Reproductive Diseases, Infertility, and Menopause

New study suggests link between temporal lobe epilepsy and reproductive endocrine dysfunction

2022-10-17

Photo of PhD student Robbie Ingram and Professor Catherine Christian-Hinman

A new study from the University of Illinois further helps explain links between epilepsy and reproductive comorbidities. The Christian-Hinman laboratory's findings were published in the journal Neurobiology of Disease.

Researchers illuminate the important roles played by extracellular vesicles in early pregnancy

2022-09-27

Authors of the PNAS paper in the Bagchi lab

Deciphering the molecular basis of cell-cell communications during early pregnancy has long been a challenge of reproductive scientists. New research from the University of Illinois further illuminates the fascinating dialogue between the developing embryo and endometrium by shedding new light on...

Study investigates the effects of DiNP on the colon

2022-04-11

Phthalates are commonly used to make products—including artificial leather, footwear, plastic food packaging, and personal care products—more flexible or stable. In particular, di-isononyl phthalate is incorporated in vinyl clothing and construction materials. However, scientists do not completely...

Prenatal exposure to phthalate DEHP affects pituitary gland function in mice, researchers find

2022-02-15

Tight shot of three pregnant women sit side by side, zoomed in on abdominal sections, faces cropped out.

People are exposed to a wide range of phthalates, a group of industrial chemicals, every day, via plastics, personal care products, and building materials. For pregnant women, the negative reproductive health consequences of such exposure pose a serious concern. Recent studies from the University...

Water disinfection byproduct disrupts reproductive hormones, damages pituitary in female mice

2021-11-24

Chemical disinfection makes water from both natural sources and wastewater streams drinkable; however, the process also creates byproducts, not all of which are understood or regulated. A new study from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers has found that one byproduct disrupts...

Researchers uncover a key mechanism for embryonic implantation during early pregnancy

2020-07-14

Nearly two percent of pregnant women will face recurrent miscarriages, defined as the spontaneous loss of three or more consecutive pregnancies. Of that two percent, half of those miscarriages cannot be explained. Scientists assume genetic factors may play a role, but to date they have not been...

Meet MCB: Professor Lori Raetzman

2019-12-31

Professor Lori Raetzman joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2005. Since joining, the Raetzman group has produced highly impactful work regarding the development and function of both the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus. Over the past 14 years, students from the Raetzman lab...

Researchers in MIP Explore Link Between Ovarian Cancer and Cholesterol

2019-07-31

Led by Sisi He from the Erik Nelson lab, researchers have found that a metabolite of cholesterol (27-hydroxycholesterol; 27HC) was essential for the growth of ovarian tumors in mice.

Progress in Women's Reproductive Health and Fertility

2015-12-31

Through the ages, fertility has played a central role in civilizations. Its cultural, socioeconomic, demographic, religious and global implications were and still are incalculable. A Wikipedia search for “fertility gods,” for example, yields a list of 35 cultures with one, and often...

New drug compounds show promise against endometriosis

2015-01-23

An interdisciplinary research team, including molecular and integrative physiology professors Benita Katzenellenbogen and Milan Bagchi, has developed a new approach to treating endometriosis. Their research appears in Science Translational Medicine.

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