Integrating insulin into single-step culture medium regulates human embryo development in vitro

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Medicine
• Embryology
• In Vitro Fertilization

Background:

• Optimizing human embryo development in vitro is crucial for successful assisted reproductive technologies.
• Single-step embryo culture media are widely used but may benefit from specific supplements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of insulin supplementation in single-step embryo culture medium on human embryo development and clinical pregnancy rates.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving 5,142 sibling oocytes from 360 patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
• Oocytes were split and cultured from day 0 to day 5/6 in either insulin-supplemented or control medium.

Main Results:

• Insulin supplementation led to significantly higher rates of clinical, ongoing, and twin pregnancies.
• Improved embryo quality, compaction, and blastocyst formation rates were observed on days 3 and 5.

Conclusions:

• Insulin supplementation of single-step embryo culture medium enhances human embryo development and clinical outcomes.
• Further multicenter randomized controlled trials are needed to validate these findings across diverse patient populations and media.