Identifying parental and cell-division origins of aneuploidy in the human blastocyst.

Preimplantation genetic testing commonly employs simplistic copy-number analyses to screen for aneuploidy in blastocyst trophectoderm biopsies. Interpreting intermediate copy number alone as evidence of mosaicism has led to suboptimal estimation of its prevalence. Because mosaicism originates from mitotic nondisjunction, utilizing SNP microarray technology to identify the cell-division origins of aneuploidy might provide a more accurate estimation of its prevalence.

Accurate detection and frequency of abnormal ploidy in the human blastocyst.

Objective: To validate the detection of abnormal ploidy in preimplantation embryos and evaluate its frequency in transferrable blastocysts.

Design: A high-throughput genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism microarray-based preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) platform was validated using multiple positive controls, including cell lines of known haploid and triploid karyotypes and rebiopsies of embryos with initial abnormal ploidy results. This platform was then tested on all trophectoderm biopsies in a single PGT laboratory to calculate the frequency of abnormal ploidy and the parental and cell division origins of error.

A new safe, simple and successful vitrification method for bovine and human blastocysts.

This study examined a new method for vitrification of blastocysts that is safe, simple and easy to learn and use. Current vitrification techniques have shortcomings that include the use of dimethyl sulphoxide, one of the more toxic cryoprotectants, and minute containers that are difficult to handle and are usually open to contamination. Cell handling and loading times are very short, which allows no room for user-associated errors and increases the difficulty of the procedure.

Effect of infertility, maternal age, and number of previous miscarriages on the outcome of preimplantation genetic diagnosis for idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss.

Objective: To determine whether preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) would decrease spontaneous abortion rates in patients with idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL).

Design: Controlled clinical study.

Setting: IVF center and PGD reference laboratory.

Maternal age, morphology, development and chromosome abnormalities in over 6000 cleavage-stage embryos.

Previous studies assessing the relationship between embryo development, maternal age and chromosome abnormalities were either small or analysed mostly embryos not suitable for replacement. The present study includes >6000 embryos, including many suitable for replacement. Embryos with the best morphology and development were 44% euploid in patients younger than 35, decreasing to 21% in patients 41 and older.

Inhibition of human spermatozoa-zona pellucida binding by a combinatorially derived peptide from a synthetic target.

Intact zona-free human oocytes were screened using a combinatorial peptide library selection protocol. Pieczenik Peptide Sequence 1 (PPS1) HEHRKRG binds human spermatozoa. A complementary and unique binding sequence HNSSLSPLATPA (PPS2) was developed from the first PPS1 ligand that binds to the human zona pellucida or oolemma.

Cryopreservation of unfertilized human oocytes.

Previous investigations revealed that choline-based freezing media developed in our laboratory were superior to conventional sodium-based media for storing mouse oocytes. This paper examines the ability of the choline-based medium CJ2 and a modified form of this medium, CJ3, to cryopreserve unfertilized human oocytes. Oocytes that were consented for research and matured overnight, as well as freshly collected, donor, mature metaphase II (MII) oocytes, were cryopreserved using choline-based media and an optimized slow-cooling protocol.

Self-correction of chromosomally abnormal embryos in culture and implications for stem cell production.

Objective: To ascertain whether embryos classified by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for infertility as abnormal and then plated to obtain stem cells would self-correct partially or totally in culture, producing disomic stem cells.

Design: Prospective study to determine the chromosome status of embryos on day 3 and 6, as well as cultured cells derived from inner cell masses from the same embryos when cultured up to day 12.

Setting: Research laboratory.

Cleavage anomalies in early human embryos and survival after prolonged culture in-vitro.

This study examines the relationship between common morphological anomalies of cleaving embryos and their ability to form apparently normal blastocysts in vitro. The impact of cleavage rate, fragmentation, and multinucleation on compaction, cavitation, along with inner cell mass and trophectoderm formation has been assessed. The study population consisted of 102 patients who elected or were selected to have a day 5 embryo transfer.

Sperm deposition site during ICSI affects fertilization and development.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of sperm placement during ICSI relative to the M-II spindle location on fertilization and preimplantation development.

Design: Retrospective analysis of oocyte fertilization and embryo development with respect to sperm deposition site during ICSI.

Setting: A program of IVF-ET.

The first births and ongoing pregnancies associated with sperm cryopreservation within evacuated egg zonae.

This new procedure principally aims to avoid a second or possibly multiple surgical procedures for sperm extraction from the male partner in cases of limited amounts of sperm cells, where normal freeze-thaw protocols would fail. Patients (n = 34) diagnosed as azoospermic, extreme oligozoospermic, or oligoasthenozoospermic underwent the process of sperm cryopreservation within evacuated egg zonae. Other samples were allocated to conventional sperm freezing.

Chromosome abnormalities in embryos obtained after conventional in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

Objective: To compare the rate of numerical chromosome abnormalities in embryos derived from bipronucleated zygotes produced by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and conventional IVF.

Design: Embryos were classified by maternal age and morphological and developmental characteristics to avoid bias when comparing chromosome abnormalities in ICSI and IVF embryos.

Setting: The Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of Saint Barnabas Medical Center, West Orange, New Jersey.

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis increases the implantation rate in human in vitro fertilization by avoiding the transfer of chromosomally abnormal embryos.

Objective: To verify the percentage of chromosomally abnormal preimplantation embryos in patients with a poor prognosis and possibly to increase the chance of implantation by selecting chromosomally normal embryos.

Design: A prospective, randomized, controlled study.

Setting: In vitro fertilization program at the Reproductive Medicine Unit of the Società Italiana Studi Medicina della Riproduzione, Bologna, Italy.

Beneficial aspects of co-culture with assisted hatching when applied to multiple-failure in-vitro fertilization patients.

A study was conducted on patients who had attempted and failed previous in-vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures an average of 3.8 times following the application of assisted hatching with conventional culture systems. The aim of this investigation was to determine if addition of co-culture methodologies could reduce embryonic abnormalities and thus improve the prognosis for pregnancy.