Objective:To compare the embryo development potential and clinical outcomes between the patients with and without oocyte degeneration.Methods:This retrospective cohort study included a total of 242 cycles underwent ICSI that cultured in time-lapse incubator from January 2019 to June 2023 at the Reproductive and Genetic Center of Suzhou Municipal Hospital and all 3 119 oocytes were evaluated. Data collection continued to February 5th,2024 until the last birthing of the study. Patients were divided into degenerated group (140 cycles) and control group (102 cycles) according to whether oocyte degenerated after ICSI. Then the embryo developmental potential and clinical outcomes were compared. Furthermore, we also investigated whether embryo morphokinetics could be different between the two groups.Results:Female age, duration of infertility, body mass index, basal follicle sitmulating hormone, basal luteinizing hormone, basal estrogen (E 2), antral follicle count, anti-Müllerian hormone, factors of infertility and source of semen were similar between the two groups ( P>0.05). E 2 on human chorionic gonadotropin triggered day [2 513.00 (1 842.20, 3 638.50) ng/L], number of oocytes retrieved (13.56±4.80) and oocyte maturation rate [84.35% (1 601/1 898)] were significantly higher in degenerated group than those in control group [2 270.50 (1 472.00, 3 044.20) ng/L, P=0.019; 11.97±4.71, P=0.011; 81.08% (990/1 221), P=0.017], while normal fertilization rate [69.33% (1 103/1 591)], day 3 (D3) good-quality embryos [57.85% (634/1 096)], blastocyst formation rate [50.87% (469/922)] and embryo utilized rate [58.30% (643/1 103)] were significantly lower in degenerated group than those in control group [85.56% (847/990), P<0.001; 65.72% (556/846), P<0.001; 61.26% (446/728), P<0.001; 66.12% (560/847), P<0.001] . In addition, the proportion of low cell number (<7) of D3 embryos [33.76% (370/1 096)] and high fragmentation (fragmentation ≥50%, fragmentation 20%-50%) of D3 embryos [10.01% (109/1 089), 18.64% (203/1 089)] in degenerated group were significantly higher than those in control group [27.19% (230/846), P=0.002; 6.06% (51/841), P=0.002; 14.15% (119/841), P=0.009], and so were the incidence of DC1 and CC [5.98% (66/1 103) vs. 2.48% (21/847), P<0.001; 2.45% (27/1 103) vs. 0.94% (8/847), P=0.013]. As regard to the utilized embryos, there were no significant differences in t5, cc2, cc3 and s2 ( P>0.05), but tPNf [22.82(21.13, 24.84) h], t2 [25.37 (23.62, 27.37) h], t3 [35.64 (33.10, 38.03) h] and t4 [36.85 (34.70, 39.52) h] in degenerated group were significantly earlier than those in control group [23.04 (21.76, 25.41) h, P=0.001; 25.91 (24.15, 28.05) h, P=0.001; 36.16 (33.11, 38.81) h, P=0.040; 37.39 (35.11, 40.27) h, P=0.026]. Further more, after the first transfer of fresh or frozen embryos, there were no significant differences in clinical pregnancy rate, implantation rate, early abortion rate, live birth rate, sex ratio, preterm birth rate, low birth weight rate and birth defect rate between the two groups (all P>0.05). ICSI degeneration was not an independent factor of implantation rate, early abortion rate and live birth rate after ICSI treatment, but number of embryos transferred was an independent factor of implantation rate and live birth rate after ICSI treatment ( OR=2.806, 95% CI: 1.179-6.677, P=0.020; OR=2.622, 95% CI: 1.129-6.090, P=0.025). Conclusion:The presence of oocyte degeneration after ICSI may affect the overall developmental potential of its sibling oocytes and may also disturb the morphokinetics of the embyos, however the pregnancy outcomes and neonatal birth outcomes may not be affected if transfer the best embryo in the first fresh or frozen cycle.

Objective:To compare the embryo development potential and clinical outcomes between the patients with and without oocyte degeneration.Methods:This retrospective cohort study included a total of 242 cycles underwent ICSI that cultured in time-lapse incubator from January 2019 to June 2023 at the Reproductive and Genetic Center of Suzhou Municipal Hospital and all 3 119 oocytes were evaluated. Data collection continued to February 5th,2024 until the last birthing of the study. Patients were divided into degenerated group (140 cycles) and control group (102 cycles) according to whether oocyte degenerated after ICSI. Then the embryo developmental potential and clinical outcomes were compared. Furthermore, we also investigated whether embryo morphokinetics could be different between the two groups.Results:Female age, duration of infertility, body mass index, basal follicle sitmulating hormone, basal luteinizing hormone, basal estrogen (E 2), antral follicle count, anti-Müllerian hormone, factors of infertility and source of semen were similar between the two groups ( P>0.05). E 2 on human chorionic gonadotropin triggered day [2 513.00 (1 842.20, 3 638.50) ng/L], number of oocytes retrieved (13.56±4.80) and oocyte maturation rate [84.35% (1 601/1 898)] were significantly higher in degenerated group than those in control group [2 270.50 (1 472.00, 3 044.20) ng/L, P=0.019; 11.97±4.71, P=0.011; 81.08% (990/1 221), P=0.017], while normal fertilization rate [69.33% (1 103/1 591)], day 3 (D3) good-quality embryos [57.85% (634/1 096)], blastocyst formation rate [50.87% (469/922)] and embryo utilized rate [58.30% (643/1 103)] were significantly lower in degenerated group than those in control group [85.56% (847/990), P<0.001; 65.72% (556/846), P<0.001; 61.26% (446/728), P<0.001; 66.12% (560/847), P<0.001] . In addition, the proportion of low cell number (<7) of D3 embryos [33.76% (370/1 096)] and high fragmentation (fragmentation ≥50%, fragmentation 20%-50%) of D3 embryos [10.01% (109/1 089), 18.64% (203/1 089)] in degenerated group were significantly higher than those in control group [27.19% (230/846), P=0.002; 6.06% (51/841), P=0.002; 14.15% (119/841), P=0.009], and so were the incidence of DC1 and CC [5.98% (66/1 103) vs. 2.48% (21/847), P<0.001; 2.45% (27/1 103) vs. 0.94% (8/847), P=0.013]. As regard to the utilized embryos, there were no significant differences in t5, cc2, cc3 and s2 ( P>0.05), but tPNf [22.82(21.13, 24.84) h], t2 [25.37 (23.62, 27.37) h], t3 [35.64 (33.10, 38.03) h] and t4 [36.85 (34.70, 39.52) h] in degenerated group were significantly earlier than those in control group [23.04 (21.76, 25.41) h, P=0.001; 25.91 (24.15, 28.05) h, P=0.001; 36.16 (33.11, 38.81) h, P=0.040; 37.39 (35.11, 40.27) h, P=0.026]. Further more, after the first transfer of fresh or frozen embryos, there were no significant differences in clinical pregnancy rate, implantation rate, early abortion rate, live birth rate, sex ratio, preterm birth rate, low birth weight rate and birth defect rate between the two groups (all P>0.05). ICSI degeneration was not an independent factor of implantation rate, early abortion rate and live birth rate after ICSI treatment, but number of embryos transferred was an independent factor of implantation rate and live birth rate after ICSI treatment ( OR=2.806, 95% CI: 1.179-6.677, P=0.020; OR=2.622, 95% CI: 1.129-6.090, P=0.025). Conclusion:The presence of oocyte degeneration after ICSI may affect the overall developmental potential of its sibling oocytes and may also disturb the morphokinetics of the embyos, however the pregnancy outcomes and neonatal birth outcomes may not be affected if transfer the best embryo in the first fresh or frozen cycle.

Objective:To analyse the clinical significance of selective single embryo transfer by time-lapse mo-nitoring(TLM)or conventional morphology assessment(CMA)in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm in-jection and embryo transfer(IVF/ICSI-ET),and to initially explore the predictive value of Raman spectral analy-sis of embryo culture medium for clinical pregnancy rate.Methods:The study is a prospective randomized con-trolled clinical trial.We assigned 139 patients treated with IVF/ICSI-ET in Reproductive and Genetics Center of Suzhou Municipal Hospital from April 2019 to July 2020,which were randomly assigned to either the CMA or the TLM group.We performed selective single-embryo transfer(fresh cycle and FET)after selecting the optimal em-bryos with TLM or CMA respectively.If the patient's first embryo transfer was unsuccessful,a second one would be performed to compare the differences in the cumulative live birth rate of embryo transfer and other pregnancy outcomes between the two groups.Meanwhile,we collected 15 μl of embryo culture medium at day 3 after IVF/ISCI fertilization for Raman spectroscopy analysis.Results:There were no differences in cumulative live birth,cu-mulative clinical pregnancy,cumulative premature birth,cumulative early spontaneous abortion,cumulative ectopic pregnancy and LGA or SGA between TLM and CMA groups(P＞0.05).The Neonatal sex ratio in the TLM group was lower than that in the CMA group,but the difference was not significant(P＞0.05).Raman spectros-copy analysis of embryo culture medium predicted the clinical pregnancy rate with 67.21％accuracy.Conclu-sions:In young women with a good ovarian reserve,the advantage of using TLM to evaluate embryos is not obvi-ous,so we should remain vigilant that embryo selection based on morphokinetic parameters may affect the sex ratio.Raman spectroscopic analysis of embryo culture medium is not yet able to effectively predict the planting ability of embryos.

The role of microbiota in human reproduction has become the “the second genome of humanity”. In fact, more and more researches have investigated the microbiota in reproduction, including the lower and upper reproductive tracts, and even the interactions with gametogenesis. The microbiota not only plays a crucial role in the pathological states caused by health and microecological disorders, but may also play an important role in successful fertilization and healthy pregnancy. Currently, researches on the relationship between microbiota and human reproductive axis are attracting widespread attention. This article reviews the impact of microbiota on reproductive outcomes, as well as the impact and possible mechanisms of microbiota in the uterine cavity on immune tolerance. It explores that dysbiosis of microbiota may play a role through immune tolerance. This may play a guiding role in regulating the microecology and exploring new methods for treating reproductive diseases.

The role of microbiota in human reproduction has become the “the second genome of humanity”. In fact, more and more researches have investigated the microbiota in reproduction, including the lower and upper reproductive tracts, and even the interactions with gametogenesis. The microbiota not only plays a crucial role in the pathological states caused by health and microecological disorders, but may also play an important role in successful fertilization and healthy pregnancy. Currently, researches on the relationship between microbiota and human reproductive axis are attracting widespread attention. This article reviews the impact of microbiota on reproductive outcomes, as well as the impact and possible mechanisms of microbiota in the uterine cavity on immune tolerance. It explores that dysbiosis of microbiota may play a role through immune tolerance. This may play a guiding role in regulating the microecology and exploring new methods for treating reproductive diseases.

Assisted reproductive technology (ART), as an important means of procreation, has been increasingly applied to clinical practice. Morphological evaluation and genetic screening before embryo implantation is an important part of modern ART and an essential means to improve embryo implantation rate and clinical pregnancy rate. The safety of existing preimplantation genetic screening methods has been questioned due to their needs for embryo biopsies. How to achieve non-invasive preimplantation screening has become a research hotspot at the present stage. This paper mainly discusses some methods or technologies with clinical value in recent years, hoping to provide references for the clinical application of non-invasive screening.

Assisted reproductive technology (ART), as an important means of procreation, has been increasingly applied to clinical practice. Morphological evaluation and genetic screening before embryo implantation is an important part of modern ART and an essential means to improve embryo implantation rate and clinical pregnancy rate. The safety of existing preimplantation genetic screening methods has been questioned due to their needs for embryo biopsies. How to achieve non-invasive preimplantation screening has become a research hotspot at the present stage. This paper mainly discusses some methods or technologies with clinical value in recent years, hoping to provide references for the clinical application of non-invasive screening.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlation between microRNA (miRNA) differential expression and quality of embryo. METHODS: The miRNA expression profiles of 8 blastocysts were detected by a TaqMan microRNA array, and miRNAs with a stable expression were selected. Additional blastocysts were selected, and the candidate miRNA was detected by real-time PCR. Meanwhile, chromosomal abnormalities of the embryos were detected by using next-generation sequencing, and the results were compared. RESULTS: The expression of mir-720, mir-372, mir-886-3p and mir-512-3p was higher than that of miR-145, which suggested that mir-720, mir-372, mir-886-3p and mir-512-3p are related to early embryo development. The expression of miR-145 and mir-886-3p were significantly lower in the normal chromosome group. With the threshold values of above 9 and 3 for the relative expression of miR-145 and mir-886-3p, respectively, there was no embryo without a chromosomal abnormality. CONCLUSION There is a correlation between the expression level of specific miRNA and chromosomal abnormalities of embryos, which may be used as a novel biomarker for embryo selection.

Objective To estimate the effect of blastocysts morphological score on pregnancy outcomes and neonate′s condition in vitrified-warmed single-blastocyst transfer cycles. Methods A retrospective analysis of 586 cycles of vitrified-warmed single-blastocyst transfer from Mar. 2010 to Feb.2016 was performed and the influ-ence of day of vitrification,inner cell mass(ICM)and trophectoderm(TE)scores on pregnancy outcomes and neo-nate′s condition were observed. Results There were no significant differences in clinical pregnancy rate,birth weight and sex ration of newborn between different vitrification day,ICM score and TE score.The day of vitrifica-tion and ICM score can significantly influence pregnancy loss rate,and were the two primary predictors of pregnan-cy loss rate. Vitrification day,ICM score and TE score exerted significant influence on live birth rate(P < 0.05) and TE score was the primary factor of live birth rate. Conclusions Day 5 vitrified blastocysts with higher quality of ICM and TE can provide high live birth rate and low pregnancy loss rate,but it could not predict the weight and gender of the newborn.

OBJECTIVETo estimate the value of blastocyst culture for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

METHODSDay 3 embryos were biopsied and analyzed with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique. Embryos with normal FISH results were cultured into blastocysts, and the ones with better morphology scores were transferred. Fourteen embryos with abnormal FISH results were cultured into blastocysts. Part of the cells taken from the blastocysts were amplified by whole genomic amplification (WGA) and assessed by array-based comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH) analysis.

RESULTSSix blastocysts with normal FISH results were transferred in 5 cycles. Four healthy babies of 3 cycles were delivered. Another one was a singleton pregnancy but with embryo growth arrest, whose villus karyotype was normal. Fourteen embryos with abnormal FISH results were cultured into blastocysts and analyzed by array-CGH. Six blastocysts were normal by array-CGH.

CONCLUSIONFISH combined with blastocyst culture may further ensure the accuracy of PGD result. Detection at the blastocyst stage can avoid false positive results and mosaic interferences on Day 3 stage and are therefore more authentic.

Adult ; Blastocyst ; cytology ; Comparative Genomic Hybridization ; methods ; Embryo Transfer ; Female ; Genetic Diseases, Inborn ; diagnosis ; embryology ; genetics ; prevention & control ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; methods ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Preimplantation Diagnosis ; methods