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Association between early embryo morphokinetics plus transcript levels of sperm apoptotic genes and clinical outcomes in IMSI and ICSI cycles of male factor patients

  • Reproductive Physiology and Disease
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Abstract

Purpose

The aim was to assess the correlation of sperm apoptotic transcript levels with cleavage stage embryokinetic and pregnancy outcomes of intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI) and ICSI methods in patients with male factor infertility.

Material and methods

Eighty male factor cases were divided into ICSI and IMSI groups. ICSI was done routinely, and for IMSI, sperm was selected at high magnification and injected. On day 3, time-lapse parameters were evaluated, and the best embryos were transferred and followed to delivery. In addition, sperm DNA fragmentation and apoptotic transcript levels were quantified using reverse transcription Q-PCR between the groups.

Results

IMSI selected spermatozoa had lower DNA fragmentation and apoptotic transcript levels compared with ICSI (p < 0.0001). Moreover, all cytokinetic variables and cleavage abnormalities were noticeably different between groups (p < 0.0001); the rates of clinical outcomes were higher in the IMSI group. The transcript levels of Caspase 3 showed a moderate negative correlation with s2 and s3 (rs = − 0.57, P = 0.008 and rs = − 0.51, p = 0.021, respectively) in the IMSI group. However, there was no relationship between sperm apoptotic transcript levels and clinical outcomes in two groups.

Conclusions

Sperms selected at high magnification showed lower DNA fragmentation and apoptosis genes transcript. Also, better embryo kinetics and clinical outcomes were confirmed in IMSI than ICSI groups. Some time-lapse parameters may be associated with transcript levels of apoptosis genes. Therefore, these noninvasive techniques may be unique in assisting couples with male factor infertility.

Trial registration

This trial retrospectively registered on 4 July 2020 (IRCT20180130038561N1).

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Acknowledgments

This study was extracted from the PhD thesis of Esmat Mangoli. The authors thank Dr Hossein Falahzadeh, Professor of Biostatistics, for statistical assistance. We acknowledge the staff of the ART and Molecular Genetics laboratories in Yazd Reproductive Sciences Institute for their great contribution to all the laboratory work and data gathering.

Availability of data and material

The data is available in SPSS format.

Funding

This study was supported by funding from Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Reproductive Biology, Research and Clinical Center for Infertility, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    Esmat Mangoli, Mohammad Ali Khalili, Ali Reza Talebi & Azam Agharahimi

  2. Abortion Research Center, Yazd Reproductive Institute, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    Seyed Mehdi Kalantar & Fatemeh Montazeri

  3. X&Y Fertility, Leicester, UK

    Bryan J Woodward

Authors
  1. Esmat Mangoli
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  2. Mohammad Ali Khalili
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  5. Fatemeh Montazeri
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  6. Azam Agharahimi
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  7. Bryan J Woodward
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Contributions

Conception and design of study: Esmat Mangoli, Mohammad Ali Khalili, Ali Reza Talebi, Seyed Mehdi Kalantar. Acquisition of data: Esmat Mangoli, Fatemeh Montazeri, Azam Agharahimi. Analysis and interpretation of data: Esmat Mangoli, Mohammad Ali Khalili, Seyed Mehdi Kalantar. Drafting the manuscript: Esmat Mangoli. Revising the manuscript: Mohammad Ali Khalili, Bryan J Woodward. Approval of the version of the manuscript to be published: Esmat Mangoli, Mohammad Ali Khalili, Ali Reza Talebi, Seyed Mehdi Kalantar, Fatemeh Montazeri, Azam Agharahimi, Bryan J Woodward.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Ali Khalili.

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The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of our institute (IR. SSU.MEDICINE.REC.1394.338).

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Mangoli, E., Khalili, M.A., Talebi, A.R. et al. Association between early embryo morphokinetics plus transcript levels of sperm apoptotic genes and clinical outcomes in IMSI and ICSI cycles of male factor patients. J Assist Reprod Genet 37, 2555–2567 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-020-01910-7

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