BACKGROUND Previous experiments have shown that granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), quantified in the follicular fluid (FF) of individual oocytes, correlates with the potential for an ongoing pregnancy of the corresponding fertilized oocytes among selected transferred embryos. Here we present a proof of concept study aimed at evaluating the impact of including FF G-CSF quantification...

Somatic cells were isolated from cryopreserved semen of 4 buffalo bulls, 3 of which had died over 10 years earlier, and were established in culture. The cells expressed cytokeratin-18, keratin and vimentin indicating that they were of epithelial origin. The cells were used as nuclear donors for hand-made cloning for producing buffalo embryos. The blastocyst rate and quality, as indicated by apo...

Background: The aim of current study is to compare the pregnancy outcome between natural cycle IVF-ET (NC group) and frozen ET following accumulation of vitrified embryos (ACC-E group). Methods: The ACC-E group included 38 frozen ETs in 30 patients and the NC group included 92 natural or modified IVF-ET cycles in 91 patients. In the ACC-E group, natural cycle or modified natural cycle with mini...

The methodologies used for cytometric sorting of fresh spermatozoa never allowed a clear resolution of sexual chromosomes of frozen-thawed semen. To devise a novel method for the production of bovine predefined sexed embryos using frozen-thawed semen, sorting efficiency of different protocols was studied using a new quantitative real-time PCR method to verify the purity of sexed semen. To this ...

BACKGROUND Recently, human embryonic stem (hES) cells have become very important resources for basic research on cell replacement therapy and other medical applications. The purpose of this study was to test whether pluripotent hES cell lines could be successfully derived from frozen-thawed embryos that were destined to be discarded after 5 years in a routine human IVF-embryo transfer programme...

The efficacy of IVF for treating human infertility has only a final efficacy index and that is the achievement of a delivery. However, with the evolution of the freeze-all strategy, a new problem is arising, for quantifying the performance of an embryological team. As apart from the efficacy of the management of fresh gametes and embryos, we shall furthermore calculate the efficacy of the freez...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have found that the decision-making process for stored unused frozen embryos involves much emotional burden influenced by socio-cultural factors. This study aims to ascertain how Japanese patients make a decision on the fate of their frozen embryos: whether to continue storage discard or donate to research. METHODS Ten Japanese women who continued storage, 5 who di...

BACKGROUND The predictive roles of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) and antral follicle count (AFC) as ovarian reserve markers in women with different age groups are not established well. OBJECTIVE This study compares the value of FSH, AMH and AFC at the time of in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment in different age groups. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this cros...

question, when, if at all, is it morally wrong to withdraw The case of a sperm donor objecting to the transfer of embryos consent? Arguably, moral questions are always open to interformed from his donation can be likened to disputes over pretation, however, until recently in Victoria, Australia, so too frozen embryos, where the sperm provider and the egg provider was the legal question. This ar...

BACKGROUND Assisted reproductive techniques have been used in China for more than 20 years. This study investigates the attitudes of surplus embryo holders towards embryos storage and donation for medical research. METHODS A total of 363 couples who had completed in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment and had already had biological children but who still had frozen embryos in storage were inv...