Abstract
It was suggested that the embryo pooling was an alternative for patients with insufficient number of embryos for preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) in a single ovarian stimulation cycle. However, limited study noticed whether it is an efficient strategy to pool cleavage-stage embryos by vitrification. This study included 71 cycles with vitrified-warmed and fresh embryos simultaneously for PGT between May 2016 and May 2021. The embryos from the same patients were split into two groups based on the origin: warming group and fresh group. Embryo development, sequencing results, clinical and neonatal outcomes were compared. The results showed that the rate of high-quality embryos in the warming group was significantly higher than that in the fresh group (64.53% versus 52.61%, P = 0.011); however, the available blastocyst rate in this group was significantly lower than that in the fresh group (47.29% versus 57.83%, P = 0.026). There were 96 and 144 blastocysts that underwent trophectoderm (TE) biopsy in warming and fresh groups, respectively. The high-quality blastocyst rate was significantly lower in the warming group compared to the fresh group (57.29% versus 70.14%, P = 0.041). The rates of genetic transferable blastocyst were comparable between the two groups (P = 0.956). There were no statistical differences in terms of embryo implantation, clinical pregnancy, miscarriage rates, and neonatal outcomes between the two groups. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the cleavage-stage embryo pooling strategy might be unfavorable for the maintenance of embryonic development potential. If not necessary, it is not recommended to pool cleavage-stage embryos for PGT.
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Acknowledgements
Our thanks should be given to all the embryologists and biologists in charge of embryo biopsy, cryopreservation, and NGS analysis.
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This work was supported by the Chongqing Health Committee (grant number: 2019MSXM067, 2020MSXM086 and 2021MSXM108).
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Shun Xiong and Xiangwei Hao are contributed equally to the research and preparation of the manuscript.
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Xiong, S., Hao, X., Gao, Y. et al. Accumulation of Cleavage-Stage Embryos by Vitrification may Compromise Embryonic Developmental Potential in Preimplantation Genetic Testing. Reprod. Sci. 29, 1930–1938 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-022-00880-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-022-00880-8