The coronavirus disease 2019 has caused over 2 million deaths worldwide, with over 412,000 deaths reported in Unites States. To date, at least 57,786 pregnant women in the United States have been infected, and 71 pregnant women have died. Although pregnant women are at higher risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019-related illness, clinical trials for the available vaccines excluded pregnant and lactating women. The safety and efficacy of the vaccines for pregnant women, the fetus, and the newborn remain unknown. A review of maternal and neonatal coronavirus disease 2019 morbidity and mortality data along with perinatal vaccine safety considerations are presented to assist providers with shared decision-making regarding vaccine administration for this group, including the healthcare worker who is pregnant, lactating, or considering pregnancy. The coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine should be offered to pregnant women after discussing the lack of safety data, with preferential administration for those at highest risk of severe infection, until safety and efficacy of these novel vaccines are validated.

Observational retrospective data suggest that an artificial cycle frozen embryo transfer may be associated with a higher risk of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy than a natural cycle frozen embryo transfer among women with regular ovulatory cycles. The corpus luteum, which is not present in the artificial frozen cycles, is at least partly responsible for this poor obstetrical outcome. However, an artificial cycle is the most frequently used regimen for women with polycystic ovary syndrome undergoing frozen embryo transfer. Whether the risk of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy could be mitigated by employing physiological frozen embryo transfer protocols that lead to the development of a corpus luteum in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome remains unknown.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of letrozole use during frozen embryo transfer cycles on obstetrical and perinatal outcomes of singleton and twin pregnancies compared with artificial frozen cycles among women with polycystic ovary syndroligo- or anovulatory women.Phosphatidic acid (PA) forms part of plant lipid metabolism and is a signalling molecule used in response to various external stresses. Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) activate small GTPase ROPs, serving as molecular switches in a wide range of signalling pathways. However, the interaction between PA and GEFs in plants has not yet been reported. Here we show that PA bound specifically to GEF8 by using fat-Western blot and isothermal titration calorimetry assays. A C-terminal truncation of GEF8 exhibited strong PA binding, and mutation of lysines 13 and 18 in GEF8 PRONE domain caused a total loss of binding to PA. Two ROPs, ROP7 and ROP10, were identified as preferred substrates of GEF8 by pull-down and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. GEF8 activity towards ROP7, but not ROP10, was stimulated by PA both in vitro and in cells. Moreover, the PA- or ABA-induced activation of GEF8 was completely lost in the mutant GEF8, which did not bind to PA. Together, these findings identify a direct interconnection between PA-mediated GEFs activity and small GTPase signalling in plants and provide evidence for a synergistic activation of GEF8 by direct PA-binding to its PRONE domain.Water deficit (WD) has adverse effects on plant growth, and acclimation requires responses allowing primary metabolism to continue. Resurrection plants can serve as model system to gain insight into metabolic regulation during WD. We herein report the response of a resurrection lycophyte, Selaginella bryopteris, to dehydration-rehydration cycle with emphasis on ammonium metabolism. Dehydration of S. bryopteris fronds resulted in decrease of total protein and increase of free ammonium levels and the effect was reversed on rehydration. The proline content increased twice after 24 h of dehydration, which again recovered to background levels comparable to that at full turgor state. The specific activity of glutamine synthetase (GS) didn’t change significantly till 6 h and then declined by 21% after 24 h of dehydration, whereas specific activities of glutamate synthase (GOGAT) and aminating glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) were enhanced significantly during dehydration. The deaminating activity of GDH also increased during dehydration albeit at a slower rate. DMX-5084 concentration Immunoblot analysis indicated overexpression of GS and GDH polypeptides during dehydration and their levels declined on rehydration. The results suggested significant role of GDH along with GS/GOGAT in production of nitrogen-rich amino acids for desiccation tolerance. Unlike higher plants S. bryopteris expressed GS only in cytosol. The enzyme had pH and temperature optima of 5.5 and 60°C, respectively, and it retained 96% activity on preincubation at 60°C for 30 min indicating thermostability. Hence, like higher plants the cytosolic GS from S. bryopteris has a conserved role in stress tolerance.Overexposure to glucocorticoids during fetal development alters fetal organ growth and maturation patterns, which can result in adverse programming outcomes in adulthood. The aim of this study was to determine whether exposure to dexamethasone (Dx) during the fetal period programmed ovary development and function in infant (16-day-old) and peripubertal (38-day-old) female offspring. Pregnant Wistar rats were separated into control and Dx-treated (0.5mg kg-1) groups and were injected with Dx or an equivalent volume of vehicle on Days 16, 17 and 18 of gestation. Ovaries from 16- and 38-day-old female offspring were prepared for histological and stereological examination. The volume of the ovary and the number of primordial and primary follicles were significantly reduced in prenatally Dx-exposed infant and peripubertal female offspring compared with control offspring. The number of multilaminar follicles was decreased in infant female offspring. In peripubertal females, prenatal exposure to Dx increased the number of multilaminar and large follicles of all classes. Because vaginal opening did not occur up to Day 38 postpartum in the Dx-exposed offspring, the absence of ovulation and corpora lutea is confirmation that the onset of puberty had been delayed. We can conclude that overexposure to glucocorticoids early in life programs ovary development, which may affect fertility in adulthood.