of reproductive health is conditioned by the following three factors:
1. Sperm quality;
2. Oocyte quality;
3. Uterine receptivity.
1. Sperm quality
Basic parameters of sperm quality include sperm count, motility, and morphology and can be assessed through spermogram and spemocytogram values. However, there are other parameters that are not included in this basic evaluation, in particular sperm DNA damage (fragmentation). This parameter can be associated with genetic abnormalities (aneuploidies or deletions), but it can also occur without any genetic damage, due to different kinds of environmental factors. Thus, the examination of sperm DNA integrity should be included as an additional test for all cases of infertility.
2. Oocyte quality
In addition to different types of chromosomal abnormalities that can be detected by karyotype screening in blood cells, there are many other possible genetic and molecular factors that may cause female infertility. First, one important factor is the female age. Aging females accumulate mutations in mitochondrial DNA, leading to limited available energy for healthy embryo development. However, there is another important factor that damages human oocyte quality more than that of other mammalian species, e.g., the mouse. In fact, human preimplantation embryos are programmed to initiate embryonic genome expression at the eight-cell stage later than that of mice and most other rodents (the two-cell stage). To compensate for this characteristic, human oocytes need to accumulate a significant amount of stored maternal mRNA to cover the early embryos’ metabolic needs. The stock of stored maternal mRNA tends to decrease with increasing maternal age. This can partly explain the fact that aging rodent females are more likely to procreate as compared to women. Some therapeutical interventions, such as injections of cytoplasm from young oocyte donors or transfers of patients’ chromosomes to enucleated donor oocytes, were proposed to resolve this condition. However, these techniques are not permitted by law in many countries.
3. Uterine receptivity
The ability of the uterus to promote implantation of healthy embryos depends on two essential factors. First, the adequate secretion of progesterone by the ovarian corpus luteum, which remains in the ovary after ovulation or artificial oocyte extraction. Second, the correct ability of the uterus to respond to progesterone. In order to distinguish between these two conditions, the first useful approach is to determine the serum concentration of progesterone during the luteal phase. If the level of progesterone is low, substitution therapy is recommended. On the other hand, if progesterone level is normal, a search for other factors is needed. Later, at the end of the first trimester, there is another menace. In normal conditions, the production of progesterone is shifted from the corpus luteum to the placenta. If this luteoplacental shift does not work correctly, an abrupt fall in progesterone levels can cause pregnancy loss.
All researchers engaged in any of the above topics are invited to contribute to this Special Issue.
Dr. Jan Tesarik
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- sperm quality
- oocyte quality
- uterine receptivity
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