Analysis of factors influencing morphokinetic characteristics of embryos in ART cycles

Abstract

In this article, some factors were evaluated for their impact on embryo morphokinetics during assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles. We detected significant differences in the fourth cell division time (t5) of embryos obtained after controlled ovarian stimulation in long GnRH agonists and GnRH antagonist protocols. We also found that higher gonadotropin dose may slow down the development of embryos. However, both male and female age, the number of oocytes and number of normal forms of sperm in the ejaculate did not affect the kinetic parameters of embryo development. Further research is needed to identify all the spectrum of factors, which can affect the rate of embryo development.

The Effect of Advanced Maternal Age on Embryo Morphokinetics

“…Although, the embryos of older women appeared to be more prone to developmental arrest prior to the 8-cell stage, these differences did not prove significant. In addition, no significant differences were observed in the morphokinetic parameters during the first 3 days of pre-implantation development between embryos of women of AMA and those of younger women Our results are in accordance with Gryshchenko et al (30) whose study analyzed various factors influencing embryo morphokinetics and demonstrated that age had no significant effect on the kinetic parameters of the first 3 days of embryo development. Akarsu et al (31) demonstrated limited age-related significant delays in a number of kinetic variables (tPNf, t2, t3, and t4) of embryos produced by women aged 30–40 years of age when compared to younger women (20–30 years) (31).…”

“…However, limited data is available regarding the impact of maternal age on embryo morphokinetics. Gryshchenko et al recently found that the woman's age had no effect on the kinetic parameters of embryo development, but this was based on an analysis of only 86 embryos of women >40 years of age (30). Another study focused primarily on the correlation between morphokinetics and ovarian reserve demonstrated that the time from insemination to first cleavages in embryos produced by a subgroup of women with normal ovarian reserve was significantly longer in those of “older” women (30–40 years) compared to those of younger women (20–30 years).…”

Assessment of human embryos by time-lapse videography: A comparison of quantitative and qualitative measures between two independent laboratories

“…However, evidence does exist to show external factors may alter embryo morphokinetics, and such factors may originate from either the patient population [27][28][29], ovarian stimulation [24][25][26], or laboratory culture conditions [30,31]. In the present study, the two participating laboratories' datasets had significantly different cycle characteristics (Table 1) and embryo culture conditions (Table 2), which may have contributed to the significant differences in morphokinetics that were found (Table 3).…”

“…It must also be noted that the growth of embryos is not constant, and may be influenced by external factors. Such confounding factors have been associated with the patient (e.g., the stimulation regimen used for ovarian stimulation [24,25], gonadotropin dose and hormonal levels [24,26], smoking [27], the presence of hyperandrogenic polycystic ovarian syndrome in the female [28], and sperm DNA fragmentation in the male [29]) and also the culture system (e.g., oxygen concentration in the incubator [30] and the use of different culture media formulations [31]). …”

Impact of polar body biopsy on embryo morphokinetics—back to the roots in preimplantation genetic testing?

“…Akarsu et al [ 34 ] evaluated the impact of ovarian reserve and age on morphokinetic parameters and found tPNf, t2, t3, and t4 to be shorter in younger patients with normal ovarian reserve than in older patients. However, Gryshchenko et al [ 35 ] could not find any morphokinetic differences between patients younger and older than 40 years. According to our data, PBB has no impact on the morphokinetic variables tPNf, t2–t9, and tMor, including the critical time parameters t3 and t5.…”