Live Birth from the Transfer of a Severely Fragmented Embryo Observed by Morphokinetics.

We report a live birth from a heavily fragmented embryo which continued cleavage to a fully expanded blastocyst. A 32-year-old patient underwent 2 IVF cycles without achieving pregnancy. In the first cycle, 2 embryos with fragmentation were transferred; in the second, all embryos were fragmented and no embryo transfer was performed. In a third cycle, 12 oocytes were retrieved and 11 of them were fertilized. On day 2, all 11 embryos started to unwind to fragments. By careful annotation, using the time-lapse EmbryoScope, we observed that one embryo continued division as expected, discarding all fragments aside. On day 5, this embryo showed promising annotation according to our lab model. The embryo was transferred into the uterus and resulted in the birth of a healthy baby at term. To our knowledge, this is the first case report assisted by EmbryoScope where a healthy baby was delivered from a fragmented embryo.

The role of reactive nitrogen species and cigarette smoke in activation of transcription factor NF-kappaB and implication to inflammatory processes.

Using the electromobility shift assay (EMSA) in the rat myoblast system, the activation of transcription factor NF-kappaB by reactive nitrogen species was evaluated. Two distinct patterns of activation were demonstrated. Whereas NO donor, SNAP, activated NF-kappaB in the classical pathway, which led to a transient response, NF-kappaB activation by peroxynitrite donor, SIN-1, was mediated by an alternative pathway, which has been demonstrated in previous works to involve tyrosine nitration of the NF-kappaB inhibitory protein I-kappaB alpha. This led to a constitutive non-transient activation of NF-kappaB and a prolonged inflammatory reaction. Lymphocytes exposed to mild intensity of cigarette smoke for 8 h, which activated NF-kappaB, exhibited a decrease in the fraction of apoptotic cells from 27% to 19% compared with lymphocytes exposed to atmospheric air, using the FACS Annexin V assay. This also has been shown in previous works to be mediated by peroxynitrite. Thus, mild exposure to cigarette smoke induces NF-kappaB activation, which can attenuate apoptosis in human lymphocytes and lead to prolonged inflammatory response. A possible proposed mechanism for induction of chronic inflammatory response may involve peroxynitrite-induced activation of NF-kappaB.

Analyzing factors affecting the success rate of frozen-thawed embryos.

PURPOSE: In recent years the infertile population applying for IVF treatments was changed and so the indications for performing intracellular sperm injection (ICSI). The aim of this study was to analyze predicting factors of our thawing cycles. METHODS: From December 1998 to July 2001, 440 consecutive thawing cycles were performed. Patient characteristics were examined. The number of cryopreserved embryos, number of transferred embryos, the timing of cryopreservation (48 h vs. 72 h), and embryo survival rate were analyzed as a possible predictor for pregnancies achievement. RESULTS: Conventional IVF patient's characteristic was significantly different from ICSI population and analysis has been performed for every population separately. In the IVF population the women age, the number of transferred embryos, and timing of cryopreservation were factors significantly influencing the pregnancy rate. Interestingly, in the ICSI population only the number of transferred embryos was found to be a predictive factor. CONCLUSION: ICSI and IVF cycles should be analyzed separately. Not all the factors influencing the success rate in the conventional IVF population are valid in the ICSI population.