High initial β-hCG predicts IVF outcomes accurately and precludes the need for repeated measurements by Yasmin Shibli Abu Raya, Asaf Bilgory, Nardin Aslih, Yuval Atzmon, Maya Shavit, Daniela Estrada, Moamina Sharqawi, Einat Shalom-Paz

“…Nonetheless, the abortion rate was significantly lower in the group with β-hCG above the cutoff values in fresh (141 mIU/mL) and frozen (354.5 mIU/mL) cleavage stage transfers (17.2% vs 44%, P < 0.001 and 18.5% vs 38%, P = 0.003, respectively). Blastocyst transfers resulted in higher median initial β-hCG compared to cleavage embryo transfers (937 vs 600 mIU/mL), and the initial β-hCG values from frozen cleavage embryos were higher compared to fresh cleavage embryos (600 vs 400 mIU/mL). …”
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The role of endometrial thickness in predicting ectopic pregnancy after in vitro fertilization and the establishment of a prediction model by Jing Liu, Hongjiao Kong, Xiaona Yu, Mengge Zhou, Xiaoyang Liu, Xinmi Liu, Jianrui Zhang, Yanli Liu, Shanshan Wu, Yichun Guan

“…Compared to cleavage stage transfer, blastocyst transfer can reduce the risk of ectopic pregnancy (aOR = 0.36, 95%CI: 0.26-0.50, P &lt; 0.0001). …”
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Decidual natural killer cells and trophoblast cells: cellular, humoral and molecular mechanisms of interaction by P. V. Grebenkina, V. A. Mikhailova, A. A. Oshkolova, S. O. Vershinina, M. S. Dukhinova, D. O. Bazhenov, S. A. Selkov, D. I. Sokolov

“…In the uterus, NK cells are located closely to the cells of fetal origin, i.e., trophoblast cells, which differentiate from the outer layer of the invading blastocyst. The purpose of the review article was to analyze the literature data on the studies of the molecular interactions between NK cells and trophoblast cells, as well as potential means of regulating these interactions. …”
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#270 : Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Analysis: Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Monogenic Disorders (PGT-M) for Monogenic Nephropathy by Xinyu Liu, Qian Zhang, Qing Zhao, Kexin Cao, Wei Zhou, Tianxiang Ni, Shuzhen Sun, Junhao Yan

“…Finally, 80 vitrified-thawed single blastocyst transfer cycles were performed. Live births occurred in 38 women, of which 37 transferred embryos with non-pathogenic genotypes. …”
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IGF2 reduces meiotic defects in oocytes from obese mice and improves embryonic developmental competency by Yanling Wan, Tahir Muhammad, Tao Huang, Yue Lv, Qianqian Sha, Shuang Yang, Gang Lu, Wai-yee Chan, Jinlong Ma, Hongbin Liu

“…Our data indicated supplementation of IGF2 in a culture medium improves the blastocyst formation: from 46% in the HFD group to 61% in the HFD + IGF2-treatment group (50 nM IGF2). …”
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Clinical pregnancy rate for frozen embryo transfer with HRT: a randomized controlled pilot study comparing 1 week versus 2 weeks of oestradiol priming by Annalisa Racca, Samuel Santos-Ribeiro, Panagiotis Drakopoulos, Joran De Coppel, Lisbet Van Landuyt, Herman Tournaye, Christophe Blockeel

“…Both groups received single blastocyst stage embryos on the 6th day of vaginal P4 administration. …”
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The follicular-phase depot GnRH agonist protocol results in a higher live birth rate without discernible differences in luteal function and child health versus the daily mid-luteal... by Ying Zhang, Wenxian Zhao, Yifan Han, Xin Chen, Shaoyuan Xu, Yueyue Hu, Honglu Diao, Changjun Zhang

“…After matching, the blastocyst formation rates, oestradiol (E2) value on Day hCG + 9, progesterone (P) value on Day hCG + 9, implantation rates, clinical pregnancy rates, and LBR were more favourable in the depot GnRH-a protocol than in the long GnRH-a protocol (P < 0.05). …”
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Sperm DNA integrity does play a crucial role for embryo development after ICSI, notably when good-quality oocytes from young donors are used by Jordi Ribas-Maynou, Sergi Novo, Marc Torres, Albert Salas-Huetos, Sergi Rovira, Marta Antich, Marc Yeste

“…In the DD cohort, the percentage of sperm with high overall DNA damage correlated with fertilization rates (Rs = − 0.666; P < 0.001) and with the percentage of blastocysts per injected oocyte (Rs = − 0.414; P = 0.040). …”
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Living birth following preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders to prevent low-level germline mosaicism related Nicolaides–Baraitser syndrome by Jiexue Pan, Jiexue Pan, Jiexue Pan, Jiexue Pan, Jie Li, Jie Li, Songchang Chen, Songchang Chen, Chenming Xu, Chenming Xu, Hefeng Huang, Hefeng Huang, Hefeng Huang, Li Jin, Li Jin

“…Amniocentesis was performed at the 16th week of gestation by copy-number variation-sequencing, karyotyping, and Sanger sequencing.Results: Eight surviving embryos were biopsied during the blastocyst stage. Karyomapping and Sanger sequencing were applied to detect the euploidy and paternal mutation. …”
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Galectin-1 Used in Assisted Reproduction—Embryo Safety and Toxicology Studies by Marcelo Roncoletta, Nathali Adrielli Agassi de Sales, Fernando Sebastian Baldi Rey, Guilherme Camargo Ferraz, Erika da Silva Carvalho Morani

“…There was no damage to the in vitro bovine embryo growth when considering cleavage percentage (%CLE), blastocyst development (Bl, Bx, Bh, and B) at Days 7 and 8, or an amount of rHGAL-1 supplementation ≤20 µg·mL⁻¹. …”
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Species origin of exogenous transcription factors affects the activation of endogenous pluripotency markers and signaling pathways of porcine induced pluripotent stem cells by Meng Zhou, Manling Zhang, Tianxu Guo, Lihua Zhao, Lihua Zhao, Xiyun Guo, Zhibao Yin, Linxin Cheng, Han Liu, Lixia Zhao, Xihe Li, Rongfeng Li, Rongfeng Li

“…RNA sequencing confirmed ppiPSCs had distinct global transcriptional profiling, upregulated Hippo, PI3K-Akt, MAPK and relevant pluripotency signaling pathways as porcine blastocyst inner cell mass and expressed PGC early related genes. …”
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The effect of endometriosis on live birth rate and other reproductive outcomes in ART cycles: a cohort study by Muteshi, C, Ohuma, E, Child, T, Becker, C

“…Compared to women with unexplained subfertility, those with endometriosis had fewer oocytes retrieved [(10.54 (95% CI 10.13-0.95) and 9.15 (95% CI 8.69-9.6), respectively], lower blastocyst transfer [OR 0.24 (95% CI 0.12-0.5), P = 0.0001] and a significantly reduced implantation rate [OR 0.73 (0.58-0.92), P = 0.007]. …”

Effects of hormonal and oocyte activation treatments on in vitro embryo development and interspecies hybridization of bovidar embryos following intracytoplasmic sperm injection by Dashtizad, Mojtaba

“…It was also found that supplementation with 50 ng/ml ghrelin in maturation and culture media enhanced nuclear maturation and blastocyst formation rates, respectively. Although inclusion of 50 ng/ml ghrelin in the culture medium strikingly increased the population of inner cell mass (ICM), trophoectoderm (TE) and total cell number cells of bovine blastocysts, no significant difference was detected in ratio of ICM: total cell number per blastocysts between the different treatment groups compared to the control. …”
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Simultaneous Inhibition of Histone Deacetylases and RNA Synthesis Enables Totipotency Reprogramming in Pig SCNT Embryos by Mariana Priotto de Macedo, Werner Giehl Glanzner, Karina Gutierrez, Luke Currin, Vanessa Guay, Maria Elena Carrillo Herrera, Zigomar da Silva, Hernan Baldassarre, Serge McGraw, Vilceu Bordignon

“…Our findings revealed that transcription can be inhibited for up to 40 h of development in porcine embryos, produced either by activation, fertilization or SCNT, without detrimentally affecting their capacity to form a blastocyst and their average number of cells at this developmental stage. …”
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Factors Affecting the Efficiency of In Vitro Embryo Production in Prepubertal Mediterranean Water Buffalo by Luke Currin, Hernan Baldassarre, Mariana Priotto de Macedo, Werner Giehl Glanzner, Karina Gutierrez, Katerina Lazaris, Vanessa Guay, María Elena Carrillo Herrera, Zigomar da Silva, Caitlin Brown, Erin Joron, Ron Herron, Vilceu Bordignon

“…The best pregnancy rates were achieved when transferring blastocysts, compared to compact morula or hatched blastocysts. …”
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YY2 in Mouse Preimplantation Embryos and in Embryonic Stem Cells by Raquel Pérez-Palacios, María Climent, Javier Santiago-Arcos, Sofía Macías-Redondo, Martin Klar, Pedro Muniesa, Jon Schoorlemmer

“…Although YY2 is expressed during preimplantation development, its presence appears dispensable for developmental progress in vitro until formation of the blastocyst. Attenuation of <i>Yy2</i> levels failed to alter either <i>Zscan4</i> levels in two-cell embryos or IAP and MERVL levels at later preimplantation stages. …”
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Comparison of cumulative live birth rates between progestin-primed ovarian stimulation protocol and gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist protocol in different populations by Ruiqiong Zhou, Mei Dong, Li Huang, Songlu Wang, Lin Fan, Xiangping Liang, Xiqian Zhang, Fenghua Liu

“…The results of response to ovarian stimulation were also investigated, including numbers of oocytes retrieved, MII oocytes, 2PN, blastocysts, good-quality blastocysts, and usable blastocysts after biopsy, as well as rates of oocyte yield, blastocyst formation, good-quality blastocysts, and moderate or severe OHSS. …”
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Hyperbaric oxygen therapy: a possible choice for patients with resistant thin endometrium during frozen embryo transfer treatments by Jingjing Chen, Fangling Huang, Jing Fu, Jianjuan Zhao, Jinsheng Li, Zhengrong Peng, Jing Zhao, Bin Xu, Shuyi Li, Qiong Zhang, Shaolin Liang, Yanping Li

“…The IPR was similar in patients who received cleavage-stage embryos (0.0% vs. 6.7%, P = 1.00), but significantly higher in patients in the HBOT group who received blastocysts (53.8% vs. 18.2%, P = 0.017). Conclusions A period of HBOT prior to endometrium transformation contributes to increased endometrial thickness and facilitates blastocyst implantation in patients with resistant thin endometrium during FET treatments. …”
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TET Family Members Are Integral to Porcine Oocyte Maturation and Parthenogenetic Pre-Implantation Embryogenesis by Fan Chen, Ming-Guo Li, Zai-Dong Hua, Hong-Yan Ren, Hao Gu, An-Feng Luo, Chang-Fan Zhou, Zhe Zhu, Tao Huang, Yan-Zhen Bi

“…After Bobcat339 treatment, early parthenogenetic embryos exhibited abnormal 5mC and 5hmC levels, which resulted in compromised cleavage and blastocyst rate. The mRNA levels of EIF1A and DPPA2 (ZGA marker genes) were significantly decreased, which may explain why the embryos were arrested at the 4-cell stage after Bobcat339 treatment. …”
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Inhibitory Effects of 3-Methylcholanthrene Exposure on Porcine Oocyte Maturation by Mengya Zhang, Xin Wang, Qiuchen Liu, Yelian Yan, Changzhi Xu, Zhihua Zhu, Sucheng Wu, Xiaoyu Zuo, Yanfeng Zong, Chunxiao Li, Yunhai Zhang, Zubing Cao

“…The rates of cleavage and blastocyst of embryos derived from 3-MC-exposed oocytes were significantly lower than those in the control group. …”
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