Department of Growth and Reproduction, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Copenhagen University Hospital - Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Andrology. 2021 Nov;9(6):1828-1842. doi: 10.1111/andr.13063. Epub 2021 Jun 18.
Infertility affects 15%-25% of all couples during their reproductive life span. It is a significant societal and public health problem with potential psychological, social, and economic consequences. Furthermore, infertility has been linked to adverse long-term health outcomes. Despite the advanced diagnostic and therapeutic techniques available, approximately 30% of infertile couples do not obtain a live birth after fertility treatment. For these couples, there are no further options to increase their chances of a successful pregnancy and live birth.
Three overall questions will be studied: (1) What are the risk factors and natural life courses of infertility, early embryonic loss, and adverse pregnancy outcomes? (2) Can we develop new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for fecundity and treatment success? And (3) what are the health characteristics of women and men in infertile couples at the time of fertility treatment and during long-term follow-up?
ReproUnion Biobank and Infertility Cohort (RUBIC) is established as an add-on to the routine fertility management at Copenhagen University Hospital Departments in the Capital Region of Denmark and Reproductive Medicine Centre at Skåne University Hospital in Sweden. The aim is to include a total of 5000 couples equally distributed between Denmark and Sweden. The first patients were enrolled in June 2020. All eligible infertile couples are prospectively asked to participate in the project. Participants complete an extensive questionnaire and undergo a physical examination and collection of biospecimens (blood, urine, hair, saliva, rectal swabs, feces, semen, endometrial biopsies, and vaginal swabs). After the cohort is established, the couples will be linked to the Danish and Swedish national registers to obtain information on parental, perinatal, childhood, and adult life histories, including disease and medication history. This will enable us to understand the causes of infertility and identify novel therapeutic options for this important societal problem.
在育龄期，15%-25%的夫妇受到不孕的影响。这是一个重大的社会和公共卫生问题，可能会带来心理、社会和经济方面的后果。此外，不孕与不良的长期健康结局有关。尽管目前有先进的诊断和治疗技术，但大约 30%的不孕夫妇在接受生育治疗后仍无法获得活产。对于这些夫妇，没有进一步的选择来增加成功怀孕和活产的机会。
将研究三个总体问题：（1）不孕、早期胚胎丢失和不良妊娠结局的风险因素和自然病程是什么？（2）我们能否开发新的生育能力和治疗成功的诊断和预后生物标志物？（3）在接受生育治疗时以及长期随访期间，不孕夫妇中女性和男性的健康特征是什么？
ReproUnion 生物库和不孕队列（RUBIC）是作为丹麦首都大区哥本哈根大学医院和瑞典斯科讷大学医院生殖医学中心常规生育管理的附加项目而建立的。目的是在丹麦和瑞典各纳入 5000 对夫妇。第一批患者于 2020 年 6 月入组。所有符合条件的不孕夫妇都被前瞻性地邀请参与该项目。参与者完成一份广泛的问卷，并接受身体检查和生物样本采集（血液、尿液、头发、唾液、直肠拭子、粪便、精液、子宫内膜活检和阴道拭子）。队列建立后，这些夫妇将与丹麦和瑞典的国家登记处进行链接，以获取父母、围产期、儿童和成人生活史的信息，包括疾病和用药史。这将使我们能够了解不孕的原因，并为这一重要的社会问题确定新的治疗选择。
