- Decoding the immune regulation of ovarian aging: mechanisms and therapeutic strategies. [Journal Article]Hum Reprod Update. 2026 Oct 09. [Online ahead of print]HR
- CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, the current evidence positions immune dysregulation as a mechanistic driver, rather than a secondary correlate, of ovarian aging. Integrating immune biomarkers into predictive frameworks and designing stratified immunomodulatory trials may shift ovarian aging management from symptomatic hormone replacement toward mechanism-based intervention. Reframing ovarian aging as a modifiable immune-mediated process offers new opportunities to extend female reproductive longevity and the female health span.
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- Lifestyle interventions for cardiometabolic health in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. [Journal Article]Hum Reprod Update. 2026 Oct 09. [Online ahead of print]HR
- CONCLUSIONS: Collective evidence suggests that the ketogenic diet may reduce waist circumference and body mass index; HIIT and mind-body exercise appeared beneficial across multiple cardiometabolic outcomes. An exercise dose of approximately 480-1012 METs·min/week was associated with the greatest overlap in predicted benefits across outcomes. However, these findings should be interpreted cautiously because the certainty of evidence was generally low or very low, and some estimates were based on a limited number of studies. Nevertheless, this study provides a more targeted basis for exercise prescription and future research in PCOS.
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- PGT-A, the theory versus the evidence: a systematic review on efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness. [Journal Article]Hum Reprod Update. 2026 Sep 25. [Online ahead of print]HR
- CONCLUSIONS: The strength of this report is that the main outcome is live birth per randomized woman. Many observational studies, earlier systematic reviews/meta-analyses, as well as two RCTs using all-chromosome PGT-A, were excluded from this systematic review; they only report live birth for those women who received an ET, which gives an incorrect and too positive view. No increase in complications for the child or the pregnant woman after PGT was observed; thus, embryo biopsy seems to be safe. Since our systematic review does not show any clear patient benefit, and PGT-A almost doubles the cost of an IVF treatment, PGT-A is currently not considered ethically justifiable.
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- Male infertility research for the ART clinic: priorities to enhance patient outcomes, education and wellbeing. [Journal Article]Hum Reprod Update. 2026 Sep 24. [Online ahead of print]HR
- CONCLUSIONS: Further research needs to be undertaken to improve public health messaging and education for men about their fertility. An overarching theme identified by this review is the need for targeted collaboration between research scientists and clinicians to improve men's reproductive care, in turn, culminating in faster clinical adoption of beneficial techniques and products to improve patient outcomes. This review highlights an urgent need for more integrated models of fertility care that extend from men's fertility awareness and education, through to improvements of 'in clinic' appraisal of the underlying causes of male infertility, and finally, better inclusion of men's psychosocial support into reproductive care.
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- Congenital heart defects in children conceived through assisted reproductive technology: a systematic review and meta-analysis. [Journal Article]Hum Reprod Update. 2026 Sep 17. [Online ahead of print]HR
- CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis found an increased risk of CHD among ART-conceived children compared with naturally conceived children. The association appeared consistent across ART methods and plurality and was most evident for major CHD. However, the absolute prevalence remained low, and in settings where routine mid-trimester anomaly screening is offered, the current literature does not support additional foetal echocardiographic screening based on ART conception alone. Further studies are needed to separate the contribution of ART procedures from underlying parental infertility and related factors.
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- Genetic architecture of endometriosis: risk factors, comorbidities and clinical implications. [Journal Article]Hum Reprod Update. 2026 Sep 04. [Online ahead of print]HR
- CONCLUSIONS: Genetic studies provide novel insights into endometriosis pathogenesis and associations with related comorbid conditions. Genetic factors modifying gene regulation and disease risk likely act in specific cell types, and access to datasets from genetically informed cell-based models, single-cell and spatial omics data are needed to accelerate progress. Future studies should address critical questions of heterogeneity and disease subtypes, expand the search for genetic risk factors to non-European populations, evaluate the role of rare and structural variants, and better integrate data from functional, genomics, genetics, and clinical studies to reduce diagnostic delay, develop novel treatment strategies, and translate discoveries into personalized management strategies for affected individuals.
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- Cytoplasmic strings in human in-vitro embryos are a promising indicator for enhanced live-birth outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. [Journal Article]Hum Reprod Update. 2026 Aug 26. [Online ahead of print]HR
- CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis demonstrated that CS in human in-vitro blastocysts is associated with improved IVF outcomes. Further research on the biological role of CS in embryogenesis and their influence on embryo viability is necessary. Following these answers, the integration of CS assessment into blastocyst evaluation protocols could improve embryo selection strategies and ultimately improve pregnancy success rates in IVF.
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- Revisiting placental hypoxia in assisted reproduction: from molecular signatures to functional consequences. [Journal Article]Hum Reprod Update. 2026 Aug 20. [Online ahead of print]HR
- CONCLUSIONS: ART-associated placental hypoxia may originate from altered embryonic programming during preimplantation development rather than arising solely from placental pathology that develops later in pregnancy. Integrating developmental biology, oxygen-sensing pathways, and multi-omic approaches may facilitate the identification of early biomarkers, optimization of embryo culture conditions, and development of targeted strategies to improve maternal and fetal health.
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- Oocyte donors' motivations for donation and expectations about post-donation contact with donor-conceived individuals: a systematic review. [Journal Article]Hum Reprod Update. 2026 Aug 20. [Online ahead of print]HR
- CONCLUSIONS: This review provides cross-cultural insights into donors' attitudes towards disclosure and future contacts with donor-conceived offspring, highlighting the need for more tailored education and informed consent practices to ensure donors understand the long-term implications of their decisions and receive adequate support throughout the donation process and beyond. For clinicians and policymakers, these results underscore the need to balance donor autonomy and the welfare of donor-conceived families. Further research, particularly longitudinal and cross-jurisdictional studies, is needed to better understand how donors' perspectives evolve over time and to inform evidence-based policy and clinical practice in an era of changing donor anonymity regulations.
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- The role of mitochondrial dysfunction and genetics in female infertility and premature ovarian insufficiency. [Journal Article]Hum Reprod Update. 2026 Aug 19. [Online ahead of print]HR
- CONCLUSIONS: This review draws attention to the fact that females with MDs should be monitored for POI so it can be detected early for prompt and appropriate therapeutic interventions, such as hormone replacement therapy. This is known to mitigate the risk of comorbidities such as cardiovascular and bone disease and will optimize long-term health outcomes. Of equal importance, our review highlights the potential for girls and women presenting with apparently 'isolated' POI to harbour pathogenic variants in MD-associated genes, therefore putting these individuals at risk of developing further clinical manifestations of MDs. We emphasize the need for surveillance in these cases for hearing loss, vision disturbance, cardiomyopathy, muscle weakness and neurodegeneration, depending on the genetic cause. Given that mitochondrial function is essential to female fertility, future therapies for mitochondria-associated infertility could involve mitochondrial supplementation to improve the mitochondrial fraction or mitochondrial donation to optimize the likelihood of reproductive success. Finally, we also discuss the current landscape of biomarkers as potential early diagnostic tools for POI. Whilst currently rudimentary in their clinical utility, the further development of early screening methods will be invaluable for the detection, diagnosis, and early intervention of POI.
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- Endometriosis-related peritoneal adhesion formation: molecular mechanisms and clinical significance. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Current data support a model in which adhesion biology in endometriosis largely reflects conserved wound-healing pathways but develop within a chronically altered peritoneal microenvironment that lowers the threshold for adhesiogenesis and promotes persistence and recurrence. Clarifying endometriosis-specific drivers and generating robust human data are essential to develop targeted adhesion-prevention strategies and improve long-term outcomes for affected patients. Notably, there are currently no effective pharmacological therapies to prevent or treat adhesions, representing a major unmet clinical need in endometriosis care.
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- Assessing the reproductive lifespan of female cancer survivors using AMH: a meta-synthesis of longitudinal studies. [Journal Article]Hum Reprod Update. 2026 Jul 24. [Online ahead of print]HR
- CONCLUSIONS: AMH levels consistently improved between 6 and 12-24 months from the end of cancer treatment. We provide generalizable estimates of AMH trajectories in female survivors of both childhood and young adult cancer, indicating that their long-term AMH declines are similar to those of age-matched controls.
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- Post-translational modification of proteins in the human testis development pathway. [Review]
- CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between gene regulation, protein expression, and cellular outcome is inherently non-linear, shaped by additional regulatory layers-most notably PTMs. The contribution of PTMs to human testis development in both typical and atypical contexts is a major knowledge gap. Addressing this gap has broad clinical and biological relevance: it may help improve genetic diagnosis or shed light on how proteins or pathways critical for testis development respond to environmental signals-an increasingly pressing question as declining global fertility rates bring testicular function under greater scrutiny.
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- Clinical outcomes of Day-7 blastocysts: a systematic review and meta-analysis. [Journal Article]Hum Reprod Update. 2026 Jul 22. [Online ahead of print]HR
- CONCLUSIONS: Despite lower success rates, including for euploid embryos, Day-7 blastocysts may still contribute to cumulative live birth rates, notably in poor-prognosis patients. Prospective studies are needed to better assess perinatal and long-term outcomes.
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