Melatonin Improves Quality of Repeated-Poor and Frozen-Thawed Embryos in Human, a Prospective Clinical Trial

Frontiers in Endocrinology

Guangdong Li¹  Songguo Xue²  Rongxiang Wang²  Shoulong Deng³  Zhongjian Bao⁴  Yong Zeng⁵ 

[1] Beijing Key Laboratory of Animal Genetic Improvement, National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Breeding of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China;Center for Reproductive Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China;National Health Commission of China (NHC) Key Laboratory of Human Disease Comparative Medicine, Institute of Laboratory Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Comparative Medicine Center, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China;Reproductive Center, Zaozhuang Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Zaozhuang, China;Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Reproductive Immunology for Peri-Implantation, Shenzhen Zhongshan Institute for Reproduction and Genetics, Fertility Center, Shenzhen Zhongshan Urology Hospital, Shenzhen, China;

关键词: melatonin;    human;    embryo quality;    in vitro culture;    repeated-poor;    vitrified-warmed;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fendo.2022.853999

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

ObjectiveIn this study, two experiments were performed to assess the effect and the role of melatonin on human in vitro embryo quality.MethodsExperiment I: A total of 42 repeated-poor-quality-embryo patients were enrolled, with a total of 181 oocytes retrieval cycles. After IVF, for the same patient, the MT cycles group (10-7 M melatonin added to the culture medium; n=48) were compared with the previous non-MT cycles group (n=133), following by in vitro culture to blastocyst stage and embryo transfer. 31 patients were transplanted with 65 embryo transfer, including 24 MT embryo transfer, 41 non-MT embryo transfer. Cycle outcomes were compared between the two groups. Experiment II:A total of 143 supernumerary human cleavage-stage embryos (from non-repeated-poor-quality-embryo patients) vitrified on Day 3 after IVF were warmed and randomized into two groups: melatonin group (10-7 M melatonin added to the culture medium; n=71) and control group (n=72), and then cultured for 72 h. Rate of blastocyst and high-quality blastocyst, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels of culture media as well as embryonic GPX1, CAT, Mn-SOD, Cu/Zn-SOD, BCL-2, BAX gene expression levels were analyzed.ResultsExperiment I: Results showed that the rate of Day 3 high-quality embryos (29.6% vs.19.5%) in the MT cycles group was significantly higher than that in the non-MT cycles group (P<0.05). The rate of available blastocysts (17.1% vs.12.7%) and clinical pregnancy rate (25.0% vs.17.1%) were in tendency higher in the group treated with melatonin (P>0.05). Experiment II:Results showed that the blastocyst rates in the melatonin administered group were significantly higher than in control group (42.25% vs.26.38%, P<0.05). There were no significant differences in high-quality blastocyst rates. In addition, quantitative PCR showed that the expression of CAT was significantly upregulated by melatonin treatment (P<0.05), while there were no significant differences in the expression of GPX1, Mn-SOD, Cu/Zn-SOD, BAX and BCL-2 gene as well as the levels of ROS.ConclusionThese data showed that melatonin supplement in the culture medium will improve Day 3 high-quality embryos rate of repeated-poor-quality-embryo patients and improve blastocyst rate of vitrified-warmed cleavage-stage embryos, suggesting that melatonin intervention may provide a potential rescue strategy for IVF failures.Clinical Trial Registrationidentifier [ChiCTR2200059773].

【 授权许可】

Unknown