Human Reproduction (human + reproduction)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Assisted Human Reproduction, Psychological and Ethical Dilemmas

JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 2 2004
Sue Snoxall
No abstract is available for this article. [source]


Interplay Between Endocannabinoids, Steroids and Cytokines in the Control of Human Reproduction

JOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 2008
N. Battista
The use of marijuana, which today is the most used recreational drug, has been demonstrated to affect adversely reproduction. Marijuana smokers, both men and women, show impaired fertility, owing to defective signalling pathways, aberrant hormonal regulation, or wrong timing during embryo implantation. Anandamide (N -arachidonoylethanolamine, AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) mimic ,9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive principle of Cannabis sativa, by binding to both the brain-type (CB1) and the spleen-type (CB2) cannabinoid receptors. These ,endocannabinoids' exert several actions either in the central nervous system or in peripheral tissues, and are metabolised by specific enzymes that synthesise or hydrolyse them. In this review, we shall describe the elements that constitute the endocannabinod system (ECS), in order to put in a better perspective the role of this system in the control of human fertility, both in females and males. In addition, we shall discuss the interplay between ECS, sex hormones and cytokines, which generates an endocannabinoid,hormone,cytokine array critically involved in the control of human reproduction. [source]


On Fertile Ground: A Natural History of Human Reproduction

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 2 2002
Nadine R. Peacock
On Fertile Ground:. Natural History of Human Reproduction. Peter T. Ellison. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001. 358 pp. [source]


Interplay Between Endocannabinoids, Steroids and Cytokines in the Control of Human Reproduction

JOURNAL OF NEUROENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 2008
N. Battista
The use of marijuana, which today is the most used recreational drug, has been demonstrated to affect adversely reproduction. Marijuana smokers, both men and women, show impaired fertility, owing to defective signalling pathways, aberrant hormonal regulation, or wrong timing during embryo implantation. Anandamide (N -arachidonoylethanolamine, AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) mimic ,9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive principle of Cannabis sativa, by binding to both the brain-type (CB1) and the spleen-type (CB2) cannabinoid receptors. These ,endocannabinoids' exert several actions either in the central nervous system or in peripheral tissues, and are metabolised by specific enzymes that synthesise or hydrolyse them. In this review, we shall describe the elements that constitute the endocannabinod system (ECS), in order to put in a better perspective the role of this system in the control of human fertility, both in females and males. In addition, we shall discuss the interplay between ECS, sex hormones and cytokines, which generates an endocannabinoid,hormone,cytokine array critically involved in the control of human reproduction. [source]


Sonography and Sociality: Obstetrical Ultrasound Imaging in Urban Vietnam

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2007
Tine Gammeltoft
This article is about new reproductive technologies, maternal anxieties, and existential uncertainties. It explores the question of why pregnant women in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, have become avid consumers of obstetrical ultrasound scanning even while expressing profound doubts regarding the reliability and safety of this new technology of pregnancy. Through a phenomenological analysis of the social production of women's sense of reproductive risks and uncertainties, the article shows how Hanoian women's paradoxical stances toward ultrasound imaging can be explained through a consideration of embodied and historically generated experiences within everyday local worlds. The article argues that the "scientific stories" of fetal well-being and normality that are produced through ultrasonography are challenged by vivid and continual exchanges in everyday lives of stories of the inherent uncertainties of existence in general and of human reproduction in particular. [source]


Diet, energy expenditure, and body composition of lactating Ribeirinha women in the brazilian amazon

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2007
Barbara A. Piperata
Lactation is the most energetically demanding part of human reproduction; yet, compared with pregnancy, we know little about the strategies women in different settings employ to cope with these increased energy demands. This paper takes a biocultural approach and reports longitudinal data on the anthropometry, dietary intakes and energy expenditure of a sample of 23 rural, lactating Ribeirinha women living in subsistence-based communities in the eastern Amazon. The dietary intakes of these lactating women were insufficient to meet their lactating energy needs and were least sufficient during resguardo, a 40-day period in the immediate postpartum when the women observed a series of food taboos and work restrictions. Instead, the women in this study met the increased energy demands of lactation by drawing on their energy reserves and reducing their energy expenditure in physical activity. The women showed a significant reduction in weight (P < 0.001), BMI (P < 0.001) and in circumferences (hip, P = 0.01; waist, P = 0.03) and skinfolds (thigh, P = 0.03) in the gluteal femoral region. Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) was lowest during resguardo and increased as lactation progressed (P = 0.01). While the practice of resguardo reduced maternal energy expenditure and allowed women more time to spend with their newborn infants, it came at a cost (low dietary intake), which appears to be related to the loss of the adult woman from subsistence activities. By taking a biocultural approach this study illustrates the role the social environment plays in shaping the experience of lactating women. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


On fertile ground: A natural history of human reproduction

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2002
Michael GrimesArticle first published online: 21 JUN 200
No abstract is available for this article. [source]


Leukemia Inhibitory Factor: An Important Regulator of Endometrial Function

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 2 2004
Zdzis, awa Kondera-Anasz
Problem:, Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is multifunctional cytokine that displays biological activities in different cells, including endometrial cells. The aim of this study is to describe implications of LIF on a physiological function of endometrium. Method of study:, The role of LIF in the endometrial function is reviewed and summarized from the available literature. Results:, LIF plays an important role in a physiological function of endometrium. In human endometrial LIF expression depends on cellular localizations, steroid hormones, menstrual stages and a local cytokine network. Stronger LIF expression exists in an endometrial epithelium during a luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, which coincides with the time of an implantation. The impairments of the endometrial LIF expression may play a significant role in the pathological processes involving implantation and the infertility. Conclusions:, There is a substantial evidence that LIF is a potential regulator of the endometrial function and might be one of the factors that play a key role in human reproduction. [source]


The new biology and human reproduction

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 4 2000
GJV Nossal
First page of article [source]