The effect of embryo quality on subsequent pregnancy rates after in vitro fertilization.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if a simple morphological classification of embryos was predictive of subsequent pregnancy. DESIGN: Prospective case series. SETTING: University-based in vitro fertilization (IVF) program. PATIENTS, PARTICIPANTS: Consecutive embryo transfer (ET) cycles (n = 206). INTERVENTIONS: Embryos were classified into three grades: (1) equal-size blastomeres with no fragmentation; (2) unequal-size blastomeres; and (3) evidence of fragmentation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Embryo quality, age, indication for IVF, and stimulation protocol were evaluated for their effect on pregnancy rates (PR's). RESULTS: In cycles in which the best embryo transferred was grade 3, 2, or 1, the clinical PRs per ET were 0% (0/11 cycles), 12.8% (6/47 cycles, P less than 0.05), and 21.8% (32/148 cycles, P less than 0.05), respectively. When one, two, or three or more grade 1 embryos were replaced, the clinical PRs per ET were 15.6%, 16.3%, and 40% (P less than 0.05), respectively. Using logistic regression, embryo quality (P = 0.0011) and patient's age (P = 0.0044) were the only variables that affected PRs. CONCLUSION: The transfer of more than two good quality embryos had a positive effect, patient's age had a negative effect on PRs after IVF-ET.

Inhibition of rat embryo implantation in the gossypol-treated uterine horn.

We have developed a method to test the effect of gossypol on prevention of embryo implantation in the uterine horn. On the day of proestrus, gossypol (at a dose of 50, 100, 150, 200 and 500 mug per uterine horn was injected directly into the lumen of the right uterine horn. The left uterine horn was injected with 100 mul buffer. The rats were then mated with fertility proven males on the same day. The day of sperm-positive vaginal smear was designated as Day 0 of pregnancy. The number of implantation sites in both control and gossypol-treated horns was examined on Day 8 of pregnancy by laparotomy. The number of pups born was counted after parturition. At laparotomy, the percentages of pregnant animals with positive implantation sites in the gossypol-treated uterine horn (at a dose of 500, 200, 150, 100 and 50 mug per uterine horn) were 0, 0, 0, 10 and 44%, respectively. By contrast, implantation sites were present in 100% of the control horns of the same rats. The average numbers of total implantation sites in both horns vs the number of pups born to gossypol-treated animals using 500, 200, 150, 100, and 50 mug doses were 5.60 +/- 1.25 vs 4.00 +/- 1.00, 5.83 +/- 1.30 vs 4.70 +/- 1.10, 5.80 +/- 1.10 vs 5.50 +/- 1.20, 11.50 +/- 1.00 vs 9.50 +/- 1.50 and 11.67 +/- 1.20 vs 9.30 +/- 1.20, respectively. Gossypol metabolite completely inhibited embryo implantation when administered at 5.30 mug per uterine horn. The potency of the gossypol metabolite in preventing embryo implantation is estimated to be at least 28 times higher than the parent compound.

Studies on Aristolochia III. Isolation and biological evaluation of constituents of Aristolochia indica roots for fertility-regulating activity.

An ethanol extract of Aristolochia indica roots decreased fertility in both rats and hamsters when administered postcoitally (days 1-10 and 1-6, respectively). Petroleum ether (A), CHCl3 (B), and aqueous (C) fractions, tested similarly in rats, were inactive and/or toxic. Partition of fraction B afforded non-acidic (D) and acidic (E) fractions. Savinin (1), isolated from fraction D and not previously reported from the Aristolochiaceae , was inactive when administered postcoitally to rats. Aristolochic acid-I (2), reported previously from A. indica and isolated from fraction E, was inactive when administered postcoitally to rats and toxic when administered postcoitally to hamsters. (12S)-7,12- Secoishwaran -12-ol (3), previously reported from A. indica and isolated from fraction A, did not interrupt pregnancy when administered to mice on day 6 of pregnancy. Four additional compounds, aristolic acid (4) [prepared from aristolochic acid-I (2)], methyl aristolate (5) [prepared by methylating aristolic acid (4)], and cis- and trans-p-coumaric acid (both oblate commercially), were similarly tested in mice and found to be inactive. Aristolic acid (4), and the cis- and trans-p-coumaric acids also were inactive when administered postcoitally (days 1-10) to rats. Seven compounds reported previously from A. indica were also isolated, as were a new naphthoquinone, aristolindiquinone (6) (fraction E), and magnoflorine (fraction C).