Not only is premade gradients easier to use! It is also a way of making sure that you have a standardised method with an ensured consistent quality of outcome. We can ourselves see in our laboratory that we have a slightly better result using our premade gradients PureSperm 40 and PureSperm 80 than with making gradients from PureSperm 100.

Therefore to standardise, use PureSperm 40 and PureSperm 80!

Have a really nice day!

"The marketing team" 

Soo many attending! We have never experienced the same pressure in the stand previously. It was crazy!

We had a very nice meeting with our distributors and hope they enjoyed it as much as we did! Thank you all once again for being such a wonderful team to work with! We also specially thank EMB, our distributor in Spain, for their nice hospitality and the "jamon" to die for!

We can recommend looking closer at the Poster P-410, "A prospective randomized study to compare four different mineral oils used to culture human embryos in IVF/ICSI therapy", J.C. Pont et al., from the ESHRE meeting which shows very good pregnancy rates with our NidOil.

NidaCon thrived at ESHRE Barcelona! We hope to see Barcelona soon again!

The "Marketers" at NidaCon

Ann-Sofie, Emma, Magda, Paul, Oscar

The last shipment of material for the conference has left and we are prepared for our ESHRE mission. We will be five colleagues in the stand (Paul Holmes, Ann-Sofie Forsberg, Emma Holmes, Oscar Rymo and Magda Alic Holmes).

We hope to meet many of our friends and customers in the field and we are sure that Barcelona has a lot to offer when it comes to nice food, architecture and last but not least wine.  

We will have a very Spannish give-away this year but we still keep to the sperm theme. Come by our booth as early as possible to ensure that you get one...

Looking forward to seeing all of you!

NidaCons ESHRE team

One product - gives three applications

We have after further development of our very successful product PureSperm Wash improved it! Not only that, we have also excellent results with this improved PureSperm Wash also for IUI and Swim-up procedures.

The next step will therefore be to replace the current PureSperm Wash, ReadySwim and SpermAssist with the improved formula. The new product will keep the name PureSperm Wash!

PSW-100 PureSperm Wash 1 x 100 mL

PSW-020 PureSperm Wash 2 x 20 mL

The new product will be available from 1 July, 2008!!

"The NidaCon Team"

Recently, a researcher in France reported to us some very promising results with our NidOil compared to the competing products. These results will be presented at the ESHRE-2008 meeting  in Barcelona. Look out for a poster or an abstract! We will also blog again with the exact abstract reference after the meeting.

The overlay oils might all seem to be the same but they do differ. They can be of different origin, depending on where the oil was retrieved and that will give different qualities. Moreover, the production protocols will vary between the different manufacturers, also affecting the qualities. The resulting oils can have different viscosities and the viscosity alone will make them more or less easy to work with.

We are really curious to see these results!

Patiently waiting,

Magda Alic Holmes

During the early 1980's, Prof Anders Nordström and yours truly at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital Gothenburg, Sweden, managed to demonstrate that LH activated cells of the immune system. The ovulation research being done in the Ob/Gyn Dept at that time, along with results coming from other researchers around the world, was showing that ovulation is an inflammatory immunological reaction involving lymphocytes that have invaded the ovarian tissue from the hylus region and associated themselves with the "non-self" maturing follicles. The LH directly stimulates and activates the lymphocytes and macrophages for a cytotoxic attack (estrogen dominance) which results in cytotoxic breakdown of the main follicle and atresia of the others, no aptosis involved.

But this LH stimulation of immune cells occurs throughout the entire body, since LH is anyway blood-borne and the immune cells have LH-receptors. In addition, since upwards of 70% of the endometrium is made up of immune cells, such as lymphocytes, macrophages and NK-cells, then these are also activated. However, the post ovulatory change in steroid proportions (progesterone dominance) directs the LH-activation to an immune suppression, ie, no more killing of "non-self" cells but rather suppression for acceptance of the "non-self" cells, the embryo.

Although this description above seems rather basic, there are a considerable number of other biochemical/endocrinological mechanisms at work here and they are all working for immuno-suppression in the uterus during the luteal phase, in preparation for embryo-implantation. See, for instance, the work of Sara A. Robertson from the University of Adelaide.

It has been reported frequently that the present day protocols for stimulation of ovulation are resulting in a shortened luteal phase. Moreover, since the oocytes are picked-up with a cannula from the numerous follicles, LH is not thought to be so relevant and the stimulation with LH is somewhat disregarded. Of course, the take-home-baby rate is still very low, and I always thought that the take-home-baby rate must have something to do with the implantationrate and the spontaneous early abortion rate, both of which are dependent on a suppresive rather than cytotoxic immuno reaction in the endometrium.

Extra progesterone for the woman at embryo-transfer will never solve all the problems. The cytotoxic effects from an estrogen dominance, ie, failing implantations and early abortions, cannot be easily guided by extra progesterone to a suppresive and receptive endometrium without, first, a satisfactory LH-activation of the endometrial immune cells.

If we all think about these immunological details, then I´m sure we can easily double today´s take-home-baby rate, and we hope we can do it soon!

Paul V. Holmes

Ps. Are the embryo culture media you are using today conductive to a suppressed and receptive endometrium?

In the treatment of infertility using ART, a number of different protocols are used today for the recombinant-hormone stimulation of the woman to obtain several oocytes to fertilise, instead of the normal ovulation of a single oocyte (monotocous).

FSH is the hypophyseal hormone responsible for ripening of a hoard of primary follicles into maturing follicles, whereas a subsequent release of LH causes the single largest follicle to rupture and release normally one oocyte, while causing all other maturing follicles to go into atresia. With this activation by LH begins the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, wherein the ruptured follicle becomes luteinised in the process of becoming a corpus luteum. Moreover, the luteinisation involves a readjustment of estrogen and progesterone, the female steroids being released from the ovary.

Although this is relatively simple and well known female endocrinology and menstrual physiology, what does it have to do with implantation of the preembryo into the endometrium?

To be continued...

Paul V Holmes

The ALPHA meeting was really good! The attending clinicians and researchers were very interested and put through a lot of questions. This is always a good working environment, because one feels challenged and we came up with quite a few new interesting ideas.

We also want to take the opportunity of thanking our turkish distributor, Dogan Medikal for their support during the meeting and their guiding of us in the town of Istanbul. 

If you were there please come with your comments on our interactions!

Kindest regards,

Anna Niläng, Ann-Sofie Forsberg, Magda Alic Holmes and Paul Holmes

The ASPIRE meeting should maybe reconsider their name to INSPIRE. In other words this was a great meeting and NidaCon found many new interesting contacts and potential customers. We have great expectations from all our new leads. If we were in contact at the meeting you can expect us to contact you shortly!

Singapore was warm and humid exactly what we "Swedes" need. The shopping must be admitted was not too bad and to round of the days with a Singapore Sling at Raffles is a must.

Inspired, poor and with a bad sunburn we have now returned...

Ann-Sofie Forsberg, Product Specialist

Magda Alic Holmes, Vice President   

We just had our latest marketing meeting and we are planning and preparing everything for our exhibition at ASPIRE in Singapore. It will be very exciting since it is the first time ever NidaCon will exhibit ourselves in Asia! We are really looking forward to it!

Be sure that we will report on the blog of our experiences of exhibiting in Singapore.

If you are going to ASPIRE in Singapore you are more than welcome to come and visit us at booth 5!

Sincerely,

Ann-Sofie Forsberg, Product Specialist

Magda Alic Holmes, vVD