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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic struck global health systems with overgrowing demands in many fields of health care; yet, reproductive care, particularly pregnancy care remains a special focus of interest. Pregnancy is a major physiologic change that alters temporarily normal function of many organs, and specifically the immune system. Therefore, pregnant women are more susceptible to respiratory pathogens compared to the others. The current pandemic may have serious consequences on pregnancy whether directly or indirectly. In the present review, direct and indirect possible adverse effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on female reproductive system by focusing on pregnancy and delivery has been discussed in details. In addition, the pregnancy consequences and whether maternal infection can affect infants were deliberated. The adverse impact of luck down and related psychological complications and obesity on pregnant women were discussed as well. Finally, the effects of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination on maternal health and pregnancy outcome was analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as a severe respiratory disease, affects various tissues and organs. The specific SARS-CoV-2 receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), is highly expressed in male gonads. Thus, male reproductive tissues could be a potential target for virus colonization. We performed a comprehensive search in PubMed and Google Scholar to retrieve relevant articles published till 15 April 2021. The keywords used were: male fertility, male reproductive health, semen parameters, sex hormones, SARS-CoV-2, and COVID-19. Validated evidence about the adverse effects of the SARS-CoV-2 infection on the male reproductive system is limited and few studies have reported semen analysis results or presence of viral RNA in semen samples of infected men. Nevertheless, alterations in reproductive hormones such as decreased level of testosterone (T) with raised luteinizing hormone (LH) have been reported in some patients. Although the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the male reproduction health remains unclear, evidence suggests that male gonads may be potentially vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this article, we discussed the possible impacts of COVID-19 on male gonads, sex hormones, and semen quality and suggested preventive solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The spliced form of X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1s) is a key transcription factor in the unfolded protein response (UPR), an adaptive mechanism for cell survival. Many studies demonstrated the induced expression of XBP1s in various cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Such upregulated expression is linked to an enhancement of cell proliferation, migration, and improvement of the survival rate. In this study, we aimed to assess the therapeutic potential of targeting XBP1s, by specific decoy oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) and evaluated the cancerous phenotypes in Huh-7 cells., Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, we transfected Huh-7 cells with XBP1s decoy oligonucleotide (ODN). Subsequently, we assess some cellular features, including viability, migration capacity, proliferation potential, and apoptosis. Therefore, various techniques included wound healing test, BrdU, and annexin/PI assays. Additionally, the colony formation capacity was evaluated. The mRNA expression levels of BAX, BCL-2, c-MYC, CCND1, MMP-9, CDH1, and CD133 were quantified by the reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR)., Results: Transfection of Huh-7 cells by XBP1s decoy ODN led to significant down-regulation of c-Myc, CCND1, MMP-9, BCL-2 and CD133 and up-regulation of CDH1 and BAX transcriptional expressions in comparison with the vehicle group. Our results also demonstrated that transfection of XBP1s-decoy reduced HCC cell viability, proliferation, migration capacity as well as colonization ability in comparison with the vehicle group., Conclusion: These findings proposed the potential application of XBP1s-decoy ODN to reduce cancerous phenotypes such as cell proliferation, cell migration and apoptosis induction in the Huh-7 cell line. More experiments on other cell lines and primary cells could validate our results.