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(sz) IVF clinics are destroying embryos with relatively minor genetic conditions such as thalassaemia, the blood disorder suffered by Pete Sampras.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the HFEA, has drawn up a list of more than 100 inherited conditions that fertility clinics can screen out without the need for special permission.
It takes into account the age of onset and the variability of the symptoms, if there is existing treatment, and if so, how invasive is it.
While some of the conditions on the list can result in deformity, severe pain, and even premature death, it also includes minor illnesses such as the blood disorder thalassaemia, and Marfan syndrome, a genetic condition that can lead to abnormal growth.
Those thought to have suffered from Marfan syndrome include Charles de Gaulle, the former French President, and Abraham Lincoln. Thalassaemia, a disorder which can cause mild anaemia, is carried by Sampras, the seven-time Wimbledon tennis champion.
The genetic conditions are currently targeted by pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), a technique that allows people with a specific inherited condition in their family to avoid passing it on to their children. Cells are removed from an eightcell embryo three days after fertilisation. The cells are put through PGD and embryos found to be carrying the defects are discarded while healthy ones are kept.
The process however has triggered criticism from pressure groups; David King, director of Human Genetics Alert, said: “It contributes to a social climate in which even minor deviations from ‘normality’ are seen as unacceptable.”
On top of the 116 conditions that can currently be screened for, the HFEA is considering adding a further 24 inherited disorders to its list of genetic conditions, decisions on which are expected this week. more…

From: »The Daily Telegraph«

(sz) In order to reduce complications associated with the conventional IVF procedure, modified natural cycle IVF (mnc-IVF) and mild IVF (m-IVF) cycles have been adopted. However, there is speculation that the pregnancy and live birth rates may be lower with both these approaches compared to conventional cycles, probably due to the lower use of medicines and shorter treatment duration. Now, a 10-year Swedish study published in the journal, Reproductive BioMedicine Online highlights that mnc-IVF and m-IVF have comparable pregnancy rates to conventional cycles.
Arthur Aanesen and coworkers from the IVF Unit, Queen Sophia Hospital, Stockholm, conducted the study on 43 patients (129 cycles) and 145 couples (250 cycles) undergoing mnc-IVF and m-IVF, respectively, between 1996 and 2007. The results were compared to patients who underwent conventional IVF cycles during the same period. The study findings are listed in the table given below.[...]
It was also found that in comparison to the least expensive conventional IVF cycle, the medication costs were lower by 97.5% and 96.3% in the mnc-IVF and m-IVF groups, respectively. Based on the analysis, the researchers noted the following with respect to the two approaches when compared to conventional cycles.
• Acceptable pregnancy rates per embryo transfer
• Reduced medication cost
• Substantially decreased risk of complications
• Psychologically more acceptable to patients
Similar findings on the efficacy of mnc-IVF and m-IVF were reported in several other studies. In one such randomized open-label prospective trial, Heijnen et al (Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, 2008) divided 404 subjects to receive either of the two:
• m-IVF: gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist for ovarian stimulation in combination with single embryo transfer
• standard treatment: prolonged stimulation using a GnRH agonist along with the transfer of two embryos. more…

From: »IVF News.Direct!«

(wz) Scientists from University of Michigan have developed a novel device that could one day lead to significantly higher IVF success rates in humans. They built a device that imitates the motion that embryos experience in the body as they make their way down a mammal’s oviduct (a woman’s Fallopian tube) to the uterus.
Currently in IVF, eggs are fertilized with sperm and left to grow for several days in a culture dish that remains still. Then the embryos are transferred to the uterus.
“By making the cells feel more at home, we get better cells, which is key to having better infertility treatment,” said Shu Takayama, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and in macromolecular science and engineering. The study showed that by gently rocking embryos while they grow during in vitro fertilization (IVF) improves pregnancy rates in mice by 22 percent.
Lead researchers Takayama and Gary Smith revealed that their device holds early-stage embryos, which are about half the size of the period at the end of this sentence, in a thimble-sized funnel. The bottom of the funnel is lined with microscopic channels that allow fresh nutrient-rich fluid to flow in and waste products out.
The funnel sits on rows of Braille pins that are programmed to pulse up and down, pushing the fluids in and out of the channels. The current the Braille pins generate simulates flows that occur in the body due to muscle contractions and the motion of hair-like projections called cilia that line the oviducts. In the body, these motions help to push fertilized eggs to the uterus and flush out eggs” waste products. more…

From: »The Times Of India«

(sz) The success of any IVF cycle is known to be multifactorial, although there is no consensus about the factors that influence the outcome. Now, a new retrospective study elucidates the negative effect of certain key recipient-related parameters, such as increased body mass index (BMI >30 kg/m2), endometrial thickness (<8 mm), and pituitary down-regulation, on IVF outcome in donor oocyte cycles, independent of the age of the recipient. The study results have been published in the current issue of Human Reproduction.
Lionel Dessolle from the Service de Gynécologie Obstétrique et Médecine de la Reproduction, Hôpital Tenon, France, investigated 450 frozen-thawed embryo transfers to identify the predictive factors of treatment success. The study considered IVF cycles carried out using donor oocytes in 198 infertile recipients with a mean age of 35.7 years (±4.5) during the period, January 1992 to December 2006. The mean number of transferred embryos was 1.65±0.5 (range=1-3) and the overall implantation, clinical pregnancy, and delivery rates noted during the analysis were 18%, 30%, and 23%, respectively.
The findings of the univariate analysis showed that the rate of pregnancy was substantially higher in subjects with the following characteristics:
• <35 years of age
• BMI of <30 kg/m2
• Endometrial thickness of ≥8 mm
• Amenorrhea
• Not used gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue for pituitary down-regulation prior to endometrial priming
Based on the study results, the researchers concluded that some of the negative determinants of IVF outcome in oocyte donor cycles include obesity, endometrial thickness of <8 mm, and the administration of GnRH analogue before priming of the endometrium. more…

From: »IVF News.Direct!«

(sz) Scientists have discovered that the DNA of babies conceived through IVF differs from that of other children, putting them at greater risk of diseases such as diabetes and obesity later in life.
The new research could explain why IVF babies tend to be at higher risk of low birth weight, defects and rare metabolic disorders.
The changes are not in the genes themselves but in the mechanism that switches them on and off, the study of which is known as epigenetics.
“These epigenetic differences have the potential to affect embyronic development and foetal growth, as well as influencing long-term patterns of gene expression associated with increased risk of many human diseases,” said Professor Carmen Sapienza, a geneticist at Temple University in Philadelphia, who jointly led the research.
There is a possibility that such changes could be transmitted to the children of IVF babies, meaning they could spread through the human gene pool.
In their findings, published in the Human Molecular Genetics journal, Sapienza and his colleagues took blood samples from the placenta and umbilical cords of 10 IVF children and 13 children who were naturally conceived. more…

From: »The Times«

(sz) The role of androgen in regulating the expression of male phenotype, and the onset and maintenance of spermatogenesis has been well established through several studies. However, there persists uncertainty regarding the cell types mediating the androgen regulation of spermatogenesis. A recent study published in The FASEB Journal reports that androgen exerts its action via peritubular myoid (PTM) cells in order to regulate the normal spermatogenesis and male fertility. The study, claiming to provide the first direct evidence on the significance of stromal-epithelial interactions driven by androgen, holds great implications in developing strategies for male contraception, as well as treatment of male infertility.
Michelle Welsh, from the Medical Research Council Human Reproductive Sciences Unit, The Queen’s Medical Research Institute, Edinburgh, UK, and coworkers, conducted the study on peritubular myoid cell-specific androgen receptor-knockout (PTM-ARKO) mice. Although the researchers observed a gross reproductive development in the animal models, the PTM-ARKO male mice were infertile and azoospermic. Further analysis of the affected subjects showed a reduction in testicular weight beyond puberty, and an 86% decrease in the number of germ cells by adulthood when compared to wild-type littermates. The study ruled out the effect of decreased testosterone, luteinizing hormone, or follicle-stimulating hormone levels in contributing to the above changes.
The decline in the expression of androgen-dependent Sertoli cell (SC) genes, as well as the secretion of seminiferous tubule fluid indicated impaired functioning of SC in PTM-ARKO males. Based on the study findings, the researchers concluded that the action of androgen through PTM cells is crucial for the normal testicular functioning, spermatogenesis, and fertility.
PTM cells, the mesenchymal cells forming the outer lining of the seminiferous tubules, has been reported to play a substantial role in male fertility. Expressing a high percentage of androgen receptors (AR) from fetal life through adulthood, the cells regulate germ cell development based on androgen signaling. The peritubular myoid cells are also found to be significant in eliciting peristalsis-like movements and impulses in the tubules to facilitate the transport of sperm and fluid through the tubular lumen into the epididymis. more…

From: »IVF News.Direct!«

(wz) How the mapping of the 3bn letters of the human genome sparked a new age of biology that is only just beginning.
It was the decade that launched a new age of science, and it came as no surprise. Researchers had foreseen the rise of biology in the 1990s and expected nothing less than a transformation of modern medicine and giant leaps in our knowledge of life on Earth.
They cannot be disappointed. In the last 10 years, scientists have looked deeper into the mechanics of life than ever before. They have learned how molecules come together to make living organisms, how biological glitches cause common diseases, and have come within a whisker of creating new lifeforms in the laboratory.
Genetics was at the heart of the revolution. Scientific and technological advances allowed researchers to read every letter of an organism’s genome. The letters make genes, which are the templates for proteins that make cells. And the cells, in the tens of trillions, build the animals and plants around us.
The first major achievement came in 2001 when the 13-year, $4bn (£2.5bn) human genome project produced the first draft of the human genetic code. The huge task became a race between a global consortium of publicly funded scientists and an American genetics pioneer, Craig Venter. It was, said Venter, “the most important scientific effort humankind has ever mounted”.
The human genome project put the essence of humanity into numbers. Our genetic code is 3bn letters long, grouped into around 25,000 genes. Francis Collins, head of the public genome project, declared it the first draft of our own book of life. “We’ve read it from cover to cover and we’ve discovered some pretty amazing surprises,” he said. more…

From: »The Guardian«

(sz) The molecular interaction of the sperm with the zona pellucida (ZP) is an important event that precedes fertilization, and also relates to various sperm functions, such as capacitation completion and ligand-induced acrosome reaction. In clinical practice, defective sperm-ZP interactions are a relatively common cause of fertilization disorders. Sperm-ZP binding tests help in detecting subtle abnormalities in the sperm, which cannot be identified by semen analyses. A recent prospective study provided further credence to the effectiveness of such tests in selecting competent sperm for improved ICSI outcome. The findings of the study have been published in the recent issue of the journal, Reproductive Bio Medicine Online.
Daniela Paes de Almeida Ferreira Braga and coworkers from the Assisted Fertilization Center Av. Brigadeiro Luis Antonio, Brazil, conducted the study to assess the ability of the sperm-ZP tests in choosing sperms with high fertilization potential and high rate of successful embryo development. Conventionally selected sperm were injected into 50% of the metaphase II (MII) oocytes in each patient (controls; n=194), while the remaining eggs were inserted with ZP-bound sperm (ZP binding group; n=194). The two groups were compared with respect to the rates of fertilization, high-quality embryo, and embryo transfer. more…

From: »IVF News.Direct!«

(cz) Screening IVF embryos for genetic defects increases the death risk of multiple birth babies five times, a study has found.
But the procedure, known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), appears to be harmless for singletons.
PGD involves removing one or two cells from an embryo to test it for abnormalities and diseases.
There have been concerns the test might itself adversely affect babies created through In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF).
The largest and longest running study of children born after PGD suggests that such fears are unfounded, for singletons at least. However researchers found in the case of multiple pregnancies, PGD increased the risk of death around the time of birth five-fold.
The findings were published yesterday in the journal Human Reproduction. more…

From: »The Belfast Telegraph«

(sz) Blastogenesis denotes the development that occurs in the first 28 days after conception, wherein the basic body plan, gene expression domains, and the embryo’s developmental fate are established. The defects or malformations arising at this stage are generally severe and lethal, owing to several reasons such as the embryo’s small size, interdependent nature of its development, and proximity of the organ rudiments. Now, a recent study published in the journal, Human Reproduction highlights the link between IVF/ICSI procedures and blastogenesis birth defects, with the probability of the specific risk being lower with frozen-thawed embryo transfer.
Several previous studies have suggested the increased prevalence of birth defects in infants conceived with ART, but the cause for this association has been unclear. The current study investigated the effect of classifying birth defects based on pathology as opposed to organ system, and the influence of using frozen-thawed embryos on the risk of developing the defects, as the scientists speculated that these two parameters may aid in understanding the underlying mechanism.
Jane L Halliday from the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital, Australia, and coworkers, analyzed the Australian population-based data (from 1991 to 2004) on births and birth defects, and related this to the data of 6,946 IVF or ICSI singleton pregnancies. The researchers compared these results with perinatal outcomes of 20,838 non-IVF/ICSI-conceived singletons in the same population. Classification of the birth defects was done based on pathogenesis.
The study results demonstrated an increased occurrence of birth defects following IVF/ICSI compared to controls (AOR=1.36). The scientists did not find any strong evidence with respect to risk variation between the two ART procedures, and also between the transfer of fresh and frozen embryos. However, a marked elevation in the risk of developing blastogenesis birth defects (specific group) was found in the ART-conceived children (OR=2.80) compared to the controls. The increase in the risk was noted to be substantial after fresh, but not thawed embryo transfer (OR=3.65 vs. 1.60). Based on the findings, it was suggested that there exists a specific risk of developing blastogenesis birth defects during the first 4 weeks of gestation after IVF/ICSI procedures, with the increase in risk being probably higher following fresh embryo transfer. more…

From: »IVF News.Direct!«