Reproduction Abstracts

Epigenetic programming has a crucial role in mammalian development. It is well described that disarrangement of epigenetic programming is associated with impaired embryonic development, compromised pregnancy (ie. abortion or preeclampsia) and several imprinting disorders (i.e Prader Willi and Beckwith-Wiedemann syndromes). A useful tool to better understand the etiology of compromised pregnancy is represented by uniparental embryos, characterized by only maternal (parthenogeno...

Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are generally considered to be safe, but recent studies suggest an excess of negative pregnancy outcomes. The mechanisms responsible for adverse events share similar condition like abnormal placentation, which finally leads to impaired embryo growth due to limited nutrient uptake. High autophagy activation was reported in placentae obtained from normal and compromised pregnancies. Given the evidence of placental abnormalities in pregna...