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Lipofuscin bodies in human oocytes as an indicator of oocyte quality

  • Assisted Reproduction
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Abstract

Refractile bodies are one of the main morphological abnormalities that can be observed in the cytoplasm of human oocytes. In the present studies the characteristics of refractile bodies and the relationship between the size of these structures and developmental competence of the affected oocytes and resulting embryos were examined. The refractile bodies were found to have yellow autofluorescence which was consistent with the typical autofluorescence of lipofuscin. Viewed by transmitted electron microscopy, the refractile bodies showed the conventional morphology of lipofuscin inclusions and consisted of a mixture of lipids and dense granule materials. Large refractile bodies (>5 μm) were positively stained by the Schmorl reaction and were considered to contain lipofuscin. These larger lipofuscin inclusions (>5 μm) were associated with significantly reduced fertilization and unfavorable blastocyst development.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Alexander Lopata for reading and commenting on this manuscript and Mr. Yoshihito Kondo at Tokyo Instruments for technical support on spectral image analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Ochanomizu University, 2-2-1 Otsuka Bunkyo, Tokyo, 112-8610, Japan

    Junko Otsuki & Kazuyoshi Chiba

  2. Nagai Clinic, 607-1 Kamihikona Misato, Saitama, 341-0004, Japan

    Junko Otsuki & Yasushi Nagai

Authors
  1. Junko Otsuki
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  2. Yasushi Nagai
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  3. Kazuyoshi Chiba
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Correspondence to Junko Otsuki.

Additional information

Refractile bodies in human oocytes were found to contain lipofuscin. The largest lipofuscin inclusions (>5 μm) were associated with significantly reduced fertilization and unfavorable blastocyst development.

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Otsuki, J., Nagai, Y. & Chiba, K. Lipofuscin bodies in human oocytes as an indicator of oocyte quality. J Assist Reprod Genet 24, 263–270 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-007-9130-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-007-9130-0

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