Sperm morphological abnormalities in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease are associated with the Hippo signaling pathway via PC1.

Background: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a hereditary kidney disorder mostly caused by mutations in PKD1 or PKD2 genes. Here, we report thirteen ADPKD males with infertility and investigated the sperm morphological defects associated with PC1 disruption. Methods: Targeted next-generation sequencing was performed to detect PKD1 variants in patients. Sperm morphology was observed by immunostaining and transmission electron microscopy, and the sperm motility was assessed using the computer-assisted sperm analysis system. The Hippo signaling pathway was analyzed with by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and western blotting in vitro. Results: The ADPKD patients were infertile and their sperm tails showed morphological abnormalities, including coiled flagella, absent central microtubules, and irregular peripheral doublets. In addition, the length of sperm flagella was shorter in patients than in controls of in in. In vitro, ciliogenesis was impaired in Pkd1-depleted mouse kidney tubule cells. The absence of PC1 resulted in a reduction of MST1 and LATS1, leading to nuclear accumulation of YAP/TAZ and consequently increased transcription of Aurka. which might promote HDAC6-mediated ciliary disassembly. Conclusion: Our results suggest the dysregulated Hippo signaling significantly contributes to ciliary abnormalities in and may be associated with flagellar defects in spermatozoa from ADPKD patients.

Associations of Sperm mtDNA Copy Number, DNA Fragmentation Index, and Reactive Oxygen Species With Clinical Outcomes in ART Treatments.

Recent studies have suggested that sperm mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN), DNA fragmentation index (DFI), and reactive oxygen species (ROS) content are crucial to sperm function. However, the associations between these measurements and embryo development and pregnancy outcomes in assisted reproductive technology (ART) remain unclear. Semen samples were collected from 401 participants, and seminal quality, parameters of sperm concentration, motility, and morphology were analyzed by a computer-assisted sperm analysis system. DFI, mtDNA-CN, and ROS levels were measured using sperm chromatin structure assay, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and ROS assay, respectively. Among the participants, 126 couples underwent ART treatments, including in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and 79 of the couples had embryos transferred. In 401 semen samples, elevated mtDNA-CN and DFI were associated with poor seminal quality. In 126 ART couples, only mtDNA-CN was negatively correlated with the fertilization rate, but this correlation was not significant after adjusting for male age, female age, seminal quality, ART strategy, number of retrieved oocytes, controlled stimulation protocols, and cycle rank. Regarding pregnancy outcomes, sperm mtDNA-CN, ROS, and DFI were not associated with the clinical pregnancy rate or live birth rate in 79 transferred cases. In conclusion, increased mtDNA-CN and DFI in sperm jointly contributed to poor seminal quality, but sperm mtDNA-CN, ROS, and DFI were not associated with clinical outcomes in ART.

Anxiety and depression-like behaviours are more frequent in aged male mice conceived by ART compared with natural conception.

The number of children born after assisted reproductive technology (ART) is accumulating rapidly, and the health problems of the children are extensively concerned. This study aims to evaluate whether ART procedures alter behaviours in male offspring. Mouse models were utilized to establish three groups of offspring conceived by natural conception (NC), in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET), and frozen-thawed embryo transfer (IVF-FET), respectively. A battery of behaviour experiments for evaluating anxiety and depression levels, including the open field test (OFT), elevated plus maze (EPM) test, light/dark transition test (L/DTT), tail suspension test (TST), forced swimming test (FST), and sucrose preference test (SPT) was carried out. Aged (18 months old), but not young (3 months old), male offspring in the IVF-ET and IVF-FET groups, compared with those in the NC group, exhibited increased anxiety and depression-like behaviours. The protein expression levels of three neurotrophins in PFC or hippocampus in aged male offspring from the IVF-ET and IVF-FET groups reduced at different extent, in comparison to NC group. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) was performed in the hippocampus of 18 months old offspring to further explore the gene expression profile changes in the three groups. KEGG analyses revealed the coexisted pathways, such as PI3K-Akt signalling pathway, which potentially reflected the similarity and divergence in anxiety and depression between the offspring conceived by IVF-ET and IVF-FET. Our research suggested the adverse effects of advanced age on the psychological health of children born after ART should be highlighted in the future.

Different Strategies of Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidies in Women of Advanced Maternal Age: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (PGT-A) is widely used in women of advanced maternal age (AMA). However, the effectiveness remains controversial. METHOD: We conducted a comprehensive literature review comparing outcomes of IVF with or without PGT-A in women of AMA in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials in January 2021. All included trials met the criteria that constituted a randomized controlled trial for PGT-A involving women of AMA (≥35 years). Reviews, conference abstracts, and observational studies were excluded. The primary outcome was the live birth rate in included random control trials (RCTs). RESULTS: Nine randomized controlled trials met our inclusion criteria. For techniques of genetic analysis, three trials (270 events) performed with comprehensive chromosomal screening showed that the live birth rate was significantly higher in the women randomized to IVF/ICSI with PGT-A (RR = 1.30, 95% CI 1.03-1.65), which was not observed in six trials used with FISH as well as all nine trials. For different stages of embryo biopsy, only the subgroup of blastocyst biopsy showed a higher live birth rate in women with PGT-A (RR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.04-1.79). CONCLUSION: The application of comprehensive chromosome screening showed a beneficial effect of PGT-A in women of AMA compared with FISH. Moreover, blastocyst biopsy seemed to be associated with a better outcome than polar body biopsy and cleavage-stage biopsy.

Case Report: Preimplantation Genetic Testing and Pregnancy Outcomes in Women With Alport Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Alport syndrome, a monogenic kidney disease, is characterized by progressive hemorrhagic nephritis, sensorineural hearing loss, and ocular abnormalities. Mutations in COL4A5 at Xq22 accounts for 80-85% of X-linked Alport syndrome patients. Three couples were referred to our reproductive genetics clinic for prenatal or preconception counseling. METHODS: Prenatal diagnoses were performed by amplifying targeted regions of COL4A5. Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based haplotype analysis or karyomapping was performed in two patients. Pregnancy outcomes in the three patients were collected and analyzed. Published Alport syndrome cases were searched in Pubmed and Embase. RESULTS: Prenatal diagnoses in two cases showed one fetus harbored the same pathogenic mutation as the proband and the other was healthy. The couple with an affected fetus and the patient with a family history of Alport syndrome chose to take the preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) procedure. One unaffected embryo was transferred to the uterus, and a singleton pregnancy was achieved, respectively. Two patients presented non-nephrotic range proteinuria (<3 g/24 h) during pregnancy and the three cases all delivered at full-term. However, published Alport cases with chronic kidney disease or proteinuria during pregnancy were came with a high rate (75%) of adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. CONCLUSION: The PGT procedure performed in this study was proven to be practicable and might be expanded to be applied in other monogenic diseases. Moderate or severe renal impairments in Alport syndrome were strongly associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes, and baseline proteinuria was a potential predictor for pregnancy outcomes of Alport syndrome as other kidney diseases.