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Chromosome Screening of Human Preimplantation Embryos by Using Spent Culture Medium: Sample Collection and Chromosomal Ploidy Analysis
Published on: September 7, 2021
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Improved Non-Invasive Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Beta-Thalassemia Using Spent Embryo Culture Medium
Zhanhui Ou1, Yu Deng1, Yunhao Liang1
1Center of Reproductive Medicine, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Frontiers in Endocrinology
|February 7, 2022
Summary
Adding blastocoelic fluid to spent culture medium significantly improves beta-thalassemia detection rates during preimplantation genetic testing. This non-invasive method enhances accuracy compared to using medium alone.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Medicine
- Genetics
- Embryology
Background:
- Preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) is crucial for identifying genetic disorders before implantation.
- Beta-thalassemia (β-thalassemia) is a significant inherited blood disorder.
- Current PGT methods for β-thalassemia can be invasive.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the efficacy of detecting β-thalassemia using spent culture medium with and without blastocoelic fluid (BF).
- To evaluate non-invasive PGT methods for β-thalassemia detection.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 59 samples from 10 couples undergoing PGT for β-thalassemia.
- Collected spent culture medium samples with (Group A) and without BF (Group B).
- Evaluated DNA concentration and β-thalassemia detection rates via mutation analysis and haplotyping.
Main Results:
- The concordance rate for β-thalassemia detection was significantly higher when using spent culture medium with BF (73.1% for mutation analysis, 80.8% for haplotyping) compared to medium alone (45.5% and 51.5%, respectively).
- Higher DNA fragmentation in Group A was associated with increased DNA concentration (P < 0.05).
- No significant difference in detection rates was observed based on fragmentation levels.
Conclusions:
- Spent culture medium containing BF offers a higher detection rate for non-invasive PGT of β-thalassemia than medium alone.
- Blastocoelic fluid inclusion enhances the effectiveness of non-invasive PGT for β-thalassemia.
- DNA fragmentation correlates with DNA concentration in spent culture medium with BF.

