Glucose-free medium in human in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer: a large-scale, prospective, randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether excluding glucose from the culture medium used in a clinical IVF program improves human embryo quality and pregnancy rates.Design: Randomized controlled trial.Setting: Clinical assisted conception laboratory in a large teaching hostpial.Patient(s): Seven hundred forty-one patients undergoing IVF-ET.Intervention(s): Embryos were cultured from the pronucleate stage to ET in medium with glucose for patients in the control group and without glucose for patients in the trial group.Main Outcome Measure(s): Comparison of embryo quality and pregnancy rates between the two groups.Result(s): Embryo quality was enhanced with the use of glucose-free medium but pregnancy rates were similar.Conclusion(s): Although pregnancy rates remained similar in the two groups, a reduction in the glucose concentration of the medium used for embryo culture from the pronucleate stage to ET on day 2 or 3 is prudent.