Effect of Oocyte Activation With Calcium Ionophore on Icsi Outcomes in Patients With Previous Fertilization Failure.

Abstract

Background: Chemical activation is the most frequently used method for artificial oocyte activation (AOA), results in high fertilization rate. Objective: To evaluate the efficiency of oocyte activation with calcium ionophore on fertilization and pregnancy outcomes after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in patients with previous fertilization failure. Design: prospective controlled study Materials and methods: One hundred and eight patients with history of previous fertilization failure undergoing IVF/ICSI treatment with long agonist protocol were randomly divided into two groups: group A (n=54) and group B (n=54) ; a total of 756 metaphase II (MII) oocytes were retrieved . In the oocytes of group A(n=350 oocyte), routine ICSI was applied; while in oocytes in group B (n=406 oocyte) immediately after ICSI, were entered in culture medium supplemented with 5 µΜ calcium ionophore (A23187) for 10 minutes and then washed at least five times with MOPS solution. Main outcome measures: In both groups, the fertilization was evaluated after 16-18 hours. Results: The number of fertilized oocytes and embryos obtained were significantly different between two groups (p=<0.001*). Fertilization rate was significantly higher in group B -where calcium ionophore was applied-compared to group A(control group) (32.2% vs. 9.1%, respectively ,p=0.01*); and Cleavage rate also was significantly higher in group B compared to group A (27.4% vs 12.5% respectively, p=0.028*). Implantation rate was significantly higher in group B than in group A (18.32% vs. 3.12 % respectively, p=0.035*) Pregnancy rate also was significantly higher in group B than in group A (22.2% vs. 1.85% respectively, p=0.042*). Conclusion: Chemical oocyte activation with calcium ionophore resulted in a significant improvement in fertilization, cleavage, implantation and pregnancy rates after ICSI in infertile patients with previous fertilization failure.

Effect of Oocyte Age and Activation Agents on in Vitro Development of Mouse Parthenogenetic Embryos

“…Ethanol, calcium ionophore and strontium chloride are three of the several parthenogenetic activation agents commonly used for activation of mammalian oocytes (Tatone et al, 2002;Rogers et al, 2006;Nalley and Hine, 2015;Nikiforaki et al, 2016;Hebisha and Mahmoud, 2017). Calcium ionophore has a high permeability to pass through cell membranes.…”