Lower reproductive outcomes of oocyte donation cycles in HIV-infected women regardless of viral load and antiretroviral treatment

Abstract

cultured in 20% oxygen either individually, or in groups of ten, in media G-1/ G-2 with 5mg/ml HSA, in the presence or absence of 10mM carnitine/10mM cysteine/5mM lipoate. Embryo development was analysed through time-lapse and embryo transfers performed. Intracellular levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) were assessed using fluorometric analysis. RESULTS: There was no effect of treatment on blastocyst formation. However, compared to controls, the three antioxidants significantly increased embryo cell numbers when used individually (P<0.05) and to a greater effect when in combination (P<0.01). Embryos cultured in the presence of antioxidants and transferred resulted in significantly longer crown-rump length (11.6 0.1 mm vs. 11.3 0.1 mm; P<0.01), heavier fetuses (209.8 11.8 mg vs. 183.9 5.9 mg; P<0.05) and placentas (103.5 3.1 mg vs. 93.6 2.7 mg; P<0.01) compared to controls. Time-lapse analysis revealed that the combination of antioxidants was associated with faster development rates to expanded (99.8 0.5 h vs. 102.8 0.7h; P< 0.05) and hatching blastocysts (102.6 0.8 h vs. 104.9 1.1 h; P<0.01). Furthermore, the beneficial effects of combining the antioxidants were greater for embryos cultured individually (P<0.0001) as opposed to in groups (P<0.005). Levels of GSHwere significantly decreased in control embryos that were cultured in the absence of antioxidants (P<0.01) compared to in vivo flushed embryos. However when embryos were cultured with antioxidants the levels of GSH was not different to that of in vivo developed embryos. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of antioxidants in culture media has a highly beneficial effect on mouse embryo and fetal development. Further, antioxidants maintained the levels of GSH within embryos providing evidence of a protective intracellular role. Data indicate that supplementation of antioxidants to embryo culture media helps to negate some of the adverse effects of culture in atmospheric oxygen, especially when embryos are cultured individually, as required for specific time-lapse systems and preimplantation genetic screening. Supported by: Vitrolife AB.