Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine

The Korean Society for Reproductive Medicine (대한생식의학회)
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Metabolomic profiling of embryo culture media in patients with repeated implantation failure during assisted reproductive technology cycles

  • Sheyda Nami (Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Azam Govahi (Endometriosis Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Nabaa Najjar (Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Samaneh Ghasemi (Shahid Akbarabadi Clinical Research Development Unit (ShACRDU), Iran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Farshid Rezaei (Department of Biology, Payam Noor University) ;
  • Fatemehsadat Amjadi (Shahid Akbarabadi Clinical Research Development Unit (ShACRDU), Iran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Gholamreza Taheripak (Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences)
  • Received : 2023.08.05
  • Accepted : 2023.12.08
  • Published : 2024.09.30
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Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the metabolic status of the spent culture media from embryos of patients with repeated implantation failure (RIF) undergoing in vitro fertilization-intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles in comparison with the embryos from healthy fertile women. Methods: Metabolite levels in spent culture media were assessed and compared between embryos from RIF patients (n=35) and oocyte donors as controls (n=15). Protein levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) were determined using Western blotting. Concentrations of glucose, pyruvate, and lactate were measured using spectrophotometry. Ionic colorimetric assay kits were utilized to analyze the concentrations of sodium, chloride, calcium, and magnesium ions. High-performance liquid chromatography was employed to measure the concentrations of glutamic acid, aspartic acid, methionine, phenylalanine, and histidine. Results: Glucose consumption and lactate secretion were higher in the control group than in the RIF group. The magnesium concentration was significantly higher in the control group than in the RIF group, but glutamic acid and aspartic acid concentrations were lower in the control group than in the RIF patients (p<0.05). The levels of IGF-1, sodium, calcium, chloride, methionine, histidine, and phenylalanine did not show statistically significant differences between the two groups. Conclusion: The metabolic profile of the culture medium of the embryos in the RIF group differed from that of the control group. These findings suggest potential factors that may affect implantation capacity in RIF patients and provide a new perspective on embryo selection.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran for their cooperation throughout the period of study.

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