Effect of Sperm DNA Fragmentation on Clinical Outcome of Frozen-Thawed Embryo Transfer and on Blastocyst Formation

Abstract

During the last decades, many studies have shown the possible influence of sperm DNA fragmentation on assisted reproductive technique outcomes. However, little is known about the impact of sperm DNA fragmentation on the clinical outcome of frozen-thawed embryo transfer (FET) from cycles of conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In the present study, the relationship between sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) and FET clinical outcomes in IVF and ICSI cycles was analyzed. A total of 1082 FET cycles with cleavage stage embryos (C-FET) (855 from IVF and 227 from ICSI) and 653 frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer cycles (B-FET) (525 from IVF and 128 from ICSI) were included. There was no significant change in clinical pregnancy, biochemical pregnancy and miscarriage rates in the group with a SDF >30% compared with the group with a SDF ≤30% in IVF and ICSI cycles with C-FET or B-FET. Also, there was no significant impact on the FET clinic outcome in IVF and ICSI when different values of SDF (such as 10%, 20%, 25%, 35%, and 40%) were taken as proposed threshold levels. However, the blastulation rates were significantly higher in the SDF ≤30% group in ICSI cycle. Taken together, our data show that sperm DNA fragmentation measured by Sperm Chromatin Dispersion (SCD) test is not associated with clinical outcome of FET in IVF and ICSI. Nonetheless, SDF is related to the blastocyst formation in ICSI cycles.

Outcomes of in vitro fertilization with frozen‐thawed sperm: An analysis of post‐thaw recovery of sperm, embryogenesis, offspring morphology, and skeletogenesis for a cyprinid fish

“…64,65 Here, it was demonstrated that sperm cryoinjuries go beyond fertilization and affect progeny, perhaps by means of transcriptomic profiling 41,66 or elicit DNA mutations in the germ line for generations. 67 In this study, similar deformities were observed for larvae from fresh and frozen-thawed sperm; however, the rate of deformities was higher for the CPAs treatments. In particular, we showed that incidences of spinal cord and caudal fin torsion were high in newly hatched larvae, not only among the CPAs treatments, but also within the control group.…”

“…Here, it was demonstrated that sperm cryoinjuries go beyond fertilization and affect progeny, perhaps by means of transcriptomic profiling or elicit DNA mutations in the germ line for generations . In this study, similar deformities were observed for larvae from fresh and frozen‐thawed sperm; however, the rate of deformities was higher for the CPAs treatments.…”

Sperm DNA fragmentation index does not correlate with blastocyst aneuploidy or morphological grading

“…The lack of correlation between DFI and pregnancy loss may be related to small sample size of ET cycles. However, in the same line with the current frozen ET results, previous reports didn’t demonstrate correlation between sperm DFI and clinical pregnancy, biochemical pregnancy and miscarriage rates after frozen ET of both day 3 and day 5 embryos [46]. Therefore the lack of consensus regarding the impact DFI on IVF-ICSI outcome is far from being clear.…”

Sperm DNA fragmentation index influences assisted reproductive technology outcome: A systematic review and meta‐analysis combined with a retrospective cohort study

“…Clinical studies have explored the relationship between the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI) and assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcome. Some studies have found only modest effects on fertilisation rate with in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and little to no effect on intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI; Frydman et al, ; Lin et al, ; Ni et al, ), indicating that sperm cells with a high DFI are capable of fertilizing an oocyte (Gandini et al, ). Otherwise, other studies have indicated that DFI is correlated with impaired preimplantation development, a low rate of good‐quality embryos and poor pregnancy outcomes (Niu et al, ; Velez de la Calle et al, ; Zini, Boman, Belzile, & Ciampi, ).…”