Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine

The Korean Society for Reproductive Medicine (대한생식의학회)
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Physiological intracytoplasmic sperm injection does not improve the quality of embryos: A cross-sectional investigation on sibling oocytes

  • Minh Tam Le (Center for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University) ;
  • Hiep Tuyet Thi Nguyen (Center for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University) ;
  • Trung Van Nguyen (Center for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University) ;
  • Thai Thanh Thi Nguyen (Center for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University) ;
  • Hong Nhan Thi Dang (Center for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University) ;
  • Thuan Cong Dang (Department of Histology and Embryology, Pathology, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University) ;
  • Quoc Huy Vu Nguyen (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University)
  • Received : 2023.01.08
  • Accepted : 2023.03.27
  • Published : 2023.06.30
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Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to compare the efficacy of physiological intracytoplasmic sperm injection (PICSI) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in terms of the fertilization rate and embryo quality using sibling oocyte cycles. Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional study collected data from 76 couples who underwent their first cycle at the Hue Center for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Vietnam, between May 2019 and November 2021. The inclusion criteria were cycles with at least eight oocytes and a sperm concentration of 5×106/mL. Sperm parameters, sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF), fertilization, and the quality of cleavage-stage embryos on day 2 and blastocysts on day 5 were examined. Results: From 76 ICSI cycles, 1,196 metaphase II (MII) oocytes were retrieved, half of which were randomly allocated to either the PICSI (n=592) or ICSI (n=604) treatment group. The results showed no significant difference between the two groups in terms of fertilization (72.80% vs. 75.33%, p=0.32), day 2 cleavage rate (95.13% vs. 96.04%, p=0.51), blastulation rate (52.68% vs. 57.89%), and high-quality blastocyst rate (26.10% vs. 31.13%, p=0.13). However, in cases where SDF was low, 59 cycles consisting of 913 MII oocytes produced a considerably higher blastulation rate with PICSI than with ICSI (50.49% vs. 35.65%, p=0.00). There were no significant differences between the pregnancy outcomes of the PICSI and ICSI embryo groups following embryo transfer. Conclusion: Using variable sperm quality provided no benefit for PICSI versus ICSI in terms of embryo outcomes. When SDF is low, PICSI appears to be able to produce more blastocysts.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was partially supported by Hue University under the Core Research Program (Research Group on Reproductive Medicine, Grant No. NCM. DHH.2022.01).

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