MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is an observational study. Eighty-seven women who had endometriosis confirmed surgically and underwent IVF/ICSI treatment, stimulated with hMG alone were included. Based on the revised American Society for Reproductive Medicine (rASRM), the participants were classified as early endometriosis (I/II) (n=39) or advanced endometriosis (III/IV) (n=35). The main outcome measures used were clinical pregnancy rate.
RESULTS: Women with advanced endometriosis had a lower oocyte yield, less good quality day-3 embryos and lower clinical pregnancy rate compared with the mild endometriosis. However, higher fertilisation rate were recorded in advanced stage endometriosis compared to milder disease.
CONCLUSIONS: The rASRM classification of endometriosis is valuable in predicting IVF outcome as advanced endometriosis performs poorly compared to a milder disease. Highly purified hMG could be an alternative as an ovarian stimulation in endometriosis.
METHODS: The active compounds in cocoa pod extracts (CPE) were screened using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Fibroblast cells were used to determine the effective concentration of CPE to maintain the viability for at least 50% of the cells (EC50 ). The gel was tested by 12 panelists to determine the efficacy of CPE in gel form using Visioscan to reduce skin wrinkles and improve skin condition.
RESULTS: CPE was detected to contain malic acid, procyanidin B1, rosmarinic acid, procyanidin C1, apigenin, and ellagic acid, all of which may contribute to functional cosmetic properties of CPE. The EC50 value of cocoa pod extracts was used to calculate the amount of CPE to be incorporated into gel so that the formulated product could reach an effective concentration of extract while being nonintoxicant to the skin cell. The results showed that CPE is potential ingredient to reduce wrinkles. Skin wrinkles reduced at 6.38 ± 1.23% with the application of the CPE gel within 3 weeks and significantly improved further (12.39 ± 1.59%) after 5 weeks. The skin hydration increased (3.181 ± 1.06%) after 3 weeks of the CPE gel application.
CONCLUSION: Flavonoid compounds in CPE contributed to the functional cosmetic properties of CPE. The CPE which is nontoxic to skin cells help to reduce wrinkles on skin after 3 weeks of application. CPE can be used as the active ingredients in antiwrinkle products, and prolonged application may result in significant visual changes to the naked eyes.