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Morphometric Protocol for the Objective Assessment of Blastocyst Behavior During Vitrification and Warming Steps
Published on: February 28, 2019
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Embryo morphokinetics derived from fresh and vitrified bovine oocytes predict blastocyst development and nuclear
Daniel Angel-Velez1,2, Tine De Coster3, Nima Azari-Dolatabad3
1Department of Internal Medicine, Reproduction, and Population Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium. daniel.angelvelez@ugent.be.
Scientific Reports
|March 24, 2023
Summary
Time to first cleavage and the presence of a lag-phase are key predictors of bovine blastocyst development. Aberrant zygotic cleavage negatively impacts embryo development, especially after oocyte vitrification, which impairs overall blastocyst formation.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Biology
- Embryology
- Animal Science
Background:
- Traditional morphologic assessments of embryo development can miss critical dynamic stages like cleavage timing and abnormal patterns.
- Bovine embryo development is known to be impaired by oocyte vitrification, but the specific morphokinetic behaviors are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the morphokinetic behavior of bovine zygotes using time-lapse imaging.
- To identify associations between early blastomere division patterns and blastocyst development at day 8.
- To evaluate the predictive potential of morphokinetic parameters for bovine embryo development, including embryos from vitrified oocytes.
Main Methods:
- Bovine zygotes from fresh and vitrified oocytes were monitored using time-lapse imaging.
- Early blastomere division timing and patterns were modeled.
- Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were used to determine predictive cut-off values for morphokinetic parameters.
Main Results:
- Lag-phase was highly correlated with blastocyst development; 100% of blastocysts showed a lag-phase.
- Fast first cleavage (≤32 hours 22 minutes) increased the chance of blastocyst development.
- Aberrant zygotic cleavage events (e.g., multipolar division, unequal blastomere size) decreased blastocyst development.
- Vitrification of oocytes severely affected blastocyst development, characterized by slow cleavages, reduced lag-phase incidence, and increased embryonic arrest.
- The rate of abnormal first cleavage events was not affected by oocyte vitrification.
Conclusions:
- Time to first cleavage, presence of a lag-phase, and absence of aberrant zygotic cleavage are the best predictors of bovine blastocyst development.
- Oocyte vitrification negatively impacts bovine embryo development, though lower cryoprotectant concentrations may be less detrimental.
- Morphokinetic analysis provides valuable insights into the effects of vitrification on early bovine embryo development.
