npj women's healthPub Date : 2025-01-01Epub Date: 2025-10-31DOI: 10.1038/s44294-025-00110-x
Kathryn L Terry, Amy Shafrir, Ashley Laliberte, Allison F Vitonis, Kurtis Garbutt, Mary DePari, Christian Becker, Naoko Sasamoto, Krina T Zondervan, Stacey A Missmer
{"title":"Circulating inflammatory biomarkers and endometriosis lesion characteristics in the WisE consortium.","authors":"Kathryn L Terry, Amy Shafrir, Ashley Laliberte, Allison F Vitonis, Kurtis Garbutt, Mary DePari, Christian Becker, Naoko Sasamoto, Krina T Zondervan, Stacey A Missmer","doi":"10.1038/s44294-025-00110-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44294-025-00110-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory condition requiring surgical or imaging visualization for definitive diagnosis. How endometriotic lesion characteristics relate to circulating inflammatory markers remains unclear. We evaluated 11 inflammatory biomarkers, including interleukin (IL)-1β, -6, -8, -10, -16, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, thymus and activation regulated chemokine (TARC), monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1, -4, and Interferon gamma-induced protein (IP)-10, in 566 participants with endometriosis from the Women's Health Study: From Adolescence to Adulthood (A2A), Endometriosis Oxford Care & Research (CaRe) study (ENDOX) and Endometriosis: Natural History, Diagnosis, and Outcome (ENDO) study to evaluate associations with endometriosis characteristics, including macrophenotype (superficial lesions only, versus endometrioma and/or deep lesions), lesion appearance (color, vascularity), and anatomic location. We observed nominally statistically significant variation in circulating inflammatory markers by lesion color, vascularity, and location but no significant associations between circulating inflammatory markers and rASRM stage or macrophenotype, which could be due to a small number of participants with non-superficial lesions.</p>","PeriodicalId":520241,"journal":{"name":"npj women's health","volume":"3 1","pages":"62"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12578628/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145433315","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj women's healthPub Date : 2025-01-01Epub Date: 2025-12-18DOI: 10.1038/s44294-025-00118-3
Sara Mengistu, Tigest Tamrat, Ana-Pilar Betran, Sofia Pirsch, Agata Ferretti, Gitau Mburu, Melaku Birhanu Alemu, Rohit Malpani, Maria Barreix, Carl Massonneau, Yu Zhao, Rose Weeks, Ghulam Mohammad Paracha, Sarah Tanishka Nethan, Smisha Agarwal, Jennifer Dunne, Gizachew Tessema, Maribel Almonte, Shona Dalal, Kanika Kalra, Rajeshwari Singh, Shada AlSalamah, Gavin Pereira, Sameer Pujari, Lale Say
{"title":"The use of artificial intelligence in sexual and reproductive health: a comprehensive scoping review.","authors":"Sara Mengistu, Tigest Tamrat, Ana-Pilar Betran, Sofia Pirsch, Agata Ferretti, Gitau Mburu, Melaku Birhanu Alemu, Rohit Malpani, Maria Barreix, Carl Massonneau, Yu Zhao, Rose Weeks, Ghulam Mohammad Paracha, Sarah Tanishka Nethan, Smisha Agarwal, Jennifer Dunne, Gizachew Tessema, Maribel Almonte, Shona Dalal, Kanika Kalra, Rajeshwari Singh, Shada AlSalamah, Gavin Pereira, Sameer Pujari, Lale Say","doi":"10.1038/s44294-025-00118-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44294-025-00118-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This scoping review examines the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) to guide future research and policymaking. We conducted searches across four electronic databases in October 2023. We included primary research studies applying AI on any SRH topic, regardless of language and timeframe. Our search retrieved 12,823 articles, of which abstracts and full texts were independently screened by two reviewers, yielding 2666 studies for final analysis. The predominant health topics were maternal health (44.9%; <i>n</i> = 1198); reproductive cancers (29.2%; <i>n</i> = 779), mainly cervical cancer; and infertility and fertility care (12.6%; <i>n</i> = 337). AI tools were primarily used to facilitate screening and diagnosis (74.2%, <i>n</i> = 1980), support treatment and care management (8.7%, <i>n</i> = 233), and understand health trends (8.6%, <i>n</i> = 230). While substantial progress has been made in certain domains, significant gaps remain in geographic representation, methodological rigor, and deployment studies with external validity.</p>","PeriodicalId":520241,"journal":{"name":"npj women's health","volume":"3 1","pages":"70"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12714584/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145807272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj women's healthPub Date : 2025-01-01Epub Date: 2025-06-13DOI: 10.1038/s44294-025-00085-9
Chee Wai Ku, Yu Bin Tan, Kuan Yang Chew, Chee Onn Ku, Shi Tong Carissa Ng, Thiam Chye Tan, Yie Hou Lee
{"title":"Untargeted metabolomics reveals key pathways in miscarriage: steroid, folate, fatty acid & glycosaminoglycan metabolism.","authors":"Chee Wai Ku, Yu Bin Tan, Kuan Yang Chew, Chee Onn Ku, Shi Tong Carissa Ng, Thiam Chye Tan, Yie Hou Lee","doi":"10.1038/s44294-025-00085-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44294-025-00085-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Metabolites influencing miscarriage outcomes remain understudied. We hypothesized that aberrant metabolism impacts threatened miscarriage outcomes and that understanding these pathways could offer new management strategies. This case-control study analyzed serum metabolomics from 80 women between 5 and 12 weeks' gestation at KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore, comparing three groups: women with threatened miscarriage who miscarried (TM<sub>MC</sub>), those with ongoing pregnancies (TM<sub>O</sub>), and women with normal pregnancies (NP). Using untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and pathway analysis through MetaboAnalyst 5.0 and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, 267 metabolites across 12 enriched pathways were identified. Dysregulations in steroid (AUC 0.82), folate (AUC 0.59), fatty acid (AUC 0.70), and glucosaminoglycan (AUC 0.64) pathways distinguished women who miscarried from those with ongoing pregnancies (TM<sub>MC</sub> vs TM<sub>O</sub>). We provide initial insights into the metabolic profile associated with miscarriage, highlighting disruptions in steroid hormone, fatty acid, folate, and glucosaminoglycan biosynthesis. Further validation may support biomarker development for prognostication.</p>","PeriodicalId":520241,"journal":{"name":"npj women's health","volume":"3 1","pages":"35"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12165837/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144304239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj women's healthPub Date : 2025-01-01Epub Date: 2025-02-22DOI: 10.1038/s44294-025-00060-4
Céline Constantin, Daria Matvienko, Csaba László, Valentina Scabia, Laura Battista, Pierre-Alain Binz, Stephen J Bruce, Cathrin Brisken
{"title":"Mimicking women's endocrine milieu in mice for women's health-related studies.","authors":"Céline Constantin, Daria Matvienko, Csaba László, Valentina Scabia, Laura Battista, Pierre-Alain Binz, Stephen J Bruce, Cathrin Brisken","doi":"10.1038/s44294-025-00060-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44294-025-00060-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To improve preclinical studies and their translation, patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) are increasingly used. They have human-specific tumor characteristics and reflect intra and inter-tumor heterogeneity. However, the endocrine milieu differs between humans and host mice. In light of sex-specific cancer biology and a rise in endocrine-related cancers there is an urgent need to correctly reflect the hormonal milieu in PDX models. We show that female mice of <i>NOD.Cg-Prkdc</i> <sup><i>scid</i></sup> <i>Il2rg</i> <sup><i>tm1Wjl</i></sup> <i>/SzJ (NSG)</i> strain widely used for PDXs has 17-β-estradiol (E2) and testosterone (T) levels comparable to <i>C57Bl6</i> females but higher progesterone (P4) levels. E2 levels are comparable, T levels are lower and P4 levels higher than those observed in postmenopausal women. Ovariectomy increases T to levels observed in postmenopausal women. Subcutaneous E2 and combined E2/P4 silicon pellets provide <i>NSG</i> females with premenopausal ovarian hormone levels. These procedures humanize the endocrine environment of experimental animals, improving PDX relevance in women's health-related research.</p>","PeriodicalId":520241,"journal":{"name":"npj women's health","volume":"3 1","pages":"13"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11845318/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143485476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj women's healthPub Date : 2025-01-01Epub Date: 2025-11-26DOI: 10.1038/s44294-025-00115-6
Maclaine A Parish, Sanaa Badhwar, Heang-Lee Tan, Imaima Causbhoy, Alyssa Kretz, Jeanne Sheffield, Sabra L Klein, Rosemary Morgan
{"title":"Exploring COVID-19 vaccine attitudes among pregnant women: key factors and strategies to enhance uptake.","authors":"Maclaine A Parish, Sanaa Badhwar, Heang-Lee Tan, Imaima Causbhoy, Alyssa Kretz, Jeanne Sheffield, Sabra L Klein, Rosemary Morgan","doi":"10.1038/s44294-025-00115-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44294-025-00115-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pregnancy increases the risk of adverse outcomes from many infections. SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy leads to higher risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm birth, stillbirth, congenital birth defects, and intrauterine growth restriction. Preventing severe illness from SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy is crucial for improving health outcomes and is best achieved by COVID-19 vaccination. While vaccination is recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and is safe and efficacious during pregnancy, vaccine uptake among pregnant women is starkly lower than in the general population. Through semi-structured interviews, we assessed attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and identified key factors influencing decision-making across the healthcare continuum to inform public health interventions. In addition to improving vaccine accessibility and affordability, it is crucial to implement interventions that promote trust in healthcare providers. These efforts are essential to increasing vaccine uptake among this population, providing protection for pregnant women and their children.</p>","PeriodicalId":520241,"journal":{"name":"npj women's health","volume":"3 1","pages":"66"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12657226/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145650627","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj women's healthPub Date : 2025-01-01Epub Date: 2025-05-05DOI: 10.1038/s44294-025-00076-w
Ian M Greenlund, Jill N Barnes, Sarah E Baker, Virend K Somers, Joshua M Bock
{"title":"Sex differences in sleep apnea and Alzheimer's Disease: role of cerebrovascular dysfunction.","authors":"Ian M Greenlund, Jill N Barnes, Sarah E Baker, Virend K Somers, Joshua M Bock","doi":"10.1038/s44294-025-00076-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44294-025-00076-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) significantly impacts cardiovascular health in post-menopausal females. Given that cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are tightly linked, OSA-mediated impacts on cerebrovascular function and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) risk are also likely more manifest in females. This review will: summarize sex differences in cerebrovascular function, review the vascular hypothesis of AD, characterize sex differences in the OSA phenotype and implications for cerebrovascular control, and highlight OSA-mediated AD risk.</p>","PeriodicalId":520241,"journal":{"name":"npj women's health","volume":"3 1","pages":"27"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12052590/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144016106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj women's healthPub Date : 2025-01-01Epub Date: 2025-04-23DOI: 10.1038/s44294-025-00071-1
Cheryl S Rosenfeld, Victoria J Vieira-Potter
{"title":"Estrogen regulation of the nucleus accumbens as a gateway to understanding menopause associated metabolic dysfunction.","authors":"Cheryl S Rosenfeld, Victoria J Vieira-Potter","doi":"10.1038/s44294-025-00071-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s44294-025-00071-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The nucleus accumbens (NAc) may be a link between metabolic and behavioral changes due to menopause. Loss of estrogen (E2) activation in the NAc might cause reduced physical activity and adipose tissue dysfunction. We review potential mechanisms by which NAc might communicate with adipose tissue and how menopause may impact this pathway. A better understanding of the NAc-adipose tissue axis will pave the way for improved treatments in menopausal women.</p>","PeriodicalId":520241,"journal":{"name":"npj women's health","volume":"3 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12380378/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144985821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj women's healthPub Date : 2025-01-01Epub Date: 2025-02-06DOI: 10.1038/s44294-024-00052-w
Camran R Nezhat, Tomiko T Oskotsky, Joshua F Robinson, Susan J Fisher, Angie Tsuei, Binya Liu, Juan C Irwin, Brice Gaudilliere, Marina Sirota, David K Stevenson, Linda C Giudice
{"title":"Real world perspectives on endometriosis disease phenotyping through surgery, omics, health data, and artificial intelligence.","authors":"Camran R Nezhat, Tomiko T Oskotsky, Joshua F Robinson, Susan J Fisher, Angie Tsuei, Binya Liu, Juan C Irwin, Brice Gaudilliere, Marina Sirota, David K Stevenson, Linda C Giudice","doi":"10.1038/s44294-024-00052-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44294-024-00052-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Endometriosis is an enigmatic disease whose diagnosis and management are being transformed through innovative surgical, molecular, and computational technologies. Integrating single-cell and other omic disease data with clinical and surgical metadata can identify multiple disease subtypes with translation to novel diagnostics and therapeutics. Herein, we present real-world perspectives on endometriosis and the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration in informing molecular, epidemiologic, and cell-specific data in the clinical and surgical contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":520241,"journal":{"name":"npj women's health","volume":"3 1","pages":"8"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11802455/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143384932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj women's healthPub Date : 2025-01-01Epub Date: 2025-01-03DOI: 10.1038/s44294-024-00049-5
Zhexian Sun, Wenjie Wu, Zezhen Xiang, Hansong Gao, Weina Ju, Cherilyn Uhm, Ian S Hagemann, Pamela K Woodard, Nanbert Zhong, Alison G Cahill, Qing Wang, Yong Wang
{"title":"Quantitative and longitudinal assessment of human placental inflammation using diffusion basis spectrum imaging.","authors":"Zhexian Sun, Wenjie Wu, Zezhen Xiang, Hansong Gao, Weina Ju, Cherilyn Uhm, Ian S Hagemann, Pamela K Woodard, Nanbert Zhong, Alison G Cahill, Qing Wang, Yong Wang","doi":"10.1038/s44294-024-00049-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44294-024-00049-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Besides exchanging nutrients, gases, and wastes, placenta is an intermediary between maternal and fetal immune systems. However, no method exists to safely image and monitor placental inflammation during pregnancy. We customized a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) method, diffusion basis spectrum imaging (DBSI), to measure immune cells in placenta. We validated placental DBSI in simulations and ex-vivo specimens, then applied it to 202 MRI scans from 82 patients whose placentas were classified as non-inflammation (<i>n</i> = 70) or inflammation (<i>n</i> = 12). Our method imaged the 3D distribution of immune cells, revealing significantly greater infiltration in the inflammation placentas from early (2.8% ± 0.7% vs. 4.8% ± 0.65%, <i>p</i> < 0.01) to late pregnancy (4.75% ± 0.9% vs. 7.25% ± 2.13%, <i>p</i> < 0.01). DBSI detects elevated immune cell infiltration associated with placental inflammation and enables non-invasive imaging of placental inflammation, offering early detection and monitoring throughout pregnancy, facilitating personalized care and potentially improving pregnancy outcomes without ionizing radiation.</p>","PeriodicalId":520241,"journal":{"name":"npj women's health","volume":"3 1","pages":"1"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11698687/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142934408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj women's healthPub Date : 2025-01-01Epub Date: 2025-08-22DOI: 10.1038/s44294-025-00097-5
Christel M Portengen, Tristin Smith, Esmeralda Hidalgo-Lopez, Hannah Becker, Melissa E Lenert, Andrew Schrepf, Steven E Harte, Chelsea M Kaplan, Adriene M Beltz
{"title":"Early pubertal timing is a risk factor for adolescent dysmenorrhea.","authors":"Christel M Portengen, Tristin Smith, Esmeralda Hidalgo-Lopez, Hannah Becker, Melissa E Lenert, Andrew Schrepf, Steven E Harte, Chelsea M Kaplan, Adriene M Beltz","doi":"10.1038/s44294-025-00097-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44294-025-00097-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Females who experience menarche early have elevated risk for dysmenorrhea; yet, other puberty features precede menarche. Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study®, pubertal timing was estimated via random effects linear growth curves of pubertal status indicators excluding menarche for postmenarcheal females with no (<i>n</i> = 1083), mild (<i>n</i> = 1239), or severe (<i>n</i> = 266) dysmenorrhea. Early pubertal timing increased odds for dysmenorrhea by 22-31%, making it a novel marker for dysmenorrhea risk.</p>","PeriodicalId":520241,"journal":{"name":"npj women's health","volume":"3 1","pages":"50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12370531/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144985755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}