Academia.eduAcademia.edu

O-024. Factors regulating in-vitro maturation of oocytes

1997, Human Reproduction

not submitted 12.10-12.35 0-025. Effect of FSH and LH on oocyte and embryo quality .

Abstracts of the 13th Annual Meeting of the ESHRE, Edinburgh 1997 Oocyte and embryo quality (Organon sponsored) Monday 23 June 1997 Hall A +B + C: Pentland Suite Lindenberg S. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, KAS Glostrup Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Ndr Ringvej, DK 2000, Denmark Abstract not submitted 12.10-12.35 0-025. Effect of FSH and LH on oocyte and embryo quality . Coelingh Bennink HJ.T. Organon International, PO Box 20, 5340 BH Oss, The Netherlands Oxidative stress and male infertility Abstract not submitted 12.35-13.00 0-026. Oocyte and embryo quality: what do they signify? Edwards R.G. Human Reproduction, Moor Barns Farmhouse, Madingley Road, Coton, Cambridge CB3 7PG, UK Despite the large number of studies on embryo quality in relation to IVF, there are still no reliable methods of predicting which embryos will implant. Embryos with virtually total fragmentation have a very low implantation rate, but those with moderate fragments display implantation rates similar to those with none. Rates of growth and blastomere number are helpful. Better methods of screening would accrue if embryologists scored their embryos twice or more often daily instead of the single observation as at present. Better methods of culture are needed. Studies on the' uptake of metabolites at specific stages of growth are now identifying metabolic differences between mouse embryos capable or incapable of implantation. We do not know whether the essential and nonessential amino acids are needed to support human embryos, as in mice, nor the potential effects of ammonium or reactive oxygen species. Inherent disorders in some embryos may include a large number of chromosomal anomalies, and some other defects. These can be identified by excizing one or more blastomeres for FISH or PCR, but this approach is labour intensive and costly; in any case, it is doubtful if chromosomal 12 Monday 23 June 1997 Hall A: Pentland Suite 14.00-14.45 0-027. Free oxygen radicals and human sperm function Aitken RJ. Medical Research Council Reproductive Biology Unit, University of Edinburgh Centre for Reproductive Biology, Edinburgh, UK Human spermatozoa generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), including radicals such as the superoxide anion as well as non-radical oxidants such as hydrogen peroxide (H 20 2). While evidence for the generation of ROS by human spermatozoa has been available for more than half a century, it is only in recent years that the importance of these oxygen metabolites in controlling sperm function has been recognized. As soon as mature mammalian spermatozoa are released from the cauda epididymis, they initiate the generation of ROS and concomitantly commence the capacitation process. A causal relationship between ROS generation and capacitation is suggested by the ability of ROS scavenging enzymes to disrupt this process. The mechanism by which ROS stimulate capacitation involves the induction of tyrosine phosphorylation. Thus, incubation of human spermatozoa in medium deprived of bicarbonate, or supplemented with 2-deoxyglucose, inhibits ROS generation, suppresses tyrosine phosphorylation and leads to failure of capacitation. The importance of redox-regulated Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article-abstract/12/Suppl_2/12/2486335 by guest on 03 June 2020 11.45-12.10 0-024. Factors regulating in-vitro maturation of oocytes forms can be identified with certainty using cell biopsies. Mosaicism seems to affect 80% of embryos, and this condition is rarely detected when one or two blastomeres are removed. Scoring an embryo as trisomic, for example, from one or two cells would be an error if the remaining cells were diploid. We know far too little about the fundamentals of human embryo growth. There is evidence of various phenomena in human eggs resembling those in other orders. Cytoplasmic rotation at fertilization may modify a polarity in the unfertilized egg and regulate the anterior/posterior axis on the embryo. This can be checked quite easily by ensuring that pronuclei and second polar body are in the same plane. A crosswise appearance of blastomeres at the 4-cell stage may also be essential to indicate normal cleavage. Timing is also essential, and simple methods are needed to ensure that embryos are following the correct timetable. The accumulation of fluid between cells in morulae and the timing of blastocoel formation are reliable timing markers of blastocyst formation. Markers are required for other aspects of differentiation. Genes expressed on blastomeres are needed, and many are active from the late 2or 4-cell stages. These and other concepts of assessing embryo quality will be discussed.