Mese: Aprile 2016

New embryo selection method: Zinc ‘fireworks’

Last modified: Aprile 30, 2016

According to the new research published in Scientific Reports journal Zinc ‘fireworks’ could help subfertile couples for a successful IVF treatment.

It has been previously found in animal studies that zinc is an essential element for the oocyte maturation and activation. In fact, zinc is released in great amounts in oocytes at the moment of fertilisation, a phenomenon termed as the ‘’zinc spark’’.   This event was initially observed in mouse oocytes, indicating a crucial role of zinc in fertilisation process.

Now, for the first time, scientists managed to capture this light spark, related to zinc release, emitted this very moment a human sperm cell meets the egg. The zinc release taking place during fertilization, due to sperm binding to the egg, emits light in radiant bursts. The scientists had the chance to watch, from a recorded video, billions of zinc atoms to be released the moment the sperm cell penetrates the egg’s membrane. These zinc ‘’fireworks’’ lasted for about 2 hours after fertilisation.

The discovery from the scientists of Northwestern Medicine could give to fertility clinics a new non-invasive technique for selecting the best egg quality.

The most interesting part of the study, as reported by the research team from the University of Northwestern, is that some eggs appear to be brighter than others having a more intense ‘’zinc spark’’. This fact is indicative of their quality and ability to develop into a healthy embryo. According to study results, the percentage of successful embryo selection was more than doubled when correlated to the zinc spark amplitude.

Collectively, this study provided robust evidence that zinc spark is a hallmark of egg activation in mammals, including humans, and therefore could make a clinical tool for predicting which embryos could reach the blastocyst level. The discovery from scientists of Northwestern Medicine could give to fertility clinics a new non-invasive technique for selecting the best egg quality.

So, according to fertility experts the ‘’zinc spark’’ event has the potential to be a new embryo selection method for subfertile couples by increasing the chances of getting pregnant through IVF procedure. Such news give hope to couples struggling with infertility as it is known that about 50% of fertilized eggs through IVF in fertility clinics, fail to develop into a healthy embryo due to genetic abnormalities.

 

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Traveling abroad for Sex Selection

Last modified: Aprile 27, 2016
sex selection

At the moment very few countries permits gender selection for non medical reasons

Thanks to the advances in fertility treatments that allow doctors to identify male and female embryos, sex selection of your baby is technically possible. More couples consider such an option now and a number of them are willing to go for it no matter the cost. As a matter of fact, a significant number of Australian couples travel to US every year to get this done. That’s a fact that has now made Australia to ponder sex selection.
Sex selection used to be an option only for couples who wanted to avoid passing sex-linked genetic disorders to their children. This has now changed since this option might also appeal to parents who have children of one sex and want to have a child of the other sex, what is commonly called “family balancing”. However, it is not always easy for parents since options aren’t equally effective, affordable, or available.
At the moment very few countries permits gender selection for non medical reasons, between them US, South Africa and Thailand. According to infertility doctor Daniel Potter Australian couples are looking towards the US for sex selective IVF technique and that has doubled in five years. Around 15 to 20 Australian couples visit his clinics in Southern California each month. “Typically it is women wanting to have a daughter, that’s 80 per cent of what we do,” he mentioned. The cost to get this procedure done is estimated to $15,000 per treatment, excluding the travel and accommodation costs.
This has sparked a debate whether the government should legalize the practice in the country since Australians are already selecting the sex of their children, but they are forced to go to overseas clinics, in places like the US or Thailand. Experts comment that this could be risky, because “not all international fertility clinics have the same standard of care that exists in Australia’’. Due to the rise in treatment, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is presently running a consultation about proposed changes to the existing law on sex-selective IVF. The fertility experts from US are also invited to speak on the controversial issue of sex selection in Australia.

Some people argue that gender selection process will eventually come to other genetic traits selection. Would you agree with them?

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The first home male fertility testing kit launches

Last modified: Aprile 18, 2016

The world’s first home male fertility testing kit, assessing semen quality and sperm concentration, is a fact and it has already been launched in the UK.

For all those shy men out there, this device can save them the embarrassment of a fertility clinic as they will be able to measure their fertility at the comfort of their home.

sperm

The world’s first home male fertility testing kit, assessing semen quality and sperm concentration, is a fact.

This novel sperm test kit is called ‘’Swim Count’’ and it has been developed by Motility Count, a Danish company. According to fertility experts of Motility Count just measuring the sperm concentration is not enough for assessing male fertility as there is no indication of the semen quality. They refer to the product as an easy to use, reliable test with 96% accuracy compared to conventional sperm tests done under the microscope.

And how is it used? According to manufactures, men initially have to collect their semen in a pot (without the use of a condom as it may harm the sperm cells) and leave it there for 30 minutes so that the sample liquefies. Next, they have to stir the semen sample with the supplied syringe a few times and finally collect 0,5 ml of it with the syringe and place it into the well of the device.

The device changes color showing whether the number of properly motile sperm cells is normal, which is 5.000.000 / ml, as defined by WHO (World Health Organization). When the test turns purple that indicates that the sperm cells are highly motile.

Fertility experts of Motility Count recommend men with poor sperm quality, below the test’s threshold, to counsel on a doctor for further investigation of their condition if they wish to conceive a child. They also suggest some lifestyle tips that could improve male fertility such as healthy eating, normal weight, no use of steroids, reduce alcohol consumption, quit smoking and more.

This product is manufactured by JRBiomedical Ltd, based in North Wales and it is available to buy online.

Would you trust such a device for a fertility assessment or you would still choose a fertility clinic over it?

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Ask for some music to boost your success rates

Last modified: Aprile 9, 2016

Have you thought about asking for some music to boost your IVF success? According to a recent study, you should!

music boost fertility

Music may actually improve success rates of In Vitro Fertilisation.

A study carried out at Marques Institute fertility clinic in Barcelona reported that music may actually improve success rates of in vitro fertilisation. In fact researchers of the Marques Institute reported an approximately 5% increase of fertilisation rates for eggs incubated under the sound of different types of music genres.

Researchers collected and analyzed approximately 1,000 eggs from 114 different patients attended the fertility clinic. Those eggs were injected with sperm and then split into two groups. The first group of eggs was incubated into an incubator connected with an iPod and a loud speaker system playing all kinds of music; from pop (Michael Jackson and Madonna to classical works by Bach Mozart and Vivaldi and even heavier metal sounds from Nirvana and Metallica. The second group of eggs was kept into conventional incubators without any music application.

Once the incubation period was completed they assessed fertilisation success rates for both group. They found that success rates were higher by 4.8% in the incubators in which music had been played.

Fertility experts explain that no matter how weird this outcome may sound it is based on scientific facts. The key factor here is the vibrations produced by music sound, as embryos cannot hear music until they grow up to 14 weeks.  Researchers believe that these vibrations may actually help the fertilized eggs remove their toxic waste products. It is also possible that vibrations could ease the nutrients passage into the egg.

According to the study researchers, music can be a way of mimicking the natural environment of the embryo. The embryo has to go a long way from the fallopian tubes all the way up to the womb keeping it in motion, experiencing a dynamic environment with vibrations that could possibly ease its waste products’ discard.

Previous research has shown that dynamic incubation could possibly promote successful embryo development so music might just be an easy way of achieving such a dynamic embryo culture.  The first IVF baby to be created in the presence of music was born in the UK just a few years ago.

So, if music can give your eggs good vibes what tunes would you want on their IVF playlist?

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