Advanced Maternal Age Deteriorates the Developmental Competence of Vitrified Oocytes in Mice.

Ju Hee Lee,Sook Young Yoon,Haengseok Song,Jae Kyun Park,Jayeon Kim,Hyunjung J Lim,Jin Hyun Jun,Eun A Park

doi:10.3390/cells10061563

Ju Hee Lee, Sook Young Yoon + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/cells10061563

Copy DOI

Abstract

Advanced maternal age (AMA) is known to be related to the decrease in the quality and quantity of oocytes. Oocyte vitrification is now considered an established assisted reproductive technology for fertility preservation. However, it remains unclear whether the oocytes in older women are more sensitive to various insults during vitrification. Thus, we evaluated whether AMA affects cellular and molecular features and developmental outcomes of oocytes after vitrification in mice. The oocytes were grouped as young fresh (YF), young vitrified/warmed (YV), aged fresh (AF), and aged vitrified/warmed (AV). The survival rate of AV oocytes was significantly lower than that of YV oocytes. The rates of fertilization, cleavage, and blastocyst formation of AV oocytes were significantly lower than those of other groups. AV oocytes were represented as aberrations in mitochondria distribution, microvacuole size, and autophagosome formation, leading to delayed embryo development in mice. This delay was associated with a reduced number of total cells and trophectoderm in the blastocyst developed from AV oocytes. Collectively, AMA exaggerates the vulnerability of oocytes to cryo-damage that occurs during vitrification in mice, suggesting that the current vitrification protocols optimized for oocytes from young females should be modified for oocytes from aged women.

Highlights

Introduction published maps and institutional affilOver the past 10 years, advances in oocyte vitrification techniques have led to a significant change in the reproductive choices of women [1]
These results suggest that Advanced maternal age (AMA) adversely affects the blastocyst formation rate, and the morphokinetics of embryos from VW oocytes
Considering that the aneuploidy rate of embryos is increased in an age-dependent manner, our results suggest that AMA, not vitrification-induced cryo-damage, may be a significant factor associated with the increased number of chromosomal errors in aged vitrified/warmed (AV) oocytes

Summary

Introduction

Over the past 10 years, advances in oocyte vitrification techniques have led to a significant change in the reproductive choices of women [1]. Advanced maternal age (AMA) is associated with a decline in both ovarian reserve and oocyte competence [3]. This reproductive aging reduces the embryo implantation potential as well [4]. Single women who do not want to conceive can postpone childbearing by cryopreserving oocytes. It was reported that an increasing number of women pursue oocyte cryopreservation [5] and the median age of these women is 38 years [6,7]. More than half the women who undergo oocyte cryopreservation are older than 37 years

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion