Does sperm DNA fragmentation have negative impact on embryo morphology and morphokinetics in IVF programme?

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Biology
• Embryology
• Genetics

Background:

• Sperm DNA fragmentation (sDNAf) is a potential indicator of in vitro fertilization (IVF) success.
• Assessing sDNAf alongside embryo development metrics can refine IVF protocols.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the correlation between sDNAf and embryo morphology/morphokinetics using time-lapse monitoring (TLM).
• To identify optimal time points for normalizing morphokinetic data in IVF.

Main Methods:

• Evaluated 328 fertilized oocytes using TLM, assessing pronuclei scoring, cleavage patterns, and morphokinetics.
• Utilized the Sperm Chromatin Dispersion (SCD) assay to categorize sDNAf into four groups.
• Analyzed morphokinetic variables, including time to pronuclei fading (tPNf), and time to specific cell stages (t2-t8).

Main Results:

• Significant differences in t6, t7, t8, and s1 stages were observed across different SCD groups.
• After normalizing to tPNf, differences in t2 and t6 became significant.
• High sDNAf rates did not adversely affect embryo morphology or morphokinetics in conventional IVF.
• The percentage of top-quality embryos and Z1 scoring were dependent on sDNAf rate.

Conclusions:

• Time of pronuclei fading (tPNf) is the most suitable reference point for normalizing morphokinetic data in IVF.
• Elevated sDNAf does not appear to negatively impact embryo morphology and morphokinetics in conventional IVF settings.