• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.50-59
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• 2019

Anti-$M{\ddot{u}}llerian$ hormone (AMH), a peptide growth factor of the transforming growth $factor-{\beta}$ family, is a reliable marker of ovarian reserve. Regarding assisted reproductive technology, AMH has been efficiently used as a marker to predict ovarian response to stimulation. The clinical use of AMH has recently been extended and emphasized. The uses of AMH as a predictive marker of menopause onset, diagnostic tool for polycystic ovary syndrome, and assessment of ovarian function before and after gynecologic surgeries or gonadotoxic agents such as chemotherapy have been investigated. Serum AMH levels can also be affected by environmental and genetic factors; thus, the effects of factors that may alter AMH test results should be considered. This review summarizes the findings of recent studies focusing on the clinical application of AMH and factors that influence the AMH level and opinions on the use of the AMH level to assess the probability of conception before reproductive life planning as a "fertility test."

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.101-109
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• 2022

Objective: Y chromosome microdeletions are the second most common genetic cause of male infertility after Klinefelter syndrome. The aim of this study was to determine the patterns of Y chromosome microdeletions among infertile Mongolian men. Methods: A descriptive study was performed on 75 infertile men from February 2017 to December 2018. Y chromosome microdeletions were identified by polymerase chain reaction. Semen parameters, hormonal levels, and testis biopsy samples were examined. Results: Among 75 infertile men, two cases of Y chromosome microdeletions were identified. The first case had an AZFa complete deletion and the other had an AZFc partial deletion. This study found that the proportion of Y chromosome microdeletions among infertile Mongolian men was 2.66%. Conclusion: The findings can be applied to in vitro fertilization and assisted reproductive technology, and our results will help clinicians improve treatment management for infertile Mongolian couples.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.101-105
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• 2015

Objective: Several publications have established a relationship between sperm DNA damage and male factor infertility, based on data from America, Europe, and Asia. This study aimed to compare the extent of sperm DNA damage in sperm samples from Nigerian men with unexplained infertility and in sperm samples from a fertile group composed of sperm donors who had successfully impregnated a female partner naturally or through assisted conception. Methods: A total of 404 men underwent male fertility evaluation at Androcare Laboratories and Cryobank participated in this study. Semen analysis and a sperm chromatin structure assay (SCSA) were performed on all subjects. Results: The men in the unexplained infertility group were slightly older than the men in the fertile sperm group ($36{\pm}10$ years vs. $32{\pm}6$ years, p=0.051). No significant difference was observed between the two groups in semen analysis parameters ($p{\geq}0.05$). Men in the unexplained infertility group with normal semen parameters had a significantly higher DNA fragmentation index (DFI) than men in the fertile sperm group ($27.5%{\pm}7.0%$ vs. $14.1%{\pm}5.3%$, p<0.05). In the unexplained infertility group, 63% of the men had a DFI greater than 20%, compared to 4% in the fertile sperm group. In the unexplained infertility group, 15.2% of the subjects had a DFI greater than 30%, compared to 1% in the fertile sperm group. Conclusion: Our study showed that the SCSA may be a more reliable predictor of fertility potential than traditional semen analysis in cases of unexplained infertility.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.399-422
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• 2020

Remediating soils contaminated with heavy metals due to urbanization and industrialization is very important not only for human health but also for ecosystem sustainability. Of the available remediation technologies for heavy metal-contaminated soils, phytoremediation is a relatively low-cost environment-friendly technology which preserves biodiversity and soil fertility. The application of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) during the phytoremediation of heavy metal-contaminated soils can enhance plant growth against heavy metal toxicity and increase heavy metal removal efficiency. In this study, the sources of heavy metals that have adverse effects on microorganisms, plants, and humans, and the plant growth-promoting traits of PGPB are addressed and the research trends of PGPB-assisted phytoremediation over the last 10 years are summarized. In addition, the effects of environmental factors and PGPB inoculation methods on the performance of PGPB-assisted phytoremediation are discussed. For the innovation of PGPB-assisted phytoremediation, it is necessary to understand the behavior of PGPB and the interactions among plant, PGPB, and indigenous microorganisms in the field.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1659-1665
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• 2011

In Citrus, an $F_1$ segregation population of 150 plants was constructed from a cross between 'Kiyomi' (C. unshiu ${\times}$ C. sinensis) carrying the male sterility trait and 'Jinkyool' (C. sunki). Sequence-related amplification polymorphism (SRAP) combined with bulked segregant analysis was used to develop markers linked to male fertility. In the $F_1$ population, 66 out of 150 seedlings had aborted anthers and the ratio of male sterile plants to fertile plants in the progenies matched the expected Mendelian segregation ratio of 1:1 ($x^2$ =2.16 at p=0.05). From the profiling of the 197 SRAP primer sets, three SRAP primer sets (F4/R27, F39/R60, and F15/R37) that were closely linked to the target trait were identified and successfully converted into a sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) marker for selection of male fertility in citrus. The SCAR marker, using the pMS 33U/pMS 1462L primer set specifically, produced a single 1.4-Kb fragment that was linked to male fertility. Our results suggested that this SCAR marker can be useful for marker-assisted selection of male sterile individuals in breeding $F_1$ progenies in Citrus.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.550-558
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• 2015

To analyze the linkage relationships among molecular markers recently reported to be linked to onion (Allium cepa L.) Ms, a restorer-of-fertility locus, in onion (Allium cepa L.), three single nucleotide polymorphism markers were converted into cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) markers based on onion transcriptome sequences and the rice genome database. Analysis of the recombinants selected from 4,273 segregating plants using CAPS and other linked markers demonstrated the jnurf13 and jnurf610 markers to perfectly co-segregate with the Ms locus. In contrast to jnurf13, the jnurf610 marker was not in perfect linkage disequilibrium with the Ms locus in diverse breeding lines. Thus, the jnurf13 marker and the marker for identification of cytoplasm types were utilized to enhance the efficiency of onion breeding through four applications. First, 89 maintainer lines containing the normal cytoplasm and homozygous recessive Ms genotypes were successfully identified from 100 breeding lines. Second, these two molecular markers were used to analyze the main sources of male-fertile contaminants frequently found in the male-sterile parental lines during F1 hybrid seed production. The majority of the contaminants contained heterozygous Ms genotypes, indicating that pollen grains harboring the dominant Ms genotype may have been introduced during propagation of the maintainer lines. Therefore, the genetic purity of the two maintainer lines was analyzed in the third application, and the results showed that both maintainer lines contained 13-21% off-types. Finally, the two markers were used to increase the seed yield potentials of two open-pollinated varieties containing sterile cytoplasms by removing the plants harboring homozygous recessive and heterozygous Ms genotypes.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.197-202
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• 2018

The world's ageing population continues to rise rapidly while fertility levels have dropped to low rates in many developed and developing countries, and life expectancy is expected to extend compared to previous decades. Because of demographic changes, a new concept of technology should be introduced. Ambient Assisted Living(AAL) is an innovative form of technology that can be used to provide elderly people with quality of life, to live longer and independently, to monitor and assist elderly, and improve social communication. As far as an AAL system are working, however, the dataset size is continuously increasing. As the AAL data increases in size, therefore, the problem of effectively managing it becomes more difficult. In this paper, therefore, we propose a data management scheme for AAL system on the characteristics of the collected AAL data. Simulation results show that the proposed data management scheme allows achieving space efficiencies higher.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.176-183
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• 2020

Purpose: : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intrauterine insemination (IUI) success rate and to define the variables for predicting success. Methods: The secondary data analysis was used with data collected from infertile females who underwent IUI in Fertility and IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) clinics, who benefited from the 'National Medical-aid Program for ART (assisted reproductive technology) in 2016', in which the data of 34,920 IUI cases were retrospectively reviewed. The primary outcome measure was the clinical pregnancy rate in elderly and young infertile females. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, χ2 test and logistic regression. Results: The pregnancy rate was 12.1% (2,095 cases) in elderly infertile females and 15.6% in young infertile females (2,758 cases) (χ2 = 87.90, p< .001). Using the logistic regression analysis, clinical pregnancy was positively associated with the ovulatory factor (OR= 1.48, p< .001) and male factor (OR= 1.19, p< .05) in elderly infertile females. It was positively associated with the ovulatory factor (OR= 1.30, p= .001) and the peritoneal cavity factor (OR= 0.58, p< .05) in young infertile females. Conclusion: Our results indicate that the pregnancy rate in young infertile females was higher than that in old infertile females, and the IUI is the effective option in pregnancies in all ages with infertility due to the ovulatory factor. Additionally, further studies are necessary to fully describe pregnancy experiences for all the infertile females.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.285-291
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• 2023

Objective: Infertility can result from a diminished ovarian reserve, but a potential remedy exists in the form of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) administration. This treatment involves both biological factors and tissue trauma mechanisms, which stimulate folliculogenesis, making it a promising and effective strategy. We assessed the impact of direct PRP injections into the ovaries on the fertility outcomes of women classified as poor responders. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted from April 2021 to December 2022, focusing on patients classified as POSEIDON grade 3 or 4. PRP injections were administered into both ovaries. After 3 months, data were collected on anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) level, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) level, and the numbers of oocytes, mature oocytes, and good-quality embryos following ovarian stimulation. We then compared the data from before and after PRP injection. Results: This study included 50 women, with a mean of 39 years (interquartile range [IQR], 35 to 43) and 4 years (IQR, 2 to 6) for age and infertility duration, respectively. FSH levels decreased after treatment, while AMH levels and the numbers of oocytes, metaphase II oocytes, and high-quality embryos increased. However, only the increase in high-quality embryos was significant. The pregnancy and spontaneous pregnancy rates were 20% and 14%, respectively. Notably, women with secondary infertility exhibited a significantly higher pregnancy rate than those with primary infertility. Conclusion: Ample evidence suggests that PRP can enhance ovarian function. However, further studies are needed to identify the appropriate candidates for this procedure, establish the optimal PRP preparation method, and standardize the procedure for its adjuvant use in assisted reproductive technology cycles.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.174-182
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• 2015

Objectives : AMH (Anti-Müllerian Hormone) is considered a sensitive marker of ovarian reserve, and it tends to be included among basic fertility tests. This paper is to report four pregnancies which were achieved by subfertile women with low AMH level after Korean medical treatments. Methods : Four cases of pregnancy by subfertile women, aged 34 to 37, with low AMH level (0.04 to 0.76 ng/mL), after Korean medical treatments between July 2012 and May 2015, were analysed. The patients were diagnosed as Kidney deficiency (腎虛), Blood extravasation (瘀血) and/or Liver Qi stagnation (肝氣 鬱結). Herbal medicine, acupuncture, pharmacopuncture and moxibustion treatments were applied. Results : The four subfertile women with low AMH level achieved pregnancy after Korean medical treatments. Conclusions : The case report suggests that Korean medical treatment can be an effective option for subfertile women with low AMH level before Assisted Reproductive Technology.