During the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure, the collected oocytes are incubated until just before ICSI. The ideal preincubation time of oocytes was investigated in 544 treatment cycles. Oocyte retrieval was carried out 35 h after human chorionic gonadotrophin administration. Oocytes were cultured for between 1 and 11 h before ICSI. Embryo transfer was performed 48 h after oocy...

Background Following sperm penetration, oocyte is activated by sperm oocyte activating factors (SOAFs) released by sperm. Spermspecific phospholipase C isoform ζ (PLCζ) and post acrosomal WW binding protein (PAWP) are two nominees for the SOAF. PLCζ is located back-to-back with another testis-specific gene called CAPZA3. These two genes share a common bidirectional promoter. In this study we as...

BACKGROUND We studied the benefit of using in vitro matured metaphase I (MI) oocytes for ICSI in patients with a maximum of 6 mature metaphase II (MII) oocytes at retrieval. METHODS In 2004, 187 ICSI cycles were selected in which maximum 6 MII oocytes and at least one MI oocyte were retrieved. MI oocytes were put in culture to mature until the moment of ICSI, which was performed between 2 to ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the oocyte quality in patients with severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). DESIGN Self-controlled clinical study. SETTING University teaching hospital. PATIENT(S) Twenty-two patients from our assisted reproductive technology (ART) program who developed severe OHSS during their first controlled ovarian hyperstimulation for IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm in...

The present study was designed as 5 x 4 factorial to investigate the effects of using sperm from 5 bulls, and varied sperm-oocyte incubation times (5, 10, 15 and 20 h) on the fertilization, cleavage rates and blastocyst formation on an in vitro bovine embryo production system. The bulls included a tetraparental Chimera, its sires (Japanese Black and Limousin), its maternal grand-sires (Japanese...

BACKGROUND Follicular fluid (FF) is an important micro-environment influencing oocyte growth, its development competence, and embryo viability. The FF content analysis allows to identify new relevant biomarkers, which could be predictive of in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes. Inside ovarian follicle, the amount of FF components from granulosa cells (GC) secretion, could be regulated by gonad...

In human IVF procedures objective and reliable biomarkers of oocyte and embryo quality are needed in order to increase the use of single embryo transfer (SET) and thus prevent multiple pregnancies. During folliculogenesis there is an intense bi-directional communication between oocyte and follicular cells. For this reason gene expression profile of follicular cells could be an important indicat...

Objective: To assess the influence of MII oocyte morphology on the fertilization outcome and embryo development in ART cycles. Since, age may affect the quality of oocyte, the role of women's age was also evaluated following IVF or ICSI cycles. Materials and Methods: 200 MII oocytes from 30 IVF and ICSI cycles were evaluated. The morphology of oocytes that were fertilized in IVF cycles (IVF+) w...

Prior to ICSI the cumulus-oophorous-complex of the oocyte is commonly remove with impure animal-derived hyaluronidase of low strength. The lower strength of the enzyme, the high concentration of impurities and the necessity of extensive time-dependent mechanical denudation damages of the oocytes, increases the risk of lysing the oocytes and the transfer of animal-derived pathogens. All this can...

There are numerous studies concerning pregnancy rates in oocyte donation, yet only a handful report the obstetric outcome in such pregnancies. The purpose of this study was to assess factors that influence pregnancy rates, to determine the incidence of complications, and to evaluate obstetric outcome in pregnancies resulting from oocyte donation. This study included 423 oocyte recipients who un...