Cognitive Development of Singletons Conceived by Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection or In vitro Fertilization at Age 5 and 10 years

Abstract

Most artificially conceived singletons show a normal cognitive development, however the method of fertilization seems to have an impact on their IQ. ICSI might be associated with the risk for a slightly delayed cognitive development compared to IVF.

Use of Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection and Birth Outcomes in Women Conceiving through In Vitro Fertilization

“…If ICSI use is potentially associated with increased adverse effects on children, the current trend of increasing ICSI use should be of great public health concern. In addition to the findings in this study, other studies have reported that ICSI pregnancies may be more prone to other certain adverse outcomes than conventional IVF, including imprinting syndromes (e.g., Angelman syndrome and Beckwith‐Wiedemann syndrome), poor mental, cognitive and psychomotor development, and autism . It is worth mentioning that these studies were limited in number and the findings were inconsistent across studies.…”

Long‐term follow‐up of intra‐cytoplasmic sperm injection‐conceived offspring compared with in vitro fertilization‐conceived offspring: a systematic review of health outcomes beyond the neonatal period

“…A German study reported significantly lower intelligence quotient (IQ) scores (94.1 vs. 102.0, p = 0.005) and higher rates of delayed cognitive development (23.5 vs. 2.9%, p = 0.011) in 34 ICSI‐conceived children compared to 35 IVF‐conceived children at 5 and 10 years of age, although the IQ of the ICSI group still fell within the normal range (Goldbeck et al ., ).…”

The effect of nutrition and environment on the preimplantation embryo

“…However, a number of reports on increased birth defects and altered metabolic and cardiovascular physiology associated with in vitro fertilisation/intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatments have been published (Box 1). 10–25 …”

“…However, a number of reports on increased birth defects and altered metabolic and cardiovascular physiology associated with in vitro fertilisation/intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatments have been published (Box 1). [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] More recently, animal models show that more subtle environmental changes such as, for example, slightly altering single media supplements in vitro or specific maternal diets or body conditions in vivo also influence development and adverse adult outcomes. [4][5][6][26][27][28][29] Such developmental plasticity underlies the biological principle of adaptive responses to predicted conditions.…”

“…Finally, the question arises, can we prevent or intervene with adverse developmental programming and, if so, when do we need to do this? Since detailed knowledge of underlying mechanisms is still only emerging, suggesting a Box 1 Examples of mechanisms leading to imprinting disorders Children born following in vitro fertilisation [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure Maternal diet or in vitro culture animal models [4][5][6]26,27 Increased blood pressure [4][5][6]27 Increased anxiety-related behaviour 5,6,26 Increased obesity risk 5,6 Decreased insulin sensitivity 27 Altered immune function 27 number of different drug target candidates, little is known about effective intervention or prevention strategies. The first evidence that prevention is possible is derived from animal studies whereby some of the postnatal phenotypes could be alleviated by supplementing a maternal lowprotein diet with folic acid, a methyl-group donor.…”