background: abnormal oocyte morphology has been associated with the hormonal environment to which the gametes are exposed. objective: in this study, we evaluated the oocytes morphology, fertilization rate, embryos quality, and implantation rate resulted of retrieved oocytes in different times after human chorionic gonadotrophin (hcg) administration. materials and methods: a total of 985 metapha...

BACKGROUND We studied the ultrastructural characteristics of human mature oocytes frozen/thawed (F/T) using different concentrations of sucrose. Fresh human mature oocytes were used as controls. METHODS The oocytes (n = 48) were fixed in 1.5% glutaraldehyde at sampling (n = 16) or after freeze/thawing performed using a slow cooling method with propane-1,2-diol 1.5 mol/l and sucrose at either ...

Background: Cigarette smoke contains many oxidants and may alter the human reproduction by inducing oxidative stress (OS) in both active and passive smokers. This study was designed to evaluation the effect of environment tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure on oxidative stress in follicular follicle and assisted reproduction outcomes. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was carried out on 236 i...

Research questionTo develop an automated sperm injection robot (ICSIA).DesignThe ICSIA the procedure, including pipette advancement, zona pellucida and oolemma penetration with piezo pulses, removal after release. The was first tested in mouse, hamster rabbit oocytes, subsequently using discarded human oocytes that were injected microbeads. Finally, we performed a small clinical pilot trial don...

BACKGROUND In general, 15% of oocytes collected in ART cycles are immature. These oocytes may be cryopreserved further for use in in-vitro maturation (IVM) program. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine maturation capacity, morphometric parameters and morphology of human immature oocytes in both fresh IVM (fIVM) and vitrified-IVM (vIVM) oocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS 93 women who...

There is an increasing interest in retrieving immature oocytes in the absence of or with limited gonadotrophin exposure, with the aim of maturing them in vitro for embryo transfer purposes. The aim of this report is to present our experience of fertilization, embryonic development and pregnancies from in-vitro maturation cycles. A total of 18 patients underwent 21 cycles in which an average of ...

BACKGROUND Approximately 20% of recovered oocytes are immature and discarded in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedures. These oocytes represent a potential resource for both clinical and basic science application. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the ultrastructure architecture of in vitro matured human oocytes using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). MATERIA...

Menopause results from loss of ovarian function and marks the end of a woman's reproductive life. Alleles of the human SYCP2L locus are associated with age at natural menopause (ANM). SYCP2L is a paralogue of the synaptonemal complex protein SYCP2 and is expressed exclusively in oocytes. Here we report that SYCP2L localizes to centromeres of dictyate stage oocytes, which represent the limited p...

Predictive criteria for selection of the best embryo for single embryo transfer remain elusive. This study aimed to determine if non-invasive markers in human oocytes, detectable using polarized light microscopy, can predict pregnancy outcome. Twenty-two pregnancy-producing oocytes from 19 patients had their morphological features compared with 30 oocytes from 19 age-matched patients whose tran...

BACKGROUND Oocyte cryopreservation remains a realistic objective, provided that more systematic approaches are applied, such as thorough analysis of the oocyte oolemma permeability to water and diverse cryoprotectants. METHODS We prospectively investigated volume changes over time at different temperatures (30 degrees C, 22 degrees C and 8 degrees C) of human metaphase II (MII) oocytes (obtai...