Culture media with antioxidants improved preimplantation embryo development and clinical outcomes of patients of advanced age.

Research Question: What are the clinical effects of using culture media supplemented with antioxidants (AOX) throughout the IVF process?

Design: Prospective randomized single-centre study. Cumulus-oocyte complexes and semen samples collected from 127 treatment cycles were divided evenly between the study arm (culture media with AOX) and the control arm (culture media without AOX). The primary endpoint was the good-quality blastocyst (GQB) rate on day 5-6 per metaphase II (MII) oocyte.

Endometrial pattern predicts pregnancy outcome in single-blastocyst frozen-embryo transfer: An analysis of 1383 cycles.

Purpose: Several studies investigated endometrial patterns, with respect to pregnancy rates following the transfer of embryos but did not distinguish between single- and multiple-blastocyst procedures. We clarified how the endometrial pattern imaged to transfer a frozen embryo is associated with pregnancy outcomes in single-blastocyst frozen-embryo transfer (sbFET).

Methods: Patients ≤35 years who underwent sbFET on the hormone replacement protocol.

Risk factors for placenta accreta spectrum in pregnancies conceived after frozen-thawed embryo transfer in a hormone replacement cycle.

Objective: Assisted reproductive technology (ART), especially frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) in a hormone replacement cycle (HRC), is a risk factor for placenta accreta spectrum (PAS). This study aimed to clarify the risk factors for PAS related to the maternal background and ART techniques in pregnancies achieved after FET in an HRC.

Study Design: We performed a case-control study in two tertiary perinatal centres in Japan.

Clinical outcomes of personalized blastocyst embryo transfer after endometrial receptivity analysis: A multicenter, retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: To evaluate clinical outcomes after endometrial receptivity analysis (ERA).

Methods: This was a multicenter, retrospective cohort study involving 861 women who underwent ERA testing at certified fertility clinics in Japan, and who received subsequent personalized blastocyst embryo transfers (ET) between 2018 and 2020. Clinical outcomes, including pregnancies, miscarriages, and live births, were evaluated according to receptivity status for ERA.

Decreased pregnancy rate per embryo transfer in women undergoing assisted reproductive technology after abdominal trachelectomy: A retrospective study.

Objective: Abdominal trachelectomy (AT) is a fertility-preservation surgery for patients with early-stage cervical cancer. Few studies have reported the outcomes of assisted reproductive technology (ART) in patients after AT. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of ART after AT.

Prospective randomized multicentre comparison on sibling oocytes comparing G-Series media system with antioxidants versus standard G-Series media system.

Research Question: Does the inclusion of three antioxidants (A3), acetyl-l-carnitine (ALC), N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) and alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) improve human embryo development and pregnancy potential?

Design: Prospective randomized multicentre comparison of sibling oocytes. A total of 1563 metaphase II oocytes from 133 patients in two IVF centres. Day 3 embryo and day 5/6 blastocyst quality were assessed.

Phase III trial comparing the efficacy and safety of recombinant- or urine-derived human chorionic gonadotropin for ovulation triggering in Japanese women diagnosed with anovulation or oligo-ovulation and undergoing ovulation induction with follitropin-alfa.

Aim: Outside of Japan, recombinant-human chorionic gonadotropin (r-hCG) is widely used for the induction of final follicular maturation and early luteinization in women undergoing ovulation induction; whereas in Japan, urine-derived hCG (u-hCG) is predominantly used. The primary objective of this study was to demonstrate the non-inferiority of r-hCG to u-hCG for ovulation induction, as assessed by the ovulation rate.

Methods: This was an open-label, parallel-group, randomized, multicenter, phase III trial in Japanese women with anovulation or oligo-ovulation secondary to hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction or polycystic ovary syndrome, undergoing ovulation induction with recombinant-human follicle-stimulating hormone.

Injury to the endometrium prior to the frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycle improves pregnancy rates in patients with repeated implantation failure.

Aim: This retrospective cohort study evaluated the effectiveness of injury to the endometrium prior to the frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) cycle in patients with repeated implantation failure (RIF) in our clinic.

Methods: Included in this study were 173 patients, aged ≤ 41 years, who failed to become pregnant after repeating fair and/or good embryo transfer more than twice between February 2012 and February 2015. The patients were divided into three groups: Group A (n = 38) underwent soft curettage to the endometrium twice, prior to the FET cycle; Group B (n = 45) underwent hysteroscopy prior to the FET cycle, with no significant factors, such as endometrial polyp; and Group C (n = 90) was the no-treatment group.

Perinatal outcomes for transfer of blastocysts vitrified and warmed in defined solutions with recombinant human albumin: 374 babies born after 898 embryo transfers.

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of a novel, defined vitrification procedure using recombinant human albumin (rHA) for cryopreservation of human blastocysts.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Private IVF clinic.

Implications of assisted reproductive technologies on term singleton birth weight: an analysis of 25,777 children in the national assisted reproduction registry of Japan.

Objective: To evaluate the implications of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) on neonatal birth weight.

Design: A retrospective study using analysis of covariance and multiple logistic regression analysis of the Japanese ART registry.

Setting: Japanese institutions providing ART treatment.

A successful pregnancy and live birth after intracytoplasmic sperm injection with globozoospermic sperm and electrical oocyte activation.

Objective: To present the effectiveness of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) using globozoospermic sperm and assisted oocyte activation by electrical stimulation.

Design: A case report.

Setting: A private IVF center in Japan.

Selected single blastocyst transfers maintained pregnancy outcome and eliminated multiple pregnancies.

Transfer of more than one embryo following fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles have increased pregnancy rate at the cost of increasing the incidence of triplets and twins. It has been proposed that prolonged culture to the blastocyst stage would automatically result in the selection of good quality embryos for transfer and minimize the incidence of triplets and twins. The objectives of the present retrospective analysis were to examine the pregnancy outcome, multiple pregnancy and related data following: (i) single blastocyst transfer (BT) and double BT; (ii) single BT in patients belonging to different age groups; and (iii) good, fair or poor quality of BT.

Therapeutic effect of intravenous interferon gene delivery with naked plasmid DNA in murine metastasis models.

Interferons (IFNs) exhibit pleiotropic biological activities that are considered to play important roles in tumor suppression and rejection. Therefore, IFN genes are promising for in vivo cytokine gene therapy targeted against tumors. In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy of hydrodynamics-based IFN gene transfer for tumor treatment, in which the naked pDNA encoding IFN-beta or IFN-gamma was administered into the tail vein of mice following portal vein (liver metastasis), tail vein (lung metastasis), or subcutaneous injection (subcutaneous tumor) of mouse colon carcinoma CT-26 cells.