Autosomal aneuploidy is the leading cause of embryonic and foetal death in humans. This arises mainly from errors in meiosis I or II of oogenesis. A largely ignored source of error stems from germinal mosaicism, which leads to premeiotic aneuploidy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Assist Reprod Genet
December 2019
The original article unfortunately contained a mistake. In the online version of the paper, the words "MII (metaphase II)-PB1 (1st polar body) complex (MII-PB1 complex)" in table 1 are incorrectly placed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Assist Reprod Genet
December 2019
Purpose: Molecular cytogenetic analysis has confirmed that a proportion of apparently meiotic aneuploidy may be present in the germ cells prior to the onset of meiosis, but there is no clear perception of its frequency. The aim of this review is to assess the evidence for premeiotic aneuploidy from a variety of sources to arrive at an estimate of its overall contribution to oocyte aneuploidy in humans.
Methods: Relevant scientific literature was covered from 1985 to 2018 by searching PubMed databases with search terms: gonadal/germinal mosaicism, ovarian mosaicism, premeiotic aneuploidy, meiosis and trisomy 21.
Background: Reciprocal Y autosome translocations are rare but frequently associated with male infertility. We report on the meiotic outcome in embryos fathered by two males with the karyotypes 46,X,t(Y;4)(q12;p15.32) and 46,X,t(Y;16)(q12;q13).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Mosaicism in certain dominant disorders may result in a 'non-Mendelian' transmission for the causative mutation. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is available for patients with inherited disorders to achieve an unaffected pregnancy. We present our experience for two female patients with different dominantly inherited autosomal disorders; neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and tuberous sclerosis complex type 2 (TSC2).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Question: We wanted to probe the opinions and current practices on preimplantation genetic screening (PGS), and more specifically on PGS in its newest form: PGS 2.0?
Study Finding: Consensus is lacking on which patient groups, if any at all, can benefit from PGS 2.0 and, a fortiori, whether all IVF patients should be offered PGS.
MTHFR is an important enzyme in the metabolism of folic acid and is crucial for reproductive function. Variation in the sequence of MTHFR has been implicated in subfertility, but definitive data are lacking. In the present study, a detailed analysis of two common MTHFR polymorphisms (c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiagnostic application of array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) in preimplantation genetic diagnosis for reciprocal and Robertsonian translocations has revealed 55-65% embryos with additional aneuploidies with or without translocation-related imbalances. The occurrence of these extra abnormalities with the balanced form of the translocation reduces the number of embryos suitable for transfer. Eighty-three embryos were followed up on days 5-7 of development from 23 infertile or sub-fertile carriers for whole chromosome and segmental aneuploidies present in addition to the balanced or unbalanced translocations detected on aCGH diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGerminal mosaicism in a parent is considered to be a rare cause of aneuploidy in the offspring. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of pre-meiotic errors, indicative of germinal mosaicism, leading to aneuploidy compared with those that occur at meiosis I. The material consisted of 126 oocytes, unexposed to sperm, donated by 57 women with an average maternal age of 35.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis is a retrospective study aiming to assess telomere length in human embryos 4 days post fertilization and to determine whether it is correlated to chromosomal ploidy, embryo developmental rate and patient age. Embryos were donated from patients undergoing treatment in the assisted conception unit. Seven couples took part, generating 35 embryos consisting of 1130 cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHum Fertil (Camb)
December 2013
Human fertility is low in comparison with that seen in other well-studied mammals. The main reason for this state of affairs seems to be the frequent occurrence and persistence of chromosomal errors in the human conceptus. Evidence obtained over the past two decades shows that the exceptionally high incidence of chromosomal anomalies seen in human preimplantation embryos is the result of errors that may occur at various stages during gamete and embryo formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExpert Rev Mol Diagn
July 2012
Over the last 20 years, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has changed from being an experimental procedure to one that is carried out in specialized diagnostic centers worldwide. Genetic awareness and the rapid identification of germline mutations or chromosomal abnormalities enable individuals to know their risk of transmitting a genetic disease before they have children. This has created a demand for PGD from couples who wish to avoid terminations of affected pregnancies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChromosome breakage is a fairly widespread phenomenon in preimplantation embryos affecting at least 10% of day 3 cleavage stage embryos. It may be detected during preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). For carriers of structural chromosomal abnormalities, PGD involves the removal and testing of single blastomeres from cleavage stage embryos, aiming towards an unaffected pregnancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPre-implantation genetic screening is carried out with the aim of selecting oocytes or embryos that have the optimal chance of producing an ongoing pregnancy by eliminating those that have a detectable chromosomal anomaly. A variety of cells may be chosen for testing; the first polar body, with or without the corresponding second polar body, a single blastomere from a cleavage stage embryo or a group of cells from the trophectoderm at the blastocyst stage. This paper explains the different stages when aneuploidy may arise during oocyte development and the contribution made by post-zygotic aneuploidy to the overall burden as a basis for understanding the arguments for and against selecting polar bodies as the cells of choice for pre-implantation screening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGermline mosaicism has been thought to be a rare cause of aneuploidy in the human population. Recent evidence from cytological and population studies suggests otherwise. Approximately 5% of young couples with a Down syndrome child show evidence of germinal mosaicism.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCleavage-stage embryos often have nuclear abnormalities, one of the most common being binucleate blastomeres, which may contain two diploid or two haploid nuclei. Biopsied cells from preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) cycles were studied to determine the relative frequency of binucleate cells with two haploid versus two diploid nuclei. The frequency of mononucleate haploid biopsied blastomeres was also recorded.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe cleavage stage embryo (days 1-3) stands out due to the high level of chromosomal anomalies, especially mosaicism that arises prior to global embryonic genome activation. Molecular cytogenetic studies show that an average of 60% of in vitro derived embryos have at least one aneuploid cell by the time they are 3 days old. However, comprehensive studies of the chromosome content of individual cells have revealed that 25% of these embryos have no aneuploid cells, a fact that sits well with the knowledge that at most 1 in 5 have the capacity to implant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAneuploidy is the most commonly occurring type of chromosome abnormality and the most significant clinically. It arises mostly due to segregation errors taking place during female meiosis and is also closely associated with advancing maternal age. Two main aneuploidy-causing mechanisms have been described: the first involves the non-disjunction of entire chromosomes and can take place during both meiotic divisions, whereas the second involves the premature division of a chromosome into its 2 sister chromatids, followed by their random segregation, upon completion of meiosis I.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is considerable uncertainty as to the significance of a high sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) for achieving a successful pregnancy.
Methods: The sperm DFI of 124 patients undergoing 192 IVF cycles and of 96 patients undergoing 155 ICSI cycles was determined using the sperm chromatin structure assay on neat sperm.
Results: The rate of continuing pregnancies in ICSI cycles (but not in IVF cycles) showed significant negative correlation (r = -0.
The ability to identify oocytes with the greatest potential for producing a viable embryo would be of great benefit to assisted reproductive treatments. One of the most important defects affecting oocytes is aneuploidy. Aneuploidy is also closely related with advancing maternal age, a phenomenon not well understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Two related family members, a female and a male balanced carrier of an intrachromosomal insertion on chromosome 7 were referred to our centre for preimplantation genetic diagnosis. This presented a rare opportunity to investigate the behaviour of the insertion chromosome during meiosis in two related carriers. The aim of this study was to carry out a detailed genetic analysis of the preimplantation embryos that were generated from the three treatment cycles for the male and two for the female carrier.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To overcome problems associated with the use of triplet repeat primed polymerase chain reaction (TP-PCR) in preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) of myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1).
Design: Clinical research study.
Setting: UCL Centre for PGD and Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health.
Background: Ring chromosomes are normally associated with developmental anomalies and are rarely inherited. An exception to this rule is provided by deletion/ring cases. We were provided with a unique opportunity to investigate the meiotic segregation at oogenesis in a woman who is a carrier of a deleted/ring 22 chromosome.
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