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Correlation between the pronucleus size and the potential for human single pronucleus zygotes to develop into blastocysts

1PN zygotes with large pronuclei can expect an embryo development to the blastocyst stage that is similar to the development of 2PN zygotes

  • Embryo Biology
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Abstract

Purpose

In this study, we examined the correlation between pronucleus size and the potential for human single pronucleus (1PN) zygotes to develop into blastocysts after IVF and ICSI.

Methods

This study included 112 patients who underwent a total of 112 cycles of IVF/ICSI. To evaluate embryo development, 1PN zygotes were compared with 2PN zygotes in the same IVF/ICSI cycle (control cycles) using time-lapse live embryo imaging. To assess the potential for blastocyst formation, cutoff values for pronuclear area and diameter were established through receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, after which 1PN zygotes were classified based on those cutoff values.

Results

Among 1PN zygotes cultured to day 5/6, the rate of embryo development was significantly lower than from 2PN zygotes. However, the rates of blastocyst formation and good quality blastocysts from 1PN zygotes with large pronuclear areas (≥ 710 μm2) or diameters (≥ 31 μm) were significantly higher than from 1PN zygotes with smaller pronuclear areas (≤ 509, 510–609, and 610–709 μm2) or diameters (≤ 24, 25–27,and 28–30 μm) (P < 0.01). Moreover, the results for 1PN zygotes with large pronuclei were similar to those for 2PN zygotes.

Conclusions

The developmental potential of 1PN zygotes with large pronuclear areas (≥ 710 μm2) or diameters (31 μm) appears to be similar to that of 2PN zygotes, and measurement of pronuclear area or diameter in 1PN zygotes is a simple, potentially useful, clinical method.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the embryology staff of the Kishokai Medical Corporation for their assistance in preparing this manuscript and for their expert technical help.

Funding

This work was no external funding.

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Author notes

  1. Eri Araki and Fumiaki Itoi contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Infertility, Green Bell Clinic, Kitamachi 2-160, Toyota, Aichi, 471-0027, Japan

    Eri Araki, Fumiaki Itoi & Kazuyo Nishikawa

  2. Sapporo ART Clinic, Kita7jonishi 4-1-2, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0807, Japan

    Hiroyuki Honnma

  3. Department of Infertility, Royal Bell Clinic, Midori-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 458-0801, Japan

    Yukiko Asano & Hisanori Oguri

Authors
  1. Eri Araki
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  2. Fumiaki Itoi
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  3. Hiroyuki Honnma
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  4. Yukiko Asano
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  5. Hisanori Oguri
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  6. Kazuyo Nishikawa
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Contributions

EA acquired the data, performed the statistical analysis, and helped to draft the manuscript. FI conceived and designed the study, acquired the data, performed the statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript. YA acquired the data and helped to draft the manuscript. HH performed the statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript. HO drafted the manuscript. KN participated in its design and coordination and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fumiaki Itoi.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Kishokai Medical Corporation and was conducted in accordance with the principals expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki. All patients provided consent to all treatment procedures and agreed to anonymous use of their data for studies.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Araki, E., Itoi, F., Honnma, H. et al. Correlation between the pronucleus size and the potential for human single pronucleus zygotes to develop into blastocysts. J Assist Reprod Genet 35, 817–823 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-018-1137-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-018-1137-1

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