Calcium Ionophore (A23187) Rescues the Activation of Unfertilized Oocytes After Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection and Chromosome Analysis of Blastocyst After Activation

Abstract

Calcium is a crucial factor in regulating the biological behavior of cells. The imbalance of calcium homeostasis in cytoplasm will cause abnormal behavior of cells and the occurrence of diseases. In intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle, the dysfunction of oocyte activation caused by insufficient release of Ca2+ from endoplasmic reticulum is one of the main reasons for repeated fertilization failure. Calcium ionophore (A23187) is a highly selective calcium ionophore, which can form stable complex with Ca2+ and pass through the cell membrane at will, effectively increasing intracellular Ca2+ levels. It has been reported that calcium ionophore (A23187) can activate oocytes and obtain normal embryos. However, there are few studies on unfertilized oocytes after calcium ionophore (A23187) rescue activation in ICSI cycle. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of calcium ionophore (A23187) rescue activation on the activation of unfertilized oocytes, embryonic development potential, embryonic development timing and chromosomal aneuploidy, and to compare and analyze the clinical data of patients with calcium ionophore (A23187) activation in clinical application. The results showed that a certain proportion of high-quality blastocysts with normal karyotype could be obtained after calcium ionophore (A23187) rescue activation of unfertilized oocytes, and it did not have a significant effect on the timing of embryo development. In clinical practice, direct activation with calcium ionophore (A23187) after ICSI was better than rescue activation the next day. In conclusions, the studies on the effectiveness and safety of calcium ionophore (A23187) rescue activation for oocytes with ICSI fertilization failure can enable some patients to obtain usable, high-quality embryos during the first ICSI cycle.

Effect of calcium ionophore (A23187) on embryo development and its safety in PGT cycles

“…Fine-needle aspiration of the epididymides or testes was performed to collect samples from obstructive azoospermia patients. Sperm was collected through epididymis sperm density gradient centrifugation and G-IVF Plus centrifuge wash. Testicular tissues obtained from testicular fine-needle aspiration were homogenized using a 1 mL needle in G-IVF Plus solution, and sperm was collected after direct centrifugation based on a previous study ( 11 ).…”

“…Previously, we used calcium ionophore (A23187) for rescue activation of unfertilized oocytes observed the day after ICSI and found that some percentage of high-quality blastocysts with normal karyotypes were obtained and healthy live-born offspring were obtained after embryo transfer. In addition, a time-lapse monitoring (TLM) system was used to analyze the timing of embryonic developmental; we found that rescue activation of unfertilized oocytes using calcium ionophore (A23187) did not affect the timing of development of the embryos after activation ( 11 ). These results suggest that the rescue activation of unfertilized oocytes using calcium ionophore (A23187) after ICSI may enable some patients to obtain usable embryos in the first ICSI cycle, reducing the financial burden and waiting time for patients, thus providing a basis for the widespread use of calcium ionophore (A23187) rescue activation for assisted reproduction.…”

Is there any effect on imprinted genes H19, PEG3, and SNRPN during AOA?

“…Nonetheless, the sole concept of using live birth as the end-point for successful IVF is somewhat controversial [ 33 ]. Although the use of calcimycin or ionomycin, which can increase membrane permeability to extracellular Ca 2+ , had not been linked with any deleterious effects and did not cause chromosomal abnormalities [ 34 , 35 ], their safety and potential long-term effects during embryogenesis are still unknown. Recently, Chen et al showed that a high concentration of ionomycin increased DNA damage and decreased mouse blastocyst formation [ 36 ].…”

Healthy birth in a case of total globozoospermia after intracytoplasmic sperm injection and assisted oocyte activation

“…Following the evaluation of the sperm parameters, the couple was proposed for the IVF procedure and ICSI. In addition, two other techniques are proposed: ZyMōt (the selection of spermatozoa processed through this technique will lead to a greater sample integrity and a lower degradation of their DNA), compared to conventional methods of semen preparation [ 13 ], and the artificial activation of the oocytes with Calcium Ionophore, which pumps extracellular Ca2+ into the oocyte, against the concentration gradient, increasing the Ca2+ concentration in the oocyte plasma and finally activating the oocyte [ 14 ].…”