Telomere length predicts embryo fragmentation after in vitro fertilization in women—Toward a telomere theory of reproductive aging in women

Keefe, David L.; Franco, Sonia; Liu, Lin; Trimarchi, James R.; Cao, Benning; Weitzen, Sherry; Agarwal, Shoba; Blasco, Marı́a A.

doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2005.01.036

Cited by 130 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

101

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In human embryos telomere length in oocytes predicts cytoplasmic fragmentation, related to apoptosis [10]. Telomeres might be amongst the first structures in the sperm nucleus that respond to oocyte signals for male pronucleus development at fertilization [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From these observations it is suspected that telomeres might play an important role in chromosomal localization within the sperm nucleus [14], where abnormal chromosome localization leads to meiotic errors which results in sperm borne aneuploidies [15]. Moreover telomere length in human unfertilized oocytes has been correlated with the morphological appearance of embryo and embryo quality in sibling fertilized oocytes as well as the probability of pregnancy [10,16], surprisingly, there are few reports showing association of telomere length with various reproductive disorders. Hence this study was planned with the aim to assess the role of telomere length in the leukocytes of couples (both male and female partner) experiencing iRPL.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Analysis of telomere length in couples experiencing idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss

Thilagavathi

Mishra

Kumar

et al. 2013

J Assist Reprod Genet

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Telomere length plays a significant role in various disorders; however, its role in idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss (iRPL) is not known. The objective of this study was to assess telomere length in peripheral blood leukocytes in couples experiencing unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (iRPL). Methods The study included 25 couples experiencing iRPL and 20 controls. The mean relative telomere length was measured by quantitative Real Time PCR (Q-PCR) based assay, which measures the average ratio of telomere repeat copy number to a single copy gene (36B4) copy number (T/S ratio) in each sample. Results The relative leukocyte mean telomere length (T/S) in both men and women from iRPL group was significantly lower (p<0.05) when compared to controls. A significant (P<0.05) negative correlation was found between age and leukocyte telomere length (T/S ratio). Among the sperm parameters seminal volume was found to be negatively (r = −0.4679) associated with the telomere T/S ratio. The DNA fragmentation index of sperm showed positive correlation (r=0.4744) with telomere length. In this preliminary study, we found that shorter telomere length in both men and women may be associated with early pregnancy loss. Conclusion In conclusion, shorter telomere length in both male and female partners appears to play a role in the idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss. Loss of telomeric DNA due to oxidative stress needs further analysis. Analysis of telomere length in germ cells are needed to further substantiate the findings of this study.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of telomere length in couples experiencing idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss

Thilagavathi

Mishra

Kumar

et al. 2013

J Assist Reprod Genet

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several hypotheses regarding embryo fragmentation have been reported such as programmed cell death (apoptosis) [26], telomere length [27], increased maternal age [28], abnormalities in cytoskeleton and microtubule organization [29,30]. However, the precise underlying mechanism remains controversial and we considered our TLC observation to be a powerful tool to elucidate the dynamic morphology of this phenomenon.…”

Section: Fragmentation (Supplementary Movie 8)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Embryonic Behavior Observed with Time-Lapse Cinematography

Mio¹

2014

J Health Med Informat

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To clarify developmental behavior in human embryos, we observed oocytes with in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection and donated embryos up to 5 days using our original time-lapse cinematography (TLC) system. The TLC analyses demonstrated several novel aspects and events that were not visible by intermittent stillframe microscopy. Here, we present the entire fertilization process in which we founded the fertilization cone, cytoplasmic flare, dynamic change of nuclear precursor body and cytoplasmic halo. We also demonstrated the occurrence of zygotes with a single pronucleus (PN) and uneven 2PN, fragmentation, blastocoel collapse during the blastocyst stage, and the hatching pattern of expanded blastocysts. Observing such morphokineses in human embryos will enhance our understanding of human embryonic behavior up to preimplantation.

show abstract

“…17 Oocyte telomere length also appears to predict embryo fragmentation after IVF, which is a marker of embryo quality. 18 And 95 women with a history of recurrent miscarriage had shorter average telomere length than 108 women from the general population. 22 Yet these epidemiologic investigations have also not been entirely consistent, since longer average leukocyte telomere length was observed in women experiencing premature ovarian failure compared with women from the general population, 22 and poorly responding IVF patients older than 34 years with unexplained fertility disorder had longer lymphocyte telomere length compared with similarly aged fertile women.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies have demonstrated an association between shorter leukocyte telomere length and earlier reproductive aging, including shorter reproductive lifespan and occult ovarian insufficiency [15][16][17] or poorer IVF outcomes, 18,19 while other studies have yielded negative or conflicting results. [20][21][22] We therefore sought to investigate the relationship between leukocyte telomere length and reproductive aging, as expressed by age at menopause in a cohort of women age 65 years and older.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%