Non-invasive preimplantation genetic testing for conventional IVF blastocysts

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Biology
• Genetics
• Assisted Reproductive Technology

Background:

• Non-invasive preimplantation genetic testing (niPGT) has shown promise for identifying chromosomal abnormalities in blastocysts from intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles.
• The application and performance of niPGT in conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles remain less explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and performance of niPGT using spent culture medium (SCM) for conventional IVF blastocysts.
• To compare the diagnostic accuracy of niPGT in conventional IVF with that of ICSI cycles.

Main Methods:

• A prospective observational study involving preclinical and clinical stages.
• Whole genome amplification and next-generation sequencing (NGS) were performed on SCM from conventional IVF and ICSI embryos.
• Trophectoderm (TE) biopsies were used as a reference for concordance analysis.

Main Results:

• Preclinical analysis confirmed failed sperm DNA amplification but showed 69.2% concordance for niPGT from monopronuclear blastocysts compared to TE biopsies.
• In the clinical stage, no paternal contamination was detected in IVF SCM, with low rates of maternal contamination.
• niPGT performance (ploidy concordance rates of 75% for IVF, 74.6% for ICSI) was comparable between conventional IVF and ICSI methods, with no significant difference (P > 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Non-invasive PGT using SCM from conventional IVF embryos demonstrates comparable performance to ICSI.
• This approach may broaden the application scope of niPGT in assisted reproductive technologies.
• The study provides preliminary evidence for the reliability of niPGT in conventional IVF settings.