Effect of human T-cell lymphotrophic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) in seropositive infertile women on intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcome

BACKGROUND Human T-cell Lymphotrophic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) has infected more than 20 million people worldwide. Northeast of Iran, Mashhad, the capital of Razavi Khorasan Province, is endemic for HTLV-1 with a prevalence of 3% among general population. OBJECTIVE We evaluated the ICSI outcome in our program for (HTLV-1) serodiscordant couples (SDCs) with the female infected in comparison with control group. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was performed between 2007 and 2011 in Novin Infertility Treatment Center (Mashhad, Iran). We examined 32 ICSI cycles of HTLV-1 infected women in comparison with an age matched control group (n=62). ICSI outcome was compared regarding fertilization rate (FR), embryo quality parameters, implantation rate (IR), clinical pregnancy rate (PR), and abortion rate (AR). RESULTS Fertilization (p=0.15), implantation (p=0.33), and pregnancy rate (p=0.12) were similar between the groups. No difference was found regarding the number of transferred embryos (on day 2 or 3) and cryopreserved embryos, multiple pregnancies, or abortion rates between the groups. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that the embryo quality and ICSI outcome are not affected by HTLV-1 infection in serodiscordant couples. The major finding of this study is that the outcome of ICSI in HIV-I-infected patients and seronegative controls is similar.