The Impact of Assisted Hatching on Monozygotic Twinning is Related to Female Age and Insemination Method: A New Perspective.

Whether assisted hatching (AH) is associated with a higher incidence of monozygotic twinning (MZT) in women undergoing assisted reproductive technology remains controversial; the aim of the study was to demonstrate the relationship between AH and MZT. A total of 8900 clinical pregnancies were selected among embryo transfer cycles from January 2011 to October 2019. Women receiving day (D) 3 embryos were divided into groups A-C: group A (n = 1651) and group B (n = 1045) included women aged ≤37 or ≥38 years, respectively, with zona pellucida (ZP) thinning; group C (n = 3865) included women aged ≤37 years without AH. Women aged ≤37 years who underwent blastocyst transfer and/or blastocyst ZP breaching were included in group D (n = 2339). The incidence of MZT was compared among groups A, B and C, and between groups C and D. The incidence of MZT in group B (2.2%) was significantly higher than in group A (1.0%), especially following intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), while the incidence of MZT in group A (1.0%) was significantly lower than in group C (2.2%). The MZT rate with in vitro fertilization was higher in group D (2.8%) than in group C (2.2%), but the MZT rate following ICSI was not significantly different between the two groups. ZP thinning of D3 embryos may increase the risk of MZT in older women (≥38 years), but decrease it in younger women (≤37 years). ZP breaching may be useful to reduce the incidence of MZT in ICSI-generated blastocysts.

Prediction of oocyte quality using mRNA transcripts screened by RNA sequencing of human granulosa cells.

RESEARCH QUESTION: Can RNA transcripts of granulosa cells be used to assess oocyte quality? The possibility of predicting the developmental competence of oocytes by RNA sequencing analysis of granulosa cells was evaluated. DESIGN: Granulosa cell samples were collected from 29 women undergoing assisted reproductive technology treatment and divided into two groups: 14 samples from the high blastocyst rate group and 15 from the low blastocyst rate group. Ten samples from each group were selected for RNA sequencing. RESULTS: A total of 129 differentially expressed genes associated with high developmental competence of oocytes were identified. COL1A2, renin and COL1A1 were selected and further examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Expression levels of COL1A2 and renin by qRT-PCR were consistent with the results of RNA sequencing. CONCLUSION: RNA sequencing data could provide novel marker genes for the non-invasive evaluation of oocyte quality and embryo developmental competence.

Effects of three abnormal conditions of fallopian tube on outcomes of the in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer technique.

AIM: The aim of this study was to demonstrate whether salpingitis affects the outcomes of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET). METHODS: The retrospective study includes patients from 2013 to 2018 who received their first IVF-ET treatment during this period. On the basis of their tubal conditions, the patients were subgrouped as: hydrosalpinx (group A), salpingitis (group B), tubal occlusion (group C). It had a total of 726 cycles, of which 208 cycles were in group A, 201 cycles in group B and 317 cycles in group C. The outcomes of the IVF-ET treatment were compared amongst the three groups. RESULTS: Group C had the highest number of retrieved oocytes as compared to the groups A and B, and the rate of the high-quality embryos at day 3 (66-68 h after insemination) was higher in the groups C and A compared to the group B. The blastocyst formation rate was significantly higher in group C compared to that of the group B. Group C had higher rates of implantation, clinical pregnancy and live birth compared to both groups A and B, while the birth weight of newborns did not differ amongst the three groups. CONCLUSION: Salpingitis has adverse effects on the success rate of the IVF-ET treatment, exemplified by lower implantation, clinical pregnancy and live birth rates compared to tubal occlusion, it may be necessary to carry out appropriate management of salpingitis before IVF-ET treatment.

Higher implantation and live birth rates with laser zona pellucida breaching than thinning in single frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer.

While zona pellucida (ZP) breaching of day-3 frozen blastocysts embryos can increase the blastocyst hatching rate, compared with ZP thinning, the pregnancy and implantation rates are similar. The aim of this study was to compare pregnancy outcomes and the risks associated with frozen-thawed blastocysts between laser ZP breaching and laser ZP thinning. For the thinning group, ZP of thawed blastocyst was thinned to a length of 30-40 µm using laser between January 2013 and October 2015. On the other hand, for the breaching group, thawed blastocysts were breached with a 60-80 µm hole in the ZP using laser between November 2015 and April 2018. The implantation rate of ZP breaching (72.7%) was higher than that of ZP thinning (61.8%). In single frozen blastocyst transfer, the implantation rate, clinical pregnancy rate, and live birth rate of ZP breaching (73.9%, 73.9%, 61.8%, respectively) were significantly higher than those of ZP thinning (60.9%, 60.9%, 46.7%, respectively). The abortion rate, preterm birth rate, congenital malformation, birth defects, and birth weight did not significantly differ between the two groups. In conclusion, laser assisted hatching during single frozen blastocyst transfer using ZP breaching exhibit higher implantation, pregnancy, and live birth rates compared with ZP thinning. No significant differences were observed between the two assisted hatching methods in terms of adverse effects on pregnancy and newborns.