Does growth hormone supplementation of in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection improve cumulative live birth rates in women with poor embryonic development in the previous cycle?

BACKGROUND: Growth hormone (GH) has been proposed as an adjunct in in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles, especially in women with poor ovarian response. However, it is unclear whether GH supplementation is effective in women with poor embryonic development in the previous IVF cycle. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of GH supplementation in IVF/ICSI cycles in women with poor embryonic development in the previous cycle. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study from a public fertility center in China, in which we performed propensity score-matching (PSM) for female age and AFC in a ratio of 1:1. We compared the cumulative live birth rate per started cycle, as well as a series of secondary outcomes. We included 3,043 women with poor embryonic development in the previous IVF/ICSI cycle, of which 1,326 had GH as adjuvant therapy and 1,717 had not. After PSM, there were 694 women in each group. RESULTS: After PSM, multivariate analyses showed the cumulative live birth rate to be significantly higher in the GH group than the control group [N = 694, 34.7% vs. N = 694, 27.5%, risk ratio (RR): 1.4 (95%CI: 1.1-1.8)]. Endometrial thickness, number of oocytes retrieved, number of embryos available, and number of good-quality embryos were significantly higher in the GH group compared to controls. Pregnancy outcomes in terms of birth weight, gestational age, fetal sex, preterm birth rate, and type of delivery were comparable. When we evaluated the impact of GH on different categories of female age, the observed benefit in the GH group did not appear to be significant. When we assessed the effect of GH in different AFC categories, the effect of GH was strongest in women with an AFC5-6 (32.2% versus 19.5%; RR 2.0; 95% CI 1.2-3.3). CONCLUSIONS: Women with poor embryonic quality in the previous IVF/ICSI cycles have higher rates of cumulative live birth with GH supplementation.

Embryo development and live birth in women with one previously failed full IVF/ICSI cycle.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the embryological and pregnancy outcomes of women who failed in their first IVF treatment if they attempted a second cycle. METHODS: For evaluating the embryological outcomes, the study cohort included 1,227 women who failed to obtain a live birth after the initial IVF cycle from September 2018 to August 2021 and returned for a second attempt. To evaluate reproductive outcomes including live birth rates (LBRs), 1227 women who returned for a second attempt were compared with 13,195 women undergoing their first oocyte retrieval with blastocyst culture attempted during the same study period. RESULTS: In women who had a second cycle, the median number of oocyte retrieved (11 vs 9), fertilized oocytes (7 vs 5), usable embryos (6 vs 4) and blastocysts (3 vs 1) was higher in the second cycle compared to the first cycle (All p < 0.001). Blastocyst formation rates were significantly increased from 33% in the first cycle to 50% in the second cycle across the age group (p < 0.001). However, the primary transfer LBRs were significantly lower in the second cycle than that in the initial cycle (40.82% versus 51.79%, aOR: 0.74 [0.65, 0.84]). LBRs in the second cycle were 42.26%, 42.68%, 25.49% and 16.22% in women aged < 35, 35-37, 38-40, and > 40 years. CONCLUSION: There was a notable enhancement in laboratory outcomes following the second attempt in women whose initial IVF cycles were unsuccessful. However, the uncertainty inherent in the successful implantation and the consequent progression to live birth remains a significant challenge.

Cumulative live birth rates following intrauterine insemination using donor and husband sperm in different age groups: A cohort study of 10 415 insemination cycles.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the age-specific cumulative live birth rates (CLBRs) in intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles using either donor or husband sperm, and to investigate the impact of sperm sources on IUI success among women within the same age group. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study comprised women who underwent IUI with donor sperm (IUI-D) or husband sperm (IUI-H) from 2017 to 2021. The women were stratified based on their age at the initiation of insemination into four categories: <35, 35-37, 38-39 and ≥40 years. RESULTS: A total of 5253 women undergoing 10 415 insemination cycles (3354 with IUI-D and 7061 with IUI-H) were included. The CLBRs decreased significantly with increasing maternal age within donor and husband insemination groups (P < 0.001). In the IUI-D group, the crude CLBRs were 61.50% in women aged <35, 48.91% in 35-37, 24.14% in 38-39 and 11.76% in the ≥40-year age category, respectively. The corresponding rates in the IUI-H group were 27.62%, 22.96%, 13.73% and 6.90%, respectively. Within the <35 and 35-37-year age categories, the CLBRs were significantly higher following IUI-D cycles compared to IUI-H cycles, with hazard ratios (HR) of 1.85 (1.68-2.04) and 1.69 (1.16-2.47), respectively. However, within the 38-39 and ≥40-year age categories, both IUI-D and IUI-H resulted in comparable low CLBRs, with HRs of 1.91 (0.77-4.76) and 1.80 (0.33-9.86), respectively. CONCLUSION: Advanced maternal age affects the whole process of fertility. Therefore, it could be reasonable to limit the number of IUI performed in women aged 40 years and older, even in couple using donor sperm for reproduction.

Identification novel mutations and phenotypic spectrum expanding in PATL2 in infertile women with IVF/ICSI failure.

AIM: Abnormalities in oocyte maturation, fertilization, and early embryonic development are major causes of primary infertility in women who are undergoing IVF/ICSI attempts. Although many genetic factors responsible for these abnormal phenotypes have been identified, there are more additional pathogenic genes and variants yet to be discovered. Previous studies confirmed that bi-allelic PATL2 deficiency is an important factor for female infertility. In this study, 935 infertile patients with IVF/ICSI failure were selected for whole-exome sequencing, and 18 probands carrying PATL2 variants with a recessive inheritance pattern were identified. METHODS: We estimated that the prevalence contributed by PATL2 was 1.93% (18/935) in our study cohort. RESULTS: 15 novel variants were found in those families, including c.1093C > T, c.1609dupA, c.1204C > T, c.643dupG, c.877-2A > G, c.1228C > G, c.925G > A, c.958G > A, c.4A > G, c.1258T > C, c.1337G > A, c.1264dupA, c.88G > T, c.1065-2A > G, and c.1271T > C. The amino acids altered by the corresponding variants were highly conserved in mammals, and in silico analysis and 3D molecular modeling suggested that the PATL2 mutants impaired the physiologic function of the resulting proteins. Diverse clinical phenotypes, including oocyte maturation defect, fertilization failure, and early embryonic arrest might result from different variants of PATL2. CONCLUSIONS: These results expand the spectrum of PATL2 variants and provide an important reference for genetic counseling for female infertility, and they increase our understanding of the mechanisms of oocyte maturation arrest caused by PATL2 deficiency.

Female obesity increases the risk of preterm birth of single frozen-thawed euploid embryos: a retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Obesity has been associated with an increased risk of reproductive failure, especially preterm birth. As preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (PGT-A) is increasingly used worldwide, however, it is still unclear whether body mass index (BMI) has an effect on the preterm birth rate in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) with PGT-A when transferring a single euploid blastocyst. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective, single-center cohort study included 851 women who underwent the first cycle of frozen-thawed single euploid blastocyst transfer with PGT-A between 2015 and 2020. The primary outcome was the preterm birth rate. Secondary outcomes were clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, pregnancy complications, and live birth. RESULTS: Patients were grouped by World Health Organization (WHO) BMI class: underweight (<18.5, n = 81), normal weight (18.5-24.9, n = 637), overweight (25-30, n = 108), and obese (≥30, n = 25). There was no difference in the clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, pregnancy complication, and live birth by BMI category. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, preterm birth rates were significantly higher in women with overweight (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.29-7.80, p = .012) and obese (aOR 1.49; 95% CI, 1.03-12.78, p = .027) compared with the normal weight reference group. CONCLUSION: Women with obesity experience a higher rate of preterm birth after euploid embryo transfer than women with a normal weight, suggesting that the negative impact of obesity on IVF and clinical outcomes may be related to other mechanisms than aneuploidy.

Bilateral versus unilateral orchidopexy: IVF/ICSI-ET outcomes.

Introduction: Cryptorchidism is a common genital disorder. Approximately 20% of azoospermic or infertile men reported having histories of cryptorchidism. Bilateral cryptorchidism may have been more condemned than unilateral cryptorchidism. Early treatment by orchidopexy is the definitive procedure for cryptorchid patients with cryptorchidism. However, fertility potency after orchidopexy may be adversely affected and assisted reproduction techniques will be required for infertile patients. Objective: To compare the reproductive outcomes between unilateral and bilateral orchidopexy groups. Methods: A retrospective cohort study at a tertiary hospital, including a total of 99 infertile men who underwent orchidopexy to treat cryptorchidism and subsequently underwent their first IVF/ICSI-ET cycle. Men were grouped according to the laterality of their cryptorchidism and orchidopexy surgeries they received. Fertilization rate and live birth rate were chosen as parameters for evaluating outcomes. Results: The sperm concentration and viability were significantly higher in unilateral orchidopexy group than in bilateral orchidopexy group (28.09 ± 27.99 vs 7.99 ± 14.68, P=0.001; 33.34 ± 22.52 vs 11.95 ± 17.85, P=0.001). Unilateral orchidopexy group showed lower demand for ICSI (66.07% vs 95.35%, P<0.001). Interestingly, both groups exhibited similar rates of fertilization, clinical pregnancy, live birth and birth defect. Boy birth ratio was lower in bilateral orchidopexy group as compared to unilateral orchidopexy group (27.27% vs 58.62%, P=0.026). Conclusion: A history of bilateral orchidopexy surgery correlates with a worsened sperm parameter and a higher demand for ICSI as compared to patients with history of unilateral orchidopexy. However, this does not influence the final live birth rate.

Factors affecting the reproductive outcome in reciprocal translocation carriers undergoing preimplantation genetic testing for structural rearrangements (PGTSR).

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the reproductive outcomes of balanced reciprocal translocation carriers and evaluate the association between the number of metaphase-II oocytes retrieved and cumulative live birth rates (LBRs). METHODS: This retrospective analysis included 344 preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) for structural rearrangement cycles of 281 couples with balanced reciprocal translocations between January 2018 and January 2021. All patients included in the analysis had either delivered a baby or had used all their embryos after one stimulation cycle. All women were followed up for at least 2 years. RESULTS: After ovarian stimulation and oocyte fertilization, 44.2% of PGT for structural rearrangements cycles achieved a live birth. Carrier's sex and female age did not affect the cumulative LBR of reciprocal translocation carriers. Cumulative LBRs steadily increased with the number of oocytes, reaching 64% when >20 oocytes were retrieved. The cutoff values for achieving at least one live birth were 9.5 metaphase-II (MII) oocytes and 3.5 biopsied embryos. CONCLUSION: Couples with reciprocal translocations have lower transferable embryo rates and cumulative LBRs. The MII oocytes retrieved may be a crucial factor for cumulative LBRs. A high ovarian response may further increase cumulative LBRs, but avoidance of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome or other iatrogenic complications should be considered.

Luteal phase support of intramuscular progesterone associated with lower hypertensive disorders of pregnancy as compared to vaginal progesterone: A cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) risk between vaginal and intramuscular (IM) progesterone in programmed frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycles. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study at a tertiary hospital, and only women who achieved ongoing pregnancy after programmed FET between January 2018 and June 2022 were included. Women with chronic hypertension before pregnancy or with history of gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia in previous pregnancies were excluded. All women were divided into IM progesterone or vaginal progesterone groups according to the route of progesterone supplementation. Follow-up information on obstetric complications and neonatal outcomes were obtained by telephonic interviews. The primary outcome was HDP. Association between routes of progesterone supplementation and HDP was assessed by subgroup analysis and multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 5891 programmed FET cycles (3196 IM progesterone cycles and 2695 vaginal progesterone cycles) were included in the analysis. The prevalence of HDP in the IM progesterone group was significantly lower than that of the vaginal progesterone group (6.54% vs 9.17%, P < 0.001). Therein, the prevalence of gestational hypertension (3.57% vs 4.94%, P = 0.009) and pre-eclampsia (2.97% vs 4.23%, P = 0.009) in the IM progesterone group were all significantly lower as compared to the vaginal progesterone group. According to subgroup analysis, IM progesterone was associated with lower HDP risk in all subgroups. The logistic regression analysis showed that the IM progesterone cycles were associated with lower risk of HDP compared to vaginal progesterone cycles (adjusted odds ratio 0.66, 95% CI: 0.54-0.80, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Among women undergoing programmed FET cycles, progesterone supplementation with IM progesterone was associated with reduced HDP risk compared to vaginal progesterone.

What is the optimal means of preparing the endometrium in frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycles among anovulatory women? A retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Different endometrial preparation protocols are used prior to frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET). It is not clear whether letrozole-stimulated cycles are beneficial for anovulatory women compared to artificial cycles (AC) in anovulatory women. Our objective was to investigate whether clinical outcomes following frozen-thawed embryo transfer in letrozole-stimulated cycles differ from artificial cycles in anovulatory women. STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective cohort study conducted in a public fertility center in China comparing letrozole-stimulated and artificial cycles during FET. A total of 5,322 anovulatory women undergoing the first cycle of FET between January 2020 and December 2021. The primary outcome was the live birth rate. The secondary outcomes included biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, miscarriage, and ectopic pregnancy. RESULTS: The live birth rates were significantly higher in the letrozole compared with AC (49.57 % vs. 45.22 %) both in the crude (odds ratio [OR] 1.19, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.40) and adjusted analysis (aOR 1.27, 95 %CI 1.08-1.50). After controlling for potential covariates, the adjusted probability of biochemical pregnancy (65.71 % vs. 63.25 %, aOR 1.20, 95 %CI: 1.01-1.43), clinical pregnancy (61.53 % vs. 58.79 %, aOR 1.20, 95 %CI: 1.02-1.43), and ongoing pregnancy (50.14 % vs. 45.66 %, aOR 1.28, 95 %CI: 1.08-1.51) were higher among those using letrozole-stimulated cycles than among those undergoing artificial cycles. The miscarriage rate was lower following letrozole compared with artificial cycles (aOR 0.59, 95 %CI: 0.43-0.80). The ectopic pregnancy in the letrozole group was similar to that in the artificial cycles. CONCLUSIONS: Letrozole-stimulated FET was significantly associated with higher rates of biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy and live birth, and with a lower rate of miscarriage, compared with artificial cycles.

Association of overweight and obesity with cumulative live birth rates according to women's age: A cohort study of 26 567 treatment cycles.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of age on the association between maternal body mass index (BMI) and cumulative live birth rates (CLBRs) following in vitro fertilization treatment. METHOD: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 26 567 women undergoing in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection from 2016 to 2019. We conducted multivariate regression analysis of the association between CLBRs and maternal BMI and age category. RESULTS: A total of 16 626 (62.58%) patients achieved a live birth. Women with obesity had significantly decreased CLBRs compared with women who had normal weight (odds ratio [OR] 0.73 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.66-0.80]). The significant interaction between age and BMI suggested that the impact of BMI on CLBRs was moderated by women's age (P interaction <0.001). The association between obesity and CLBRs was inverse among women aged <30 years (OR, 0.63 [95% CI, 0.54-0.73]), 30 to 34 years (OR, 0.79 [95% CI, 0.67-0.93]), and 35 to 37 years (OR, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.52-0.98]); however, decreases in CLBRs with obesity were not observed in women aged 38 to 40 years (OR, 1.17 [95% CI, 0.70-1.94]) and ≥ 41 years (OR, 1.25 [95% CI, 0.53-2.96]). CONCLUSION: Maternal obesity was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of having a live birth, but the risk differed according to women's age. A higher BMI might have a less-pronounced detrimental effect with increasing age.

Effect of re-cryopreservation on pregnancy and neonatal outcomes: Analysis using propensity score matching.

OBJECTIVE: To comprehensively assess the effect of re-cryopreservation procedure on pregnancy and neonatal outcomes by using propensity matching (PSM) analysis. METHODS: The patients were divided into two groups according to the times of embryo cryopreservation: the cryopreservation group (n = 8034) and the re-cryopreservation group (n = 66). To optimize the precision of the present study, we used PSM to adjust the different baseline characteristics between the two groups, including maternal age, the number of good-quality embryos transferred and endometrial preparation protocols. The primary outcome was live-birth rate. The secondary outcomes were biochemical pregnancy rate, clinical pregnancy rate, and miscarriage rate. RESULTS: We found that the rates of biochemical pregnancy and clinical pregnancy were comparable between the two groups, whereas miscarriage rate was increased, resulting in significantly reduced live-birth rate in the re-cryopreservation group. No differences were observed in terms of neonatal outcomes, including cesarean section, birth weight, and malformation as well as pregnancy complications. Moreover, multivariable analysis demonstrated that re-cryopreservation was an independent risk factor for live-birth rate. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated the adverse effect of re-cryopreservation on pregnancy outcomes, providing valuable information for clinical decision making and patient counseling.

Pre-gravid body mass index is associated with a higher risk of gestational hypertension in singleton pregnancy following frozen-thawed embryo transfer.

Introduction: Although it is well-known that obesity increases the risk of gestational hypertension (GH) in both spontaneous and assisted reproductive technology (ART) pregnancies. Recent data show that, in ART pregnancies, frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) is associated with an even higher risk of GH compared with fresh transfer. However, the relationship between pre-gravid body mass index (BMI) and GH in FET pregnancies has seldom been reported. Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the effect of pre-gravid BMI on GH in singleton pregnancy following FET. Methods: A retrospective cohort study at a tertiary hospital, including a total of 7,502 women who achieved singleton pregnancy after FET, was included. All patients were enrolled only once. On the basis of the BMI definitions of the Working Group on Obesity in China (WGOC) and the World Health Organization, the women were divided into normal BMI, overweight, and obese groups. The main outcome was GH, and the effect of pre-pregnancy BMI on GH was assessed by generalized linear model. Results: The risk of GH in our study population was 6.15%. According to the BMI definitions of the WGOC, the risk of GH in the obese group (15.55%) was significantly higher than that of the overweight group (8.26%, P < 0.001) and the normal BMI group (4.68%, P < 0.001). Pre-gravid overweight and obesity were associated with higher GH risk (OR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.41-2.20; P < 0.001; OR, 3.69; 95% CI, 2.77-4.91; P < 0.001). A non-linear relationship between pre-gravid BMI and GH was observed. The risk of GH decreased with pre-gravid BMI level up to the turning point of BMI = 28.6 kg/m2 (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.12-1.21; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Pre-gravid overweight and obesity are associated with higher GH risk among singleton pregnancy following FET. Before the turning point of BMI = 26.8 kg/m2, the risk of GH may increase 16.4% with each one-unit increment of maternal BMI. Women preparing for FET should maintain a normal BMI to lower the chances of GH.

Novel variants in TUBB8 gene cause multiple phenotypic abnormalities in human oocytes and early embryos.

BACKGROUND: The genotype-phenotype relationships between TUBB8 variants and female infertility are difficult to clearly define due to the complex inheritance patterns and the highly heterogeneous phenotypes. This study aims to identify novel TUBB8 variants and relevant phenotypes in more infertile females. METHODS: A total of 35 females with primary infertility were recruited from two reproductive centers and investigated for identifying variants in TUBB8. Pedigree analysis, in-silico analysis and molecular remodeling were performed to assess their clinical significance. The effects of the variants on human oocytes and embryos as well as HeLa cells were analyzed by morphological observations, immunostaining and Western blot. RESULTS: We totally identified five novel variants (p.G13R, p.Y50C, p.T136I, p.F265V and p.T366A) and five previously reported variants (p.I4L, p.L42V, p.Q134*, p.V255M and p.V349I) in TUBB8 from 9 unrelated females with primary infertility. These variants were rare and highly conserved among different species, and were inherited in autosomal dominant/recessive patterns, or occurred de novo. In vitro functional assays in HeLa cells revealed that exogenous expression of mutant TUBB8 proteins caused different degrees of microtubule structural disruption. The existence of these pathogenic TUBB8 variants finally induced oocyte maturation arrest or morphological abnormalities, fertilization failure, cleavage failure, embryonic development defects and implantation failure in the affected females. CONCLUSION: These findings enriched the variant spectrum of TUBB8 gene and could contribute to optimize genetic counselling and clinical management of females with primary infertility.

Effectiveness of atosiban in women with previous single implantation failure undergoing frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Uterine contractions may interfere with embryo implantation in assisted reproductive technology. To reduce these contractions and improve success rates, the oxytocin antagonist atosiban has been suggested for administration during embryo transfer. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of atosiban in increasing live birth rates among women who have previously experienced a single implantation failure and are scheduled for single blastocyst transfer. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We conduct a single-centre randomised controlled study comparing atosiban and placebo in women undergoing a single blastocyst transfer with a previous failed blastocyst transfer. Women with endocrine or systemic illnesses, recurrent miscarriages, uterine malformations or fibroids, untreated hydrosalpinx, endometriosis (stage III or IV) or uterine fibroids, as well as women undergoing preimplantation genetic testing, are ineligible. The primary outcome is live birth resulting from the frozen-thawed embryo transfer. Secondary outcomes include biochemical/clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, multiple pregnancies as well as maternal and perinatal outcomes. We plan to recruit 1100 women (550 women per group). This will allow us to demonstrate or refute an increase in live birth rate from 40% to 50%. Data analysis will follow the intention-to-treat principle. We will measure patterns of uterine peristalsis which will allow subgroup analysis for women with or without uterine peristalsis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of Northwest Women's and Children's Hospital (No. SZ2019001). Written informed consent will be obtained from each participant before randomisation. The results of the trial will be presented at scientific meetings and reported in publications. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR1900022333.

The natural cycle protocol of endometrial preparation for frozen embryo transfer decreases the miscarriage rate in women with recurrent pregnancy loss.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether different endometrial preparation methods lead to different results. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. PATIENTS: Women with recurrent pregnancy loss undergoing frozen embryo transfer (FET). INTERVENTIONS: Natural cycle (NC) protocol (n = 111) with no drug or human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) used for endometrial preparation, vs. the hormone replacement therapy (HRT) protocol (n = 797) with estrogen or gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) plus estrogen used for endometrial preparation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Miscarriage rate and live birth rate (LBR). RESULTS: Compared to women in the HRT protocol, women undergoing NCs had fewer previous FET cycles, lower antral follicle counts (AFCs), fewer oocytes retrieved and a thicker endometrium on the day of progesterone administration. Women in the HRT group had a higher miscarriage rate (29.4% vs. 17.2%) and a lower LBR (37% vs. 46.9%) than the rates of women in the NC group. Univariate analysis showed that female age also had a negative association with the miscarriage rate. Logistic regression indicated that endometrial preparation using the NC protocol was linked to a decreased likelihood of miscarriage. CONCLUSIONS: The NC protocol decreased the miscarriage rate and increased the LBR for patients with recurrent pregnancy loss compared with the HRT protocol.

Who may benefit from an increased gonadotropin dosing in predicted poor responders undergoing IVF/ICSI? A secondary analysis assessing treatment selection markers of a randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether we can identify patient characteristics that serve as treatment selection markers to distinguish which women with expected poor response benefit from increased dosing of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in terms of improving the cumulative live birth rate compared to standard FSH dosing and which women. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a secondary analysis of an RCT performed between March 2019 and October 2021 comparing cumulative live birth after increased dosing (N = 328) who received 225 or 300 IU/day according to their antral follicle count (AFC) and standard dosing (N = 333) who received 150 IU/day of gonadotropin. RESULTS: The MFPI analysis showed the benefit of the increased dosing of FSH on cumulative live birth starts to emerge when women were older than 30 years (women > 30 years: 46.5 % vs. 34.2 %; adjusted relative risk (aRR) 1.32, 95 % confidence interval (95 %CI) 1.05-1.66; women ≤ 30 years: 54.7 % vs. 58.6 %; aRR 0.91, 95 % CI 0.72-1.14; p for interaction 0.019). Only those who had AFC between 1 and 3 benefited from the increased FSH dose (AFC 1-3: 38.5 % vs. 6.5 %; aRR 5.88, 95 % CI 1.50-23.15; AFC 4-9: 50.3 % vs. 46.0 %; aRR 1.08, 95 % CI 0.92-1.27; p for interaction 0.023). Expected poor responders defined by the Bologna criteria and POSEIDON criteria did not significantly benefit from the increased dosing of FSH. CONCLUSIONS: Women who are aged >30 years or have AFC 1-3 are likely to benefit from increased dosing of FSH by having a higher cumulative live birth rate.

The time interval between laparoscopic tubal ligation and frozen-thawed embryo transfer does not affect the reproductive outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Hydrosalpinx may decrease implantation and pregnancy rates after embryo transfer. Laparoscopic tubal ligation after embryo freeze and before frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) is effective at improving reproductive outcomes for hydrosalpinx patients. This study is to find out the optimal interval between laparoscopic tubal ligation and FET. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 259 infertile women who performed laparoscopic tubal ligation for embryo freeze and FET. Participants were divided into three groups, based on the interval between laparoscopic tubal ligation and FET. Group I: <30 days; Group II: 31- 60 days; Group III: >60 days. Outcomes of cleavage-stage and blastocyst-stage embryo FET were analyzed respectively. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in clinical pregnancy rate, live birth rate, implantation rate, biochemical pregnancy rate, ectopic pregnancy rate, miscarriage rate and preterm birth rate among the three groups, in both cleavage-stage and blastocyst-stage embryo FET cycles. In cleavage-stage embryo FET cycle, singleton gestational age was significantly younger in group III (38.11 ± 2.28 weeks) compared with group I (39.29 ± 1.06 weeks, P = 0.001) and group II (38.96 ± 1.05, P = 0.026). Singleton birth weight was significantly heavier in group II (3.65 ± 0.32 Kg) compared with group I (3.38 ± 0.29 Kg, P = 0.001) and group III (3.35 ± 0.60 Kg, P = 0.004). Twin birth weight was significantly heavier in group III (2.72 ± 0.43 Kg) compared to group I (2.23 ± 0.67 Kg, P = 0.002). In blastocyst-stage embryo FET cycles, twin gestational age was significantly younger in group II (34.07 ± 3.18 weeks) compared with group I (35.56 ± 2.27 weeks, P = 0.049) and group III (36.50 ± 1.47 weeks, P = 0.005). Twin birth weight was significantly heavier in group III (2.71 ± 0.39 Kg) compared to group II (2.39 ± 0.67 Kg, P = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: The duration of the interval between laparoscopic tubal ligation and FET does not affect the reproductive outcomes; however, it may affect the neonate outcomes to some extent.

SCM is potential resource for non-invasive preimplantation genetic testing based on human embryos single-cell sequencing.

The ongoing development of assisted reproductive technologies has provided hope to individuals struggling with infertility, promising the potential for a healthy pregnancy. One significant innovation in field of pre-implantation genetic screening (PGS) requires the biopsy of embryos or oocytes, which has potential implications for the health and development of the resultant offspring. Therefore, a non-invasive approach to preimplantation genetic screening is highly sought after. The clinical application of non-invasive preimplantation genetic testing (ni-PGT) is currently limited, with its sensitivity and specificity requiring further investigation. In this study, we used 218 human embryos for single-cell whole genome amplification (WGA), along with ni-PGT of blastocoele fluid (BF) and spent culture medium (SCM). Whole blastocyst (WB), trophectoderm biopsy (TB), and inner cell mass (ICM) from embryo biopsies were used as controls to track genomic signal alterations. Our results showed that the overall genome similarity between SCM and ICM was higher than that of BF. Apart from the Y chromosome, both SCM and ICM demonstrated numerous variant sites across other chromosomes.Further categorization of gene variants in these two sample types revealed that missense variants were the most prevalent, single nucleotide polymorphisms were more common than insertions or deletions, and C > T was the dominant single nucleotide variants in both ICM and SCM. Lastly, we found that the mutant genes in SCM and ICM had different biological functions and pathways. This study indicates that SCM provides a more effective source of embryonic DNA for preimplantation genetic screening, offering a novel reference point for genetic screening research.

Glycans in spent embryo culture medium are related to the implantation ability of blastocysts.

Research question: Does glycan profile in spent blastocyst culture medium have the potential to be used as a biomarker to predict implantation outcome. Design: A nested case-control study was conducted in Northwest women's and children's Hospital, Xi'an, China. The patients underwent fresh IVF/ICSI cycles with single blastocyst transfer were included. Total 78 cases were included and separated into groups according to success (n = 39) and failure (n = 39) implantation outcomes. The glycosylation patterns in spent blastocyst culture medium were detected by lectin microarray containing 37 lectins using pooled samples and confirmed by reversed lectin microarray using individual sample. Results: Binding signals of 10 lectins were found to be different between samples from successful and failed implantation. And 8 of them were confirmed that glycans binding to lectin NPA, UEA-I, MAL-I, LCA and GNA were significantly increased while DBA and BPL were decreased in the successful implantation compared to failed implantation. The glycan binding to lectin PHA-E + L had no difference between two groups. No significant differences in the glycan profile were found in spent culture medium of embryos with different morphological grades except the glycan binding to UEA-I between blastocysts of Poor and blastocysts of Medium. Conclusion: Detection of glycan profile in spent culture medium may lead to a novel non-invasive assessment assay of embryo viability. In addition, these results may be helpful to further understanding molecular mechanisms in embryo implantation.

Estradiol on trigger day: Irrelevant to live birth rates of fresh cycles but positively associated with cumulative live birth rates.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of estradiol (E2) on trigger day on cumulative live birth rates (CLBRs), and pregnancy outcomes after fresh and frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET). METHODS: This multicenter retrospective cohort study included 42 315 patients from five reproductive centers. Six subgroups were divided according to E2 on trigger day (<1000, 1000-2000, 2000-3000, 3000-4000, 4000-5000, >5000 pg/mL). Smooth curve fitting and nonlinear mixed-effects models were used. RESULTS: When E2 was <5500 pg/mL, the CLBR increased by 10% for every 1000 pg/mL increase in E2. When E2 was between 5500 and 13 281 pg/mL, CLBR increased by 1.8% for every 1000 pg/mL increase in E2. When E2 was >13 281 pg/mL, CLBR decreased by 3% for every 1000 pg/mL increase in E2. From group E2 < 1000 to group E2 > 5000 pg/mL, pregnancy and live birth rates in fresh cycles were not related to E2. The live birth rate after FET was higher in the E2 ≥ 5000 pg/mL group than in the E2 < 1000 pg/mL group (odds ratio [OR] 4.03, and 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.74-4.35; adjusted OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.05-1.37). CONCLUSION: CLBR is associated with E2 on trigger day in a segmented manner. Pregnancy and live birth rates in fresh cycles were not associated with E2. The live birth rate in FET cycles was highest when E2 ≥ 5000 pg/mL.