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There has been a paradign shift in the status of immunoassays. There used to be a time where immunoassays had a very narrow role in clinical medicine, but that is not the case in today's world. Immunoassays have taken a central role in helping us better understand and treat human diseases. The literature around anti‐ovarian antibodies (AOA) immunoassay testings have been conflicting. Researchers challenged the specificity of the reported assays, but a systematic study was never elucidated on what/who the trouble maker was in rendering these tests so nonspecific. Attempts were made by our group in Mumbai, India, to throw light on the culprit behind the nonspecificity casative factor in the immunoassays and a method to overcome this was reported and published. This review highlights the stories back five and a half decades to date, to demonstrate where the status of AOA testing was, is and will be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We here report a case of a 23-year-old female from Mumbai, Maharashtra, India who was detected to carry the α chain variant Hb J-Norfolk [HBA2: c.173G>A (or HBA1]. She had no clinical symptoms and was referred to us for routine investigations and screening. An abnormal peak was detected on both high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) with a fast-moving band on cellulose acetate electrophoresis. There is no detailed study on the HPLC and CE pattern of this hemoglobin (Hb) variant, and therefore, this study will help in detecting and avoiding missing these variants during routine investigations and population screening. This is the first report of this variant in the Indian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this meta-analysis is to study the impact of varicocele repair in the largest cohort of infertile males with clinical varicocele by including all available studies, with no language restrictions, comparing intra-person conventional semen parameters before and after the repair of varicoceles., Materials and Methods: The meta-analysis was performed according to PRISMA-P and MOOSE guidelines. A systematic search was performed in Scopus, PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases. Eligible studies were selected according to the PICOS model (Population: infertile male patients with clinical varicocele; Intervention: varicocele repair; Comparison: intra-person before-after varicocele repair; Outcome: conventional semen parameters; Study type: randomized controlled trials [RCTs], observational and case-control studies)., Results: Out of 1,632 screened abstracts, 351 articles (23 RCTs, 292 observational, and 36 case-control studies) were included in the quantitative analysis. The before-and-after analysis showed significant improvements in all semen parameters after varicocele repair (except sperm vitality); semen volume: standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.203, 95% CI: 0.129-0.278; p<0.001; I²=83.62%, Egger's p=0.3329; sperm concentration: SMD 1.590, 95% CI: 1.474-1.706; p<0.001; I²=97.86%, Egger's p<0.0001; total sperm count: SMD 1.824, 95% CI: 1.526-2.121; p<0.001; I²=97.88%, Egger's p=0.0063; total motile sperm count: SMD 1.643, 95% CI: 1.318-1.968; p<0.001; I²=98.65%, Egger's p=0.0003; progressive sperm motility: SMD 1.845, 95% CI: 1.537%-2.153%; p<0.001; I²=98.97%, Egger's p<0.0001; total sperm motility: SMD 1.613, 95% CI 1.467%-1.759%; p<0.001; l2=97.98%, Egger's p<0.001; sperm morphology: SMD 1.066, 95% CI 0.992%-1.211%; p<0.001; I²=97.87%, Egger's p=0.1864., Conclusions: The current meta-analysis is the largest to date using paired analysis on varicocele patients. In the current meta-analysis, almost all conventional semen parameters improved significantly following varicocele repair in infertile patients with clinical varicocele., Competing Interests: The authors have nothing to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Korean Society for Sexual Medicine and Andrology.)

Preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) for monogenic disorders and assisted reproductive technology have evolved and progressed in tandem. PGT started with single-cell polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by fluorescent in situ hybridisation for a limited number of chromosomes, later called 'preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) version 1'. This review highlights the various molecular genetic techniques that have evolved to detect specific inherited monogenic disorders in the preimplantation embryo. Literature review in English was performed in PubMed from 1990 to 2021, using the term 'preimplantation genetic diagnosis'. With whole-genome amplification, multiple copies of embryonic DNA were created. This helped in avoiding misdiagnosis caused by allele dropout. Multiplex fluorescent PCR analysed informative short tandem repeats (STR) and detected mutations simultaneously on automated capillary electrophoresis sequencers by mini-sequencing. Comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH) and array CGH were used for 24 chromosome aneuploidy screening. Subsequently, aneuploidies were detected by next-generation sequencing using single-nucleotide polymorphism arrays, while STR markers were used for haplotyping. 'PGD version 2' included accurate marker-based diagnosis of most monogenic disorders and detection of aneuploidy of all chromosomes. Human leukocyte antigen matching of embryos has important implications in diagnosis and cure of haemoglobinopathies and immunodeficiencies in children by means of matched related haematopoietic stem cell transplantation from an unaffected 'saviour sibling' obtained by PGT., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2021 Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences.)

Background: Antimullerian hormone (AMH) is a key marker of ovarian reserve and predictor of response to fertility treatment., Aim: To understand the prevalence of low ovarian reserve in Indian women seeking infertility treatment, compare their AMH with age-matched fertile Indian controls and understand ethnic differences with Caucasian women., Setting and Design: Retrospective observational study done as collaboration between our in vitro fertilization centre and a laboratory with Pan-India presence., Materials and Methods: Women aged 20-44 years were selected as Group A (seeking infertility treatment n = 54,473), Group B (conceived naturally in the past; n = 283) and Group C (data of Caucasian women; n = 718). Serum AMH levels were measured and descriptive analysis done., Statistical Analysis: Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test., Results: In Group A, 28.7%, 48.7% and 70.6% of women aged <30 years, 30-34 years and 35-39 years had serum AMH levels ≤2 ng/mL and the proportions were higher than Group B. The rate at which median AMH decreased was 1.1-2 times faster in Group B as compared to Group C. The decrease in median AMH across age groups in Group A was similar to Group B., Conclusions: Indian women in their late twenties and early thirties visiting fertility centers showed a worrisome trend of low AMH. Our study can be used as a reference for those women considering postponing pregnancy. It may be time to look at intangible cultural factors linked to social habits, ethnicity, diet, genetic predispositions, and environmental factors like endocrine disrupting chemicals contributing to premature ovarian senescence., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2021 Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences.)