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Objective: To investigate the effect of levonorgestrel and mifepristone on the expression of endometrial receptivity markers in a three-dimensional endometrial construct. Design: In vitro study. Setting: University hospital and research laboratory. Patient(s): Twelve fertile donors. Intervention(s): Timed endometrial biopsy. Main Outcome Measure(s): Examine the effect of levonorgestrel along with another well-studied fertility-regulating drug, mifepristone, on the expression of endometrial receptivity factors in a three-dimensional stromal and epithelial cell coculture model by immunohistochemistry. Result(s): Both epithelial and stromal cells of in vitro endometrial construct showed the presence of estrogen receptor-α, estrogen receptor-β, progesterone receptors-(A+B), vascular endothelial growth factor, leukemia inhibitory factor, interleukin-1β, and cyclooxygenase-2, whereas the expression of progesterone receptor-B (AR), integrin αVβ3, and MUC1 were confined to epithelial cells. Mifepristone up-regulated expression of epithelial estrogen receptor-β and progesterone receptor-B and down-regulated stromal vascular endothelial growth factor and surface molecules MUC1 and integrin αVβ3 as observed in vivo. Levonorgestrel had no effect on the expression of endometrial receptivity markers studied. Conclusion(s): This in vitro model expresses progesterone-regulated endometrial receptivity factors seen in the physiologic condition. Treatment with levonorgestrel did not affect the expression of these endometrial receptivity markers in contrast to mifepristone. This in vitro model holds the potential to study endometrial receptivity, the embryo–endometrial interaction, and develop new agents for fertility control. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Infertility is a highly relevant global issue affecting the reproductive health of at least 15% of reproductive-aged couples worldwide. The scope and severity of the infertility problem is even more prevalent in developing countries, mostly due to untreated reproductive tract infections (RTIs). Infertility, however, goes beyond the mere inability to procreate, but brings about profound psychological, social, and ethical implications of enormous magnitude. In vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproduction technologies (ARTs) have gradually become widespread therapeutic options. After all, the implementation of medically assisted reproductive procedures in order to overcome infertility is in keeping with the tenets of the reproductive rights agenda laid out at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994. Nonetheless, concerns still linger about how to implement and regulate such interventions in an ethically tenable fashion. The unremitting pace at which such techniques develop have upset the very notion of sexuality relating to reproduction as well as the concept of family itself. That rift risks causing a crisis in terms of bioethics sustainability and enforcement, which is bound to happen when science and innovation outpace the bioethical precepts on which we rely for essential guidance in medical practice. The authors argue in favor of an approach to regulation and policy-making that puts on the forefront a thorough assessment as to potential risks that such interventions might entail for foundational bioethics principles and inalienable human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]